Near-Infrared-Light-Enhanced Ultrasmall Ruthenium Dioxide Nanozyme against Drug-Resistance Bacterial Infections

Drug-resistant bacterial infections have posed a serious threat to human health. Fortunately, nanozyme provides an effective alternative strategy for treating resistant bacteria infections through a “physical” antibacterial mode. Hence, ultrasmall ruthenium dioxide nanozymes (sRuO2 NPs) were synthesized to treat drug-resistant bacteria through a multichannel combination therapy strategy. The results show that sRuO2 NPs have an excellent photothermal conversion ability, reaching 50.4 %. In addition, under the irradiation of near-infrared light, the peroxidase activity of the sRuO2 NPs gets enhanced, which is superior to that of many reported nanoenzymes. In vitro antibacterial experiments showed that the sRuO2 NPs have broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and can kill bacteria by destroying the membrane integrity of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Escherichia coli (E.coli). More importantly, the sRuO2 NPs show a good therapeutic effect in a mouse model of skin infection with E. coli, with the ability to promote wound healing. In summary, nanozyme provides a great idea for the treatment of drug-resistant bacteria through PDT and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) multichannel synergistic antibacterial therapy.