Recent Advances of Polyaniline-Based Biomaterials for Phototherapeutic Treatments of Tumors and Bacterial Infections

Abstract

Conventional treatments fail to completely eradicate tumor or bacterial infections due to their inherent shortcomings. In recent years, photothermal therapy (PTT) has emerged as an attractive treatment modality that relies on the absorption of photothermal agents (PTAs) at a specific wavelength, thereby transforming the excitation light energy into heat. The advantages of PTT are its high efficacy, specificity, and minimal damage to normal tissues. To this end, various inorganic nanomaterials such as gold nanostructures, carbon nanostructures, and transition metal dichalcogenides have been extensively explored for PTT applications. Subsequently, the focus has shifted to the development of polymeric PTAs, owing to their unique properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, non-immunogenicity, and low toxicity when compared to inorganic PTAs. Among various organic PTAs, polyaniline (PANI) is one of the best-known and earliest-reported organic PTAs. Hence, in this review, we cover the recent advances and progress of PANI-based biomaterials for PTT application in tumors and bacterial infections. The future prospects in this exciting area are also addressed.

Water-soluble PANI:PSS designed for spontaneous non-disruptive membrane penetration and direct intracellular photothermal damage on bacteria

“…Compared to the inorganic photothermal agents, PANI has better clinical application prospects due to its good biocompatibility and degradability [ 32 ]. In spite of a number of reports on PANI with regard to its antibacterial applications [ [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] ], the photothermal inhibition effects were still rely on disruption of the bacterial cell walls and membranes since PANI is not normally allowed to enter and the heat is generated from outside the cells [ 37 ].…”

Antimicrobial Polymer−Based Assemblies: A Review

“…Biomedical applications of conductive PANI−based nanocomposites were available in antimicrobial therapy, drug delivery, biosensors design, nerve regeneration, and tissue engineering [ 174 , 175 ]. PANI materials have been used in photothermal therapy (PDT) for treating tumors or infections; the incidence of near−infrared radiation (NIR) onto PANI materials led to photothermal ablation of cancer cells or bacteria death [ 176 ]. For example, catechol−conjugated poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) sulfobetaine (PVPS) and PANI tightly linked by ionic interaction (PVPS:PANI) has been proposed as a novel photothermal antibacterial agent for surface coating, able to absorb broadband NIR light; the coating released eminent photothermal heat for the rapid killing of surface bacteria [ 177 ].…”

Advancements in the Blood–Brain Barrier Penetrating Nanoplatforms for Brain Related Disease Diagnostics and Therapeutic Applications

“…In the past two decades, nanomaterials-mediated therapeutic strategies has gained more attention and are widely used in various biomedical applications [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. NPs usually refer to solid colloidal particles at a nanometer scale (1–100 nm).…”