Conjugation of photosensitizers (PS) with nanoparticles has been largely used as a strategy to stabilize PS in the biological medium resulting in photosensitizing nanoparticles of enhanced photoactivity. Herein, (Meso-5, 10, 15, 20-tetrakis (3-hydroxyphenyl) phorphyryn (mTHPP) was conjugated with diamond nanoparticles (ND) by covalent bond. Nanoconjugate ND-mTHPP showed suitable stability in aqueous suspension with 58 nm of hydrodynamic diameter and Zeta potential of −23 mV. The antibacterial activity of ND-mTHPP was evaluated against Escherichia coli for different incubation times (0–24 h). The optimal activity was observed after 2 h of incubation and irradiation (660 nm; 51 J/cm²) performed right after the addition of ND-mTHPP (100 μg/mL) to the bacterial suspension. The inhibitory activity was 56% whereas ampicillin at the same conditions provided only 14% of bacterial growth inhibition. SEM images showed agglomerate of ND-mTHPP adsorbed on the bacterial cell wall, suggesting that the antimicrobial activity of ND-mTHPP was afforded by inducing membrane damage. Cytotoxicity against murine embryonic fibroblast cells (MEF) was also evaluated and ND-mTHPP was shown to be noncytotoxic since viability of cells cultured for 24 h in the presence of the nanoconjugate (100 μg/mL) was 78%. Considering the enhanced antibacterial activity and the absence of cytotoxic effect, it is possible to consider the ND-mTHPP nanoconjugate as promising platform for application in antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT).

Borate bioactive glasses are more soluble than silicate’s and convert rapidly and completely into hydroxyapatite (Ca₅(PO₄)₃(OH)), being more suitable for wound healing applications than their silicate counterparts. In this work, the 45B5 composition (46.1 B₂O₃ – 26.9 CaO – 24.4 NaO – 2.6 P₂O₅, mol%)) were embedded into electrospun PHBV (Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)) nanofibers by encapsulation and/or electrospray deposition aiming to produce a wound dressing with optimized bioactivity and antibacterial properties for wound healing applications. The fibers were characterized regarding their physical, structural, and thermal properties, and in vitro by L929 Mouse Fibroblast Cell Line adhesion, migration, and cytotoxicity and by its antibacterial activity against the bacteria S. aureus. The set of characterizations evidences that the encapsulation method was the most promising for the 45B5 embedding into PHBV nanofibers, as it produced a wound dressing with great loading efficiency (70%) with a highly hydrophilic surface, leading to expressive adhesion, migration, and viability of L929 cells and antibacterial activity. Thus, the nanofibers produced by the encapsulation method alone provided a dressing with high potential in wound healing management.