Turning an FDA-approved therapeutic into an AIEgen for imaging live bacteria and for bacterial detection

Abstract

Aggregation Induced Emission (AIE) is an attractive, fluorescent-based phenomenon that can be used to design fluorescent imaging agents and fluorescent sensors. In this highlight, we discuss a recently reported study that identifies the chemical scaffold of an FDA-approved therapeutic (deferasirox) as a molecule with AIE-like properties (AIEgen). Utilizing its therapeutic efficacy for bacterial biofilms, deferasirox-derivatives were shown able to treat and image bacteria biofilms and detect a bacterial biomarker. This demonstrates the potential of AIE for drug design as this allows the simultaneous ability to image the therapeutic's location and mode of action. © 2021 The Authors. Aggregate published by South China University of Technology; AIE Institute and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.