title: Photodynamic inactivation of mold fungi spores by newly developed charged corroles.
abstract: The photodynamic effect, originally used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) for the treatment of different diseases, e.g. of cancer, has recently been introduced for the inactivation of bacteria. Mold fungi, which provoke health problems like allergies and diseases of the respiratory tract, are even more resistant and their biology is also very different. This study presents the development of four new photosensitizers, which, in combination with low doses of white light, inhibit the germination of mold fungi spores. Two of them even cause lethal damage to the conidia (spores) which are responsible for the spreading of mold fungi. The photoactivity of the newly synthesized corroles was obtained by their application on three different mold fungi: Aspergillus niger, Cladosporium cladosporoides, and Penicillium purpurgenum. To distinguish between inactivation of germination and permanent damage, the fungi were first incubated under illumination for examination of photosensitizer-induced growth inhibition and then left in darkness to test the survival of the conidia. None of the compounds displayed dark toxicity, but all of them attenuated or prevented germination when exposed to light, and the positively charged complexes induced a complete damage of the conidia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Humboldt - Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstraße 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: apreuss@physik.hu-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Annegret
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Preuß
authors.affiliation: Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saltsman
authors.affiliation: Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
authors.forename: Atif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahammed
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Humboldt - Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstraße 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfitzner
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel.
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.affiliation: Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel. Electronic address: chr10zg@tx.technion.ac.il.
authors.forename: Zeev
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Humboldt - Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstraße 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Beate
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Röder
mesh_terms: D000965:Antimony / Q000737:chemistry; D001234:Aspergillus niger / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002963:Cladosporium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D008027:Light; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D010407:Penicillium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000737:chemistry; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D011166:Porphyrins; C431863:corrole; D010758:Phosphorus; D000965:Antimony
keywords: Aspergillus; Charged corroles; Cladosporium; Conidia; Mold fungi; Penicillium; Photodynamic effect; Phototoxicity; Singlet oxygen generation