Specifically Targeting Capture and Photoinactivation of Viruses through Phosphatidylcholine-Ganglioside Vesicles with Photosensitizer

Herein, we performed a simple virus capture and photoinactivation procedure using visible light on phosphatidylcholine vesicles. l-α-Phosphatidylcholine vesicles were enriched by viral receptors, GT1b gangliosides, and the nonpolar photosensitizer 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin. These vesicles absorb in the blue region of visible light with a high quantum yield of antiviral singlet oxygen, O₂ (¹Δ_g). Through the successful incorporation of gangliosides into the structure of vesicles and the encapsulation of photosensitizers in their photoactive and monomeric state, the photogeneration of O₂(¹Δ_g) was achieved with high efficiency on demand; this process was triggered by light, and specifically targeting/inactivating viruses were captured on ganglioside receptors due to the short lifetime (3.3 μs) and diffusion pathway (approximately 100 nm) of O₂(¹Δ_g). Time-resolved and steady-state luminescence as well as absorption spectroscopy were used to monitor the photoactivity of the photosensitizer and the photogeneration of O₂(¹Δ_g) on the surface of the vesicles. The capture of model mouse polyomavirus and its inactivation were achieved using immunofluorescence methods, and loss of infectivity toward mouse fibroblast 3T6 cells was detected.