Aggregation-induced emission artificial enzyme (AIEzyme) with DNase-like activity: Imaging and matrix cleavage for combating bacterial biofilm

DNase-catalyzed hydrolysis of extracellular DNA (eDNA) has been widely employed to eradicate intractable biofilms. Although aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has become the ideal tool for killing planktonic bacteria, AIE luminogens (AIEgens) often lack DNase-mimetic activity, so as to suffer from poor anti-biofilm capacity. Here, an "AIEzyme", a kind of AIE nanomaterial with enzyme-like activity, is designed and synthesized, where the AIEgens are used as the ligands of Zr-based coordination polymer nanoparticles. Not only does AIEzyme have enduring DNase-mimetic activity with low activation energy, but also structural rigidity-stabilized fluorescence. Due to the long-acting hydrolysis for eDNA in biofilm, AIEzyme can efficiently disorganize the established biofilms with good penetrability and realize the healing of superbug-infected wounds under only one dose of AIEzyme. This work provides a strategy to endow ordinary AIEgens with DNase-like and anti-biofilm activities. Moreover, AIEzymes can be observed by virtue of their own AIE character, facilitating the study on self-positioning and residual amount of AIEzymes in wounds. The concept "AIEzyme" would hopefully stimulate the tremendous expansion for the tool kits and the application of AIEgens and artificial enzymes.