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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Chem.

Sec. Polymer Chemistry

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fchem.2025.1702876

Photosensitizing Systems Based on Alginate Aerogels and Methylene Blue for Controlled Release of Dye for Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy

Provisionally accepted
Ilya ShershnevIlya Shershnev1*Anna SolovievaAnna Solovieva1*Alexander KopylovAlexander Kopylov1,2Anastasiya CherkasovaAnastasiya Cherkasova1Vladislav KaplinVladislav Kaplin1Sergey RachevSergey Rachev1,2Anastasiya KuryanovaAnastasiya Kuryanova1Nadezhda AksenovaNadezhda Aksenova1,3Victoriya TimofeevaVictoriya Timofeeva1Anastasiya AkovantsevaAnastasiya Akovantseva1Tatyana ZarkhinaTatyana Zarkhina1Viktor ShantarovichViktor Shantarovich1Valentin BekeshevValentin Bekeshev1Polina BikmulinaPolina Bikmulina3Ru-Lin HuangRu-Lin Huang4Qingfeng LiQingfeng Li4Peter TimashevPeter Timashev1,3
  • 1Semenov Institute of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow, Russia
  • 2Institute of Fine Chemical Technologies, Russian Technological University, Moscow, Russia
  • 3Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russia
  • 4Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

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Photosensitizing systems based on methylene blue (MB)-loaded calcium alginate (CaA) and alginic acid (AA) aerogels were developed for photodynamic therapy of difficult-to-heal wounds. Hybrid aerogels incorporating polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP, 2.5 - 40 wt.%) into CaA and AA matrices were also made. The MB release kinetics in a phosphate buffer were found to depend on the aerogel type (AA or CaA). The incorporation of PVP enhanced the MB release rate by 1.5 to 2 times. The singlet oxygen (1O2) generation efficiency of MB embedded in the aerogels was influenced by their porosity and chemical composition. The activity of MB in the photogeneration of 1O2 increased by up to 4 times in the PVP-containing aerogels. Furthermore, the photoactivity of MB in the hybrid aerogel matrices significantly exceeded that in the single-component alginate aerogels.

Keywords: Calcium alginate, Alginic acid, Aerogels, Methylene Blue, Photodynamic therapy, Singlet Oxygen

Received: 10 Sep 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Shershnev, Solovieva, Kopylov, Cherkasova, Kaplin, Rachev, Kuryanova, Aksenova, Timofeeva, Akovantseva, Zarkhina, Shantarovich, Bekeshev, Bikmulina, Huang, Li and Timashev. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Ilya Shershnev, real_neo@mail.ru
Anna Solovieva, ann.solovieva@gmail.com

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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