Fig. 6: Schematic illustration of the Trojan horse strategy for targeted antimicrobial delivery via siderophores.
From: New insights into radiolabelled siderophores for molecular imaging of bacterial infections
(1) The antimicrobial agent is conjugated to the siderophores, which can be (2) radiolabelled. These conjugates are then (3) actively transported into pathogens via iron uptake pathways. Once internalised, (4) the antimicrobial compound and the radioisotope are released, enabling simultaneous detection and elimination of the microorganism (a theranostic approach). This strategy exploits specific microbial iron acquisition systems, thereby increasing drug specificity and might potentially help to overcome common resistance mechanisms. Created in https://BioRender.com. Bendová, K. (2025) https://BioRender.com/gm3sbxd.
