Nanozymes vs. Biofilms: Reimaging the Future of Disinfection with Nanozyme Technology

Join us for an enlightening episode of "Nanozymes vs. Biofilms: Reimagining the Future of Disinfection with Nanozyme Technology," where we dive into the cutting-edge science revolutionizing how we think about disinfection, cleanliness and safety. Hosted by Dr. Christina Drake. This episode explores the incredible potential of nanozymes and their unparalleled ability to combat resilient biofilms.

Discover how Kismet Technologies is redefining sanitization standards across industries, from healthcare and food production to hospitality and beyond. Through a blend of scientific insight and practical applications, we unravel the challenges posed by biofilms and the transformative role of nanozyme antimicrobial technology in creating cleaner, safer environments.

Whether you're a researcher, industry professional, or fascinated by the future of antimicrobial innovation, this episode offers a unique perspective on the science that's reshaping infection control and public health.

Listen in to learn how Kismet Technologies is leading the way to a healthier, safer tomorrow.

Ready to reimagine the power of clean? Contact Kismet Technologies and discover how our hydrogen peroxide-powered solutions can protect your business, brand, and community. Visit www.kismettechnologies.com to learn more and connect with our experts today!

Transcript

Music, Hi everyone. I'm here today with Dr Melanie Kot. She is the director of the bionics cluster at UCF, and she is also a man scientist and researcher. It's a pleasure to have you on this month's Kismet Tech Talk. Thank you. And let's start with the basics, just helping the audience understand, you know, your luminous background in cell biology. So let's talk about your background first, because who you are and what you've done. 

Okay, so I actually grew up in north Wales, so I'm a rural girl, and then left to do my my BSc in at the University of Liverpool. So I did medical cell biology. Started off with biochemistry, didn't like it so much, and then moved to medical cell biology, and then moved to London. I did my PhD at UCL University College London, based at the Royal National orthopedic hospital at Stanmore. And the goal and the focus of that work was really interdisciplinary. It was to work, you know, alongside engineers and the surgeons and clinicians in order to facilitate new implants, new technologies. And it worked really well. I think that the department is well known there. And then in 2017 I left to come to UCF, who were looking to start a similar thing about interdisciplinary research, where you combine engineers, material scientists, clinicians, biologists, such as myself. And it was great because it was a new department of a new place. I guess for me, it's, you know, a new thing to build, to help to create. And it was very attractive. So I came here then. And so that was the bionics cluster that formed and originally called the prosthetic interfaces cluster, but changed to the bionics. So if I remember bionic implants, materials and interfaces. And so we have faculty from a range. It started from the College of Medicine, faculty based at mechanical and aerospace engineering, and then materials and science engineering. But more recently, we've had faculty join from chemistry, limitless guys, Nicholson, communications department and College of Nursing, as well as some surgeons from adventhealth as well, and the more so it's growing nicely. It's exciting, and that brought me here. 

Yeah, so very interdisciplinary industry focused and focused on solving broader issues within healthcare. Yeah. So we're here to talk about the publication earlier this year in nanozymes and biomaterials. So let's talk about, what are biofilms. So for our audience, what is it? Why is it an issue, and why is it such a big problem on high touch surfaces?

Okay, so we have so many different types of bacteria, and, you know, not even talking about the viruses, but and the fungi, but the bacteria. But one of the common things that most of them do is to protect themselves. They've got, I mean, they're phenomenal. I think they're phenomenal in many ways, because they can change their structure that you know, their DNA almost to change according to the environment. So they can be very tricky, but one of the other things that makes them very difficult and challenging and tricky is they form this biofilm. So they exclude this kind of slimy matrix, and they embed themselves in it. And from that, it protects them. It becomes a barrier. So you give systemic antibiotics or sprays or something on a surface, it needs to penetrate that biofilm to get to the bacteria inside. And when they're inside as well, they become quite difficult to kill because their metabolism slows down, amongst other things, and so it can be really challenging to treat them. So if you can break the biofilm and get to the bacteria inside, then that would be fantastic. But unfortunately, not a lot of products are able to do that. So we have this biofilm that can hang around for long periods of time. The bacteria can control it and release themselves from it at any given point, and then reinfect a surface or a person. So it's it's a real challenge to get past that biofilm.

Yeah, and bacteria are good at their survivors. And so when we think about, you know, so a lot of people think, you know, if I don't see anything on the surface, I've cleaned it, I'm fine. Why might that be an issue like, let's say, in healthcare, where biofilms tend to be more rampant.
 
Okay, so, so what happens is that the biofilm is still there, even though we can't see it. And so then if you're in a hospital or various other places where there are lots of people touching surfaces, you can then put a bacteria on that surface. Or if the if the bacteria is still on that surface, you can then touch that surface and then infect yourself with that bacteria, and you won't know, because you can't see, and a lot of the products I might be going off target with, the question was, but so it was about the bacterial the surface, was it? So then, if you have a. If you have the bacteria on the surface, then people can touch it and infect themselves, and you won't necessarily know. So you need to have a coating or a spray or a product that gives confidence that that surface is protected no matter how many people touch it with different with different bugs and different bacteria. Great.

Why do biofilms resist traditional cleaning? I think that's something that the public and even some people in healthcare maybe don't fully understand. Why is it such a hard you've touched on different points of that, but just kind of at the heart of it, what is it about biofilms?

I think with the biofilms, they're very they're a fantastic barrier. They're impenetrable. So you can put products on that surface, but it doesn't necessarily remove the biofilm and therefore attack or kill the bacteria. And if it does, it may just do it a little bit. I mean, you've got various layers of the biofilm as well, and so you need a product that's able to completely eliminate that biofilm, and not just maybe scratch the surface for a better word, gotcha, yeah, all right. 

So earlier this year, you published a paper in biomaterials on how the nanozyme works. Could you just talk a little bit about how the silver cereal, nanozyme, that combination makes it effective as an antimicrobial. Okay, so it was a really interesting paper, and really fantastic working with you and others in the team as well, because it was such a journey to work out what might be happening. 

I say might just scientific disclaimer, what appears to be happening. Initially, we thought that it was attaching onto the surface and it was breaking the wall. And then we thought initially, at least, I thought initially it would be your light activated free radicals. But then as the study went on and as the questions accumulated, we started doing more and more experiments, and found that it seems that the most important product that's formed is hydrogen peroxide, and exactly how the silver and the cerium are working to really boost that. The production of the hydrogen peroxide is still a little needs to be discovered a little bit more, but it seems to be a perfect kind of synergy between the silver and cerium, that kind of changes the electronic exchange on the surface, and you get this amount of hydrogen peroxide that's that's formed, and that seems to be the, the key element that causes bacterial death, or bacterial suicide. Yes, from what we can see, yeah. 

So when you read the paper through the scientific jargon, it is eventually programmed death. Or, yeah, yes. So thinking about, you know, the the nanozyme, and how that works, how would you compare that to, like a disinfectant, chemistry like hydrogen peroxide, when you're thinking about how effective it is against a biofilm, for example? 

Okay, so I think that with the with the nanoparticle, one of the key things that's fantastic, I think, is the auto regenerative component of it. It just keeps recycling and recycling and producing more and more, which the other chemicals don't do, yes, so that when it's on a surface, it keeps on going, and so you're able to get rid of that biofilm layer way more effectively than other products that are out there at the moment. Great, yeah.

And then, you know, we joked slightly about the programmed death in bacteria. So what's happening at the microscopic level? You know, there's a great discussion of that in the biomaterials paper, but you know, just kind of like broad sense, what's that? What is actually happening? Okay, what I what

I think is happening, what I thought initially, what what we saw initially, was that, as mentioned, the nanoparticles seem to attach onto the surface. And initially, it was thought that the the cell membrane, the bacterial membrane, was breached, and then you'd get the influx of fluid into the bacteria. Because what we were seeing was that the bacteria would just stop. Were just starting to lose shape and just become larger until, you know, I would say explode, but non scientifically, say explode. And so I thought it was a breach on the on the cell membrane. But as we did more of the work, and particularly we when we looked at the transcript, the transcriptome, and what was happening on a gene level, what seems to be happening is that the the nanoparticles seem to break down any way that this the or, I should say, Stop or eliminate the various mechanisms that the bacteria has to generate energy. So, so aerobic energy, anaerobic, and then they go to alcohol, they go to various other mechanisms, and they all seem to be stopped. And so it's almost as if any way of forming, of staying alive, I guess, is stopped the including DNA formation and various important proteins that need to be made, they're all inhibited. And it looks, then, as if the bacteria then just that. May think a new philosophy, I think, for bacterias is that they commit suicide in order to release their contents for other adjacent bacteria to survive. I don't know that that's happening, but, but, um, but it the cell at some point. The bacteria, at some point, programs itself to auto lice, and so it exposed so and I think that with the hydrogen peroxide, it may simply be permeable to the cell membrane, so it literally just falls into the into the bacteria, yeah, and with the nanoparticles generating lots of that and then becoming close to the bacterial surface, it then kind of just pours hydrogen peroxide in, I think, and it loses its ability to form energy. Incredibly fascinating it is, and what's really good, just interest to me, but was that I didn't know what to expect looking I was really excited to get the genetic, the transcriptomic data to work out what was happening. And I thought you'd just see something. You'd see how the nanoparticles are just destroying a bacteria, but what you see instead, is a bacteria that's trying to survive. Yes, and I thought that was incredible. And it doesn't, it makes sense, seeing this open around for millions of years, but, but, um, but, you know, it's just okay, that's blocked. Okay, let's try this that's blocked. Okay, let's try this. And it's just this continual survival mechanism that kicks in. And I thought, you know, it's quite amazing. And looking at transfer transcriptomics and proteomics in people as well, you see a similar kind of survival the body kicks in to protect, which, again, I don't know for me, I just it's very exciting.

Yeah. So that was, you know, that was like a new finding, you know, in terms of just what the bacteria are trying to do to evade and survive. And that, you know, from what we've seen Yeah, with those particles, that they're not really able to get around that, which is probably why we haven't seen any organisms. Yet, microorganisms of a pathogenic nature haven't been able to Yeah, every look that has been killed susceptible, yeah. And so, you know, there are a couple terms that we used. So, you know, cell lysis, for example, could you just explain to our audience with cell lysis is, I guess, cell lysis, or auto lysis, is the program cell death. 

So it and other, you know, the other way that I explained was it exploded. Cells don't necessarily have to explode and enlarge and explode, but they literally just auto lysed so they they're membrane, and they release their contents and die. Basically, yeah, and the images are very interesting, so when you have a look at it, this conversation will make a little bit more sense when you see the images. 

So switching out of, you know, bench top testing and into the real world, we tested the nanozyme within a product in a pediatric dental facility, we included it as part of the paper, just to kind of show, you know, just the potential real world impact that the underlying science would have. So in terms of, you know, translating what we saw bench top to those results, could you extrapolate on, you know, kind of the broader significance in healthcare settings for high touch surfaces in terms of what we've seen. 

Yeah, so I think that that study in the dental clinic is so important because, of course, we have the coupon that was coated and it was placed by the toilet for 28 days, and not cleaned, not clean and not clean.

And when you look at the control you know where there's no coating. And then you grow up the various organisms that are there, microorganisms that are there, you see a lot of different shapes, colors, sizes, meaning, there's lots of different types of species there. But then when you look at the coupon that's been coated with the nanozyme, we found there was no growth. So after 28 days, so it's obviously remains residual on the surface, you know, it remains active. And it also, very importantly, is able to eradicate a number of different types of species that are generally found within that healthcare setting.

Yeah, and we picked the dirtiest place in that dental it was a pediatric dental facility too, so think little kids trying to use the toilet. We literally picked the dirtiest place that could go, and it wasn't clean. And so just to put into perspective, usually you do test and they're more controlled, and they tend to be cleaner. We did not control for the amount of fluids that way. Coupon, so, so you know, and that's in healthcare, you know, that was a pediatric dental facility. So thinking outside of healthcare, there's other places where you can get sick. So just kind of thinking broader implications, what this might mean for like airports or gyms, when you think about. But, you know, preventing illness,

Speaker 2  15:02  
yeah, yeah. So I think anywhere where you have a lot of people, so you've got a lot of people touching the same surface. So as you mentioned, airports, I always think of cruise ships because of the association with illness sometimes on those, yeah, cruise ships schools. I mean, it could be anywhere where, you know, where there's a lot of people touching, and where you've got a lot of maybe, maybe with schools as well, because you've got a lot of kids with a lot of bugs. So it could be very helpful in a number of places.

Yeah, so we did learn from that pediatric dental facility, they don't always make it into the toilet. Yeah, there's, there's many reasons that we want to control microbes in certain settings, and then so thinking about, you know, the nanozyme. I know, sometimes there's concerns around, you know, nanoparticles being unsafe, or some certain chemistries being unsafe, or that it might have negative impact to the environment. So from your point of view, could you just kind of talk to, you know, safety, environmental, kind of like, from your perch, how you see that having a potential positive impact?

I think, I think it's it has a positive impact compared to the other products that are currently being used and flush down water systems and that type of thing. Number one, because it's a coating that's residual, so it will stay there, so you'll end up using less than you would for products. And then number two, in terms of safety, silver is, is recognized as safe. We have off the shelf silver products that we can buy. It's, it's, I mean, it can be dangerous and high levels and cause Algeria, but, but generally it's it's safe, and, you know, under moderate amounts, and the cerium oxide nanoparticles as well, have been shown to be safe and are available in many products that everyday products are in our home. So, so I think it's safe. And then, in comparison to the products that are currently used, it has many added benefits, yeah, and I think even thinking about just washing chemistries down the sink, it goes, in a lot of ways, aquifers into lakes, you know, and has unintended consequences in those areas where we probably don't want to kill off microbes too. 

So, yeah, it's kind of, I know that we focus more on preventing illness, but I think that there's downstream effects that I think aren't always friend of mine, but are also important to just quality of life for people. So kind of related to that, unintended consequences, right? Antibiotics are often used to try and prevent infections in people, but they've caused other issues as well. So could you talk to how you know, products that make use of the nanozyme could help with issues around antibiotic resistance, which is becoming a growing problem worldwide.

So at the moment, with our nanozyme, we haven't seen any resistance which is, which is fantastic. And I wonder if that's to do with the auto regenerative properties, maybe it's the fact of its hydrogen peroxide that's released that we're seeing comparably less, if not none, at this point, resistance. So in comparison to antibiotics, where we are seeing it and we are seeing that rise in resistant bacteria, I'm hopeful that the nanozyme will be able to not add to that, and, you know, not cause resistance. And in fact, you know, when we've looked at it with MRSA, and we've looked at it with pseudo pseudonymous regime also, which is, you know, on the list of of resistant bacteria, yeah, we found that it's very effective, and so at eliminating those so, so it's an exciting product, I think, yeah, for for the future, as you know, there's the programmed death. 

I still like, when with that data came back, I was like, wow, yeah, that, yeah, it really kind of opened up what was really happening at that microscopic level.

Because I have a whiteboard at home, and I literally had to write everything down because I was convinced it was an adhesion. And I don't know if it is. I mean, it looks like it's adhering, we haven't shown that yet, but I thought adhesion, you know, somehow mechanically breaking the membrane. And then I was going through, but what is this program? So, why would it be program? So, and then, you know, when I thought, hang on, there's things here. I'm just assuming I have that have happened that I can't prove. Yeah, and so then it was just this, almost, you know, pinging my mind one day. It's like, maybe, maybe something else I had to rewrite the or rethink the whole thing. But I think we, we got there in the end, it's, it's definitely, I think, more of the suicide and due, due to loss of energy, and probably, yeah, important protein synthesis, yeah. 

And I think also just being able to, per, you know, as the number of infections that we could reduce in the first place, right? So there's both the, you know. Uh, not causing resistance because, you know, quaternary ammonium compounds are quats, as they're often called laymen terms, which is in a lot of disinfectants there, there are resistant organisms now to quants, similar to antibiotics, you know, so we obviously wouldn't want to add to that issue, yeah. But then I think also just reducing the amount of illness that requires antibiotics so people are not yes, you know, using that and potentially creating resistant bacteria in the body, yeah? So I think, for multiple reasons, having these alternate, non chemistry, non pharmaceutical solutions to help deal with yeah is a, you know, worthwhile cause, yeah for us to go after. So looking ahead, right? Because we, we've been working together for a while. We've, you know, have done research together. You know what's next? What are some of the things that you're excited about? When you think about what, what these nanozymes can do?

I Oh, I was going to go off attention then. So I think one of the maybe it's a non it's not, it's a closed channel that I'm thinking about, but I'm thinking about the proteins and the attachment and the on the surfaces. And I think it'd be great. Or maybe what I should say, scrap that. What I shouldn't say, I think, is learning more about the mechanism of how they work. I think both the serum oxide and puzzles and the silver and how that's functioning, in order to know how it's working at a material level, in order to then work out if we can make it even better. Yeah, I think would be, would be really exciting to do. One of the things I forgot to mention earlier was that, you know, we did look at it in terms of biofilm as well, and, and and again, just referring to how it's working and how, you know, the electron transfer and the ROS and the various other things are forming, I'm not sure, but it does break down the biofilm, yes, and it does break it down and eliminate, I think, as if I remember the data, pretty much all of the bacteria that's within, yeah, the biofilm both gram negative and gram positive. So that's really exciting. So I think maybe understanding a little bit more about how it's working, and then can we tweak it to work even better, faster, you know, more you know, would be next to my list. 

Yeah, yeah. Because then the, you know, the implications for that outside of just environmental surfaces, but potentially for like implants in the body and other places where bio so bio phones wreak havoc on surfaces that you touch when you go into hospitals and other places, but they also wreak havoc if you have implants or other external objects put into your body for health Care purposes. And so, yeah, there's a lot of it's almost too much, sometimes just all the places it could be helpful. Yes, it is. 

And I think coming from the orthopedic world, I'm kind of knocking myself for not thinking about that, because it is a huge problem, you know, by formation adjacent orthopedic implants, but also other, as you mentioned, catheters and various other things that are put into the body. It's, it's a huge problem. We need something that can break down that, that barrier and, like we say, Get and kill those bacteria inside. Yeah. And so if we can formulate something that can be used internally, then that would be yes, and be phenomenal. I have a feeling, you and I be maybe working on at the rate that we're going.

So in terms of, you know, just thinking about the impact to healthcare, you know, in terms of, so going back outside of the body environmental services, how would you view this technology being applied to surfaces, helping with infection control and healthcare. So now this is more the clinical aspect, translational aspect of the research.

I think, I think that, I think that this is important in terms of applying it to surfaces, applying it to in healthcare settings, applying it to chairs to curtains to walls to floors. And then I think as well, you know, one of the things that we've looked at as well, you know, in areas where the sunlight or when, where places where it's cold, you know, having a broad application that is effective and lasts days, if not weeks, if possible, yeah, so and then. And therefore, if it's it stays there, you have multiple people coming in on multiple occasions, and you would remove that transmission and also save the cleaners. Yes, from cleaning, yeah, less chemistry, less power, hopefully, and more sanitation. 

Yes, yes, safer surfaces, yes. As always, it is always delightful to speak with you. So as we end our interview today, you know what's one takeaway you'd want to give to the audience here listening to us? 

So my one takeaway would be, I guess, I think, I guess, probably knowing that bacteria are around in our environment can be, can be a bit scary. Most times our bodies can, can fight them off, you know, most occasions. But I think that it's important to have these coatings, you know, just to reduce getting ill. Reduce, you know, having family members getting ill, reduced spreading more troublesome bacteria, such as the nurses and such as the pseudos. And so it's important to have that layer on surfaces, just to, you know, to help to reduce, and not only in healthcare settings, as we've talked about, but also in schools, airports, cruises, wherever it might be, so that we can kind of reduce or control the transmission, particularly those nastier products.

Yes, and I'm sure parents of young children will agree with you, even if they don't understand what a bacteria, a bio or ninozyme, is, just because of the number of surfaces they touch and then they put their hands in their mouths. But yeah. So really, you know, really great insights. Thank you so much for breaking down what some might view as a hefty literature paper to help educate our audience. And so you know, thank you for listening, and we hope you learned something today. And you know, take care of yourself, stay healthy, and we'll talk to you next time. For our listeners who want to dive deeper into the conversation today and the technology we're discussing and the results that we've discussed, please click on the link below that will take you to the paper so that you too can become more educated on biofilms and their impact and how nanozymes can help deal with those. Make sure that you follow and subscribe Kismet tech talks. And if you have more interest in terms of nanozymes and certain products, please visit our website to learn more. Thank you. Applause.