TiO2 supported single Ag atoms nanozyme for elimination of SARS-CoV2

Daji Wang; Bin Zhang; Hui Ding; Dan Liu; Jianquan Xiang; Xuejiao J Gao; Xuehui Chen; Zhongjun Li; Lei Yang; Hongxia Duan; Jiyan Zheng; Zheng Liu; Bing Jiang; Yang Liu; Ni Xie; Han Zhang; Xiyun Yan; Kelong Fan; Guohui Nie

doi:10.1016/j.nantod.2021.101243

TiO₂ supported single Ag atoms nanozyme for elimination of SARS-CoV2

Nano Today. 2021 Oct:40:101243. doi: 10.1016/j.nantod.2021.101243. Epub 2021 Jul 7.

Authors

Daji Wang¹, Bin Zhang¹, Hui Ding¹, Dan Liu², Jianquan Xiang³, Xuejiao J Gao⁴, Xuehui Chen², Zhongjun Li¹, Lei Yang¹, Hongxia Duan², Jiyan Zheng², Zheng Liu², Bing Jiang², Yang Liu¹, Ni Xie¹, Han Zhang⁵, Xiyun Yan^{1

2

6}, Kelong Fan^{2

6}, Guohui Nie¹

Affiliations

¹ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of nanozymes and Translational Cancer Research, Department of Otolaryngology, and Institute of Translational Medicine, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital/the First Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University Health Science Center, Shenzhen 518035, China.
² CAS Engineering Laboratory for Nanozyme, Key Laboratory of Protein and Peptide Pharmaceuticals, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
³ School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southwest Medical University, Sichuan 646000, China.
⁴ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China.
⁵ SZU-NUS Collaborative Innovation Center for Optoelectronic Science & Technology, International Collaborative Laboratory of 2D Materials for Optoelectronics Science and Technology of Ministry of Education College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
⁶ Nanozyme Medical Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.

Abstract

The outbreak of SARS-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) has become a global health emergency. Although enormous efforts have been made, there is still no effective treatment against the new virus. Herein, a TiO₂ supported single-atom nanozyme containing atomically dispersed Ag atoms (Ag-TiO₂ SAN) is designed to serve as a highly efficient antiviral nanomaterial. Compared with traditional nano-TiO₂ and Ag, Ag-TiO₂ SAN exhibits higher adsorption (99.65%) of SARS-CoV2 pseudovirus. This adsorption ability is due to the interaction between SAN and receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike 1 protein of SARS-CoV2. Theoretical calculation and experimental evidences indicate that the Ag atoms of SAN strongly bind to cysteine and asparagine, which are the most abundant amino acids on the surface of spike 1 RBD. After binding to the virus, the SAN/virus complex is typically phagocytosed by macrophages and colocalized with lysosomes. Interestingly, Ag-TiO₂ SAN possesses high peroxidase-like activity responsible for reactive oxygen species production under acid conditions. The highly acidic microenvironment of lysosomes could favor oxygen reduction reaction process to eliminate the virus. With hACE2 transgenic mice, Ag-TiO₂ SAN showed efficient anti-SARS-CoV2 pseudovirus activity. In conclusion, Ag-TiO₂ SAN is a promising nanomaterial to achieve effective antiviral effects for SARS-CoV2.

Keywords: Anti-SARS-CoV2; Neutralization; Peroxidase-like activity; Reactive oxygen species; Single-atom nanozyme.