7th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “NANOBIOPHYSICS: FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED ASPECTS”

7th International conference “NANOBIOPHYSICS: Fundamental and Applied Aspects” (NBP-2019) took place on October 4-8, 2021 at B. Verkin Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kharkiv, Ukraine). Previous six conferences, starting from 2009, were organized due to joint efforts of B. Verkin Institute for Low Temperature Physics and Engineering of the NAS of Ukraine and Institute of Physics of the NAS of Ukraine on biennial basis in Kharkiv and Kyiv alternatively. Among 80 registered participants from 16 countries about 40 scientists have presented their lectures and posters offline and other participants were joining the sessions online. 16 keynote lectures and 18 oral presentations were made and 51 posters were discussed offline and online. The goal of the conference was achieved: urgent problems, advances and perspectives of the topical scientific direction of nanobiophysics which embraces achievements of modern molecular biophysics and nanotechnology were discussed. The subjects of physical aspects of biomolecular nanosystems, properties of biomolecules on nanoparticles and nanostructured surfaces, nanobiohybrids formation by 1-D or 2-D nanomaterials with bioobjects, theoretical calculations and computer modeling of nanobiosystems, and applied aspects of nanobiophysics were highlighted at the related sessions. Several additional accompanying events were organized in the framework of the conference, including a Round Table “How biophysics and nanosciences meet modern challenges: the case of COVID-19”, a special session of the Ukrainian Biophysical Society, and SPIE (The International Society of Optics and Photonics) and OSA (The Optical Society) Workshop “Career development opportunities for young scientist and students”. Book of based on NBP-2021 materials was published. © Karachevtsev V. A., Kosevich M. V., Dovbeshko G. I., 2022.

TiO2 Nanostructures That Reduce the Infectivity of Human Respiratory Viruses Including SARS-CoV-2.

The rapid emergence and global spread of the COVID-19 causing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its subsequent mutated strains has caused unprecedented health, economic, and social devastation. Respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted through both direct and indirect channels, including aerosol respiratory droplets, contamination of inanimate surfaces (fomites), and direct person-to-person contact. Current methods of virus inactivation on surfaces include chemicals and biocides, and while effective, continuous and repetitive cleaning of all surfaces is not always viable. Recent work in the field of biomaterials engineering has established the antibacterial effects of hydrothermally synthesized TiO2 nanostructured surfaces against both Gram-negative and -positive bacteria. The current study investigates the effectiveness of said TiO2 nanostructured surfaces against two enveloped human coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-NL63, and nonenveloped HRV-16 for surface-based inactivation. Results show that structured surfaces reduced infectious viral loads of SARS-CoV-2 (5 log), HCoV-NL63 (3 log), and HRV-16 (4 log) after 5 h, compared to nonstructured and tissue culture plastic control surfaces. Interestingly, infectious virus remained present on control tissue culture plastic after 7 h exposure. These encouraging results establish the potential use of nanostructured surfaces to reduce the transmission and spread of both enveloped and nonenveloped respiratory viruses, by reducing their infectious period on a surface. The dual antiviral and antibacterial properties of these surfaces support their potential application in a wide variety of settings such as hospitals and healthcare environments, public transport and community hubs.

Antiviral Nanostructured Surfaces Reduce the Viability of SARS-CoV-2.

In this letter, we report the ability of the nanostructured aluminum Al 6063 alloy surfaces to inactivate the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). There was no recoverable viable virus after 6 h of exposure to the nanostructured surface, elucidating a 5-log reduction compared to a flat Al 6063 surface. The nanostructured surfaces were fabricated using wet-etching techniques which generated nanotextured, randomly aligned ridges approximately 23 nm wide on the Al 6063 alloy surfaces. In addition to the excellent mechanical resilience properties previously shown, the etched surfaces have also demonstrated superior corrosion resistance compared to the control surfaces. Such nanostructured surfaces have the potential to be used in healthcare environment such as hospitals and public spaces to reduce the surface transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and combat COVID-19.