Zinc-Based Nanoparticles Reduce Bacterial Biofilm Formation

Authors: Rafael Bianchini Fulindi, Juliana Domingues Rodrigues, Thulio Wliandon Lemos Barbosa, Ariana
D. Goncalves Garcia, Felipe de Almeida La Porta, Sebastião Pratavieira, Leila
Aparecida Chiavacci, João Pessoa Araújo Junior, Paulo Inácio da Costa, Luis R. Martinez

https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.04831-22 28 February 2023

Article cover image: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSyUnCxoz-2T-

vig2PC48gcTWb0I9ulkMNnkA&usqp=CAU

Article title: Tiny Warriors: Battle between nanoparticles and

bacteria.

By: Sailee Tawade

Like we live in a society or a neighbourhood the bacteria also has its own
neighbourhood. I think their neighbours are better than mine though, like we have
police to keep us and our neighbourhood safe, bacteria itself creates a protective
layer that we call as a biofilm (Bacterial police). This biofilm has great medical
importance as it the cause of most of the infections. Biofilm-forming bacteria cause a large
number of infections, including urinary tract infections, chronic lung infection in patients
with cystic fibrosis, and middle ear infections. Moreover, biofilms also cause an enormous
economic loss to the food industry every year. Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella oxytoca,
and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, are the three bacteria that are in top of the list of harmful
Biofilm forming bacteria. The two-bacteria P. aeruginosa and K. oxytoca are the gram-
negative bacteria. This is one of the ways of classifying the bacteria into Gram negative and
Gram positive. They are classified based the outer layer; this layer is made up of
peptidoglycan. Gram positive has a thicker layer while gram negative has a lighter layer.
These two-gram negative bacteria have a high antibiotic resistance, this means that they are
unaffected against a variety of antibiotics. This makes them difficult to be treated and new
technologies need to be developed. This is where our tiny warriors come in action.

There are various measures that are undertaken to treat these diseases, one of which
is treating them with nanoparticle-based treatment. Nanoparticles are tiny molecules
that cannot be seen by naked eyes. They are measured in nanoscale which in range of
10-200nm. Consider your hair its dimension is nearly 80,000 nm. Now you can
imagine how tiny are these fighters. This small size allows them to enter the bacteria
and fight against it. In this approach we tell the bacteria that we are not causing any
harm to you but changing some agents or factors in you that cause the disease. These
factors are called as virulence factors.
Why zinc nanoparticles? In study Rafael Bianchini and team have created zinc
nanoparticles as our warriors against the bacteria. They have made two of these zinc
oxide and the other is zinc sulphide, zinc oxide (ZnO) is a promising antimicrobial
agent and also have antifungal activities. Zinc is chosen because this can also be
used in food industry to prevent microbial spoilage. These synthesised nanoparticles
were then studied for their shape, size and ZnS exhibits a combination of smaller cubic
and wurtzite shape structures of ~150 nm.
What next?
Now before attacking the biofilm the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum
bactericidal concentration (MBC) are studied. So what are these MIC is the smallest amount
of drug or substance required to limit the growth of bacteria, whereas MBC ensures the death
of bacteria. Once the minimum concentration is known then the biofilm is attacked. These
nanoparticles easily enter the biofilm due to its small size and shape. Once they enter the
biofilm they can easily disrupt the biofilm using various modes of action, like they can
physically disrupt it by degrading the biofilm or can generate reactive oxygen species that
disrupt the biofilm. The image shows difference in biofilm that is formed in the treated,
untreated bacteria with the nanoparticles.

From this study we can conclude that nanoparticles can significantly inhibit the bacterial
biofilm. Hence we can use these particles against a variety bacteria as well as in food
industry. Tiny particles of zinc (Zn NPs) can be put on surfaces like catheters in hospitals or
in things that keep food fresh. This helps stop the biofilm from growing, and it also makes
areas where dirt doesn't stick as much. Through this we can confirm that our nanoparticles
have won the battel against the biofilm forming bacteria.