Mingmei Li, PhD| Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; Xiang Zheng, PhD
Competition Sponsor: Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
Awardee Year: 2025
Biofilm infections on prosthetic joints pose a major clinical challenge, with current treatments often being highly invasive and having high recurrence rates. While single-atom nanozymes show promise for anti-biofilm therapy due to their atomically dispersed active sites and enzyme-like catalysis, their clinical translation is limited by low substrate affinity and slow kinetics. This project aims to overcome these limitations by developing an injectable dual-atom nanozyme hydrogel. We will employ a coordination regulation strategy to create dual-atom sites, enabling synergistic photothermal and multi-enzyme catalytic activities. Our research will: (1) Uncover the atomic-level synthesis mechanism of the nanozymes. (2) Decipher how the electronic structure regulates H2O2/O2 adsorption and activation, elucidating the photothermal-catalytic synergy and controlled ROS generation. (3) Systematically evaluate the hydrogel’s biofilm eradication efficacy and biosafety through in vitro and in vivo models. This study seeks to provide a novel, clinically viable solution for prosthetic joint infections.