Major Achievements
Single-atom engineered antibiotics
Scientists from CATRIN and VSB-Technical University of Ostrava (VSB-TUO), in collaboration with colleagues from China, have discovered a unique approach to developing a new generation of antibiotics that are not only effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria but can also reliably prevent the development of bacterial resistance. They transformed manganese—a trace element essential for the human body—into an effective antibiotic by anchoring it, using single-atom engineering, within the structure of chemically modified graphene. Tests on animal models have shown that the new material has enormous potential, particularly in local therapy, such as wound healing. The discovery was published in the prestigious Advanced Materials journal.
A new mechanism of vascular tissue growth
Researchers from CATRIN contributed to a study published in the Science journal, in which an international team uncovered a completely new mechanism that enables plants to form conductive tissues for the efficient transport of water and nutrients. The research reveals a new regulatory principle and sheds light on a mystery that has persisted for more than 15 years: how thermospermin can activate or suppress different groups of genes as needed, solely through a ribosome bearing a specific chemical label. These findings may influence plant traits ranging from drought resistance to root and tuber growth in food crops, as well as wood formation. The study thus paves the way for future research aimed at optimizing the growth characteristics of crops important for agriculture and forestry, including the production of commercially significant materials such as wood, paper, and bioproducts.
Single-atom catalysts
Single-atom catalysts can significantly improve industrial hydrogenation processes, which traditionally use molecular hydrogen, take place at high temperatures and pressures, and are therefore very costly and energy-intensive. Using inexpensive iron-based atomic catalysts, scientists are able to produce a wide range of amino compounds through the hydrogenation of nitriles under significantly more favorable conditions. Using a similar atomic system, they achieved the low-temperature conversion of polystyrene into valuable chemicals usable in pharmaceuticals and chemistry, which represents a major breakthrough in terms of the potential for reusing this key plastic, only two to three percent of whose production is currently recycled (Nature Catalysis).
Revolution in water purification
A filtration membrane developed by researchers at CATRIN and the Center for Energy and Environmental Technologies (CEET) at VSB – Technical University of Ostrava can remove dangerous bacteria and toxic heavy metals from water. It also eliminates combined contamination—which poses a serious environmental and health risk—in a single step, without the need for energy sources or chemicals commonly used for water disinfection. The membranes can be easily regenerated, making this technology a breakthrough solution for affordable and safe drinking water anywhere in the world.
The researchers focused on using commonly available and inexpensive filtration membranes, onto which they applied the Nobel Prize-winning carbon material graphene, along with chemical traps for heavy metals and bacteria. In developing the technology, they drew inspiration from a method they recently applied in the development of single-atom engineered antibiotics. They presented the new technology to the scientific community in the prestigious Chem journal.
The very first observation of the so-called sigma-hole
Thanks to extensive interdisciplinary cooperation, scientists from CATRIN, the Institute of Physics of CAS, the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of CAS, and the IT4Innovations Ostrava centre have managed to dramatically increase the resolution capabilities of scanning microscopy—from atomic level to subatomic phenomena. They are the first in the world to observe the asymmetric distribution of electron density on single atoms of halogen elements, the so-called sigma-hole. This definitively confirmed its existence, which was theoretically predicted 30 years ago, but direct observation of the phenomenon has long been an unmet challenge. A breakthrough comparable to the first observation of black holes will make it easier to understand chemical reactions and interactions between individual atoms and molecules. It opens the door to the refinement of the material and structural properties of various physical, biological, or chemical systems. The discovery was published by the journal Science.
Nanoballs to fight Covid-19
The lack of test kits during the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic prompted scientists in Olomouc to react very quickly. Thanks to years of experience in the research of nanomaterials for biomedical applications, they have developed magnetic nanoballs for testing with the PCR method in a matter of days. Miniature particles with a magnetic core and a thin quartz shell on the surface that can bind viral RNA molecules have become an important part of the new covid-19 testing technology, which was developed in the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences and was particularly helpful in the first phase of the pandemic. Scientists in Olomouc are able to manufacture these nanoballs by inexpensive synthesis and in large quantities. In one cycle, they prepare more than 100 grams of particles, enough for about 100,000 covid-19 tests. These magnetic nanoballs have been used for testing by, for example, the Public Health Institute Ostrava, the University Hospital Královské Vinohrady, Motol University Hospital or Bulovka Hospital, and have also been supplied to a number of commercial entities.
Ultra-thin materials with extraordinary properties
Scientists employed at CATRIN were behind the discovery of fluorographene in 2010 (Small). This thinnest insulator paved the way for developing other graphene-derived ultra-thin materials, the properties of which can be tailored to specific applications in medicine, environmental protection, or high-efficiency catalysts or electronics. Researchers have already confirmed their use for energy storage (AdvFunctMater) as the developed derivatives are light, conductive and allow large amounts of electrical charge to accumulate. They can also serve as single-atom catalysts (AdvMater), assist in the treatment of water contaminated with heavy metals, or, conversely, in the extraction of noble metals such as palladium, gallium or indium from the aqueous environment (ACS Nano). The development of the first graphene-based non-metallic magnet was also one of the crucial results in this area (NatComm). The so-called 2D chemistry and development of new carbon materials is also the subject of prestigious European Research Council grants in the category of Consolidator and Proof of Concept.
Quantum dots for both medicine and green energy
Unique materials developed by CATRIN scientists include carbon quantum dots. For these small photoluminescent particles of matter with a graphite structure no larger than ten nanometres in size, the researchers found very promising applications. In the past, scientists in Olomouc have demonstrated the use of different types of quantum dots as miniature ‘thermometers’ for in vivo temperature measurements in living cells (ACS Nano), bioimaging (AdvMater) in medical diagnostics, photothermal cancer therapy (LightSciAppl), development of LEDs (AdvOptMater) or as efficient photocatalysts (ChemRev). They also designed interesting applications in the optoelectronics. Among other things, they used carbon dots to construct photoluminescent solar concentrators enabling to concentrate and ‘collect’ solar radiation, which is converted to electrical energy by a solar cell (Nanoscale).
Transgenic barley for the production of cathelicidin
Local researchers have made a major advance in molecular farming by modifying the barley genome to enable the plant to produce cathelicidin, one of the best-known antimicrobial peptides found in human skin. The technology they have developed could one day lead to large-scale production of this peptide, which forms part of the human immune system and acts as a natural antibiotic (PatentScope). Although its commercial use remains limited by high production costs, genetically modified barley could significantly reduce these costs, according to the researchers.
Because peptides have limited stability and can be toxic to the host plant, the researchers had to optimize a range of parameters. After identifying the most effective production strategy, they introduced the selected genes into barley. The resulting transgenic plants produced cathelicidin exclusively in the grain. The researchers tested the antimicrobial activity of the resulting peptide with its variants and confirmed that these had no adverse effects on the plants themselves (Biotechnology Journal).
