RAPID: Collaborative Research: One-step Express Test for Presymptomatic Detection to Prevent COVID-19 Spread

RAPID：协作研究：症状前检测的一步快速测试以防止 COVID-19 传播

• 批准号: 2032601
• 负责人: Tetyana Ignatova
• 金额: $ 3.6万
• 依托单位: University of North Carolina Greensboro
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2022-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2032601&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Collaborative; Research; step; Express

The fast and untamed outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is an unprecedented public health emergency that requires immediate attention to reduce morbidity and mortality. During the novel corona virus (COVID-19) outbreak, it appears that thousands of potentially infected individuals showing no apparent symptoms have played a role in propagating a global pandemic disease, with a high infection level in US. Addressing this issue requires development of new technologies for testing for the virus. Importantly, it is crucial to have available simple, reliable, and cost-effective methods for early detection of the virus in large numbers of infected individuals, including those who have no apparent symptoms. Furthermore, such new methods are anticipated to allow for assessment of a high volume of test samples under disease outbreak conditions and be key to understanding immunity levels. With this award, the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry is supporting the research of Drs. Slava V. Rotkin, Daniel J. Hayes, Suresh V. Kuchipudi (The Pennsylvania State University, PSU), and Dr. Tetyana Ignatova (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, UNCG) and their collaborators to develop a novel, accurate, and inexpensive prescreening test that takes on the grand challenge of sensing small numbers of live virus particles. The new sensing route addresses important concerns about virus detection at early stages of the disease and less-than-obvious test results from other methods, which have limited the creation of a clear epidemiologic picture. This project investigates a new chemical approach that allows one to "see" concentrated live virus particles by using a combination of magnetic forces applied to nanoparticles bound to the outside of the virus and forces between the virus and its surroundings during creation of miniature liquid drops, all taking place inside a 3-D printed sensor device. The new sensor has great potential to deliver rapid, easy, and at the site of need, information about virus presence, as well as its role regarding mechanisms of viral shedding and preventing the spread of the disease. This technology is envisioned to be useful in detection of other important virus-based diseases, both in humans and animals.The project aims at the development of a new technology for a personal care express viral test – responding but not limited to, COVID-19. Specifically, the project is directed at enabling detection of a viral dose of less than 1,000 virus particles, which corresponds to a typical level in respiratory specimens of an infected individual well in advance of when severe symptoms can be perceived. Achieving such a low limit of detection for non-nucleic acid-based methods is a challenging task, due to fundamental limits for chemical reaction with an analyte. In this project, additional concentration of analyte is approached by combining selective binding of fluorescently tagged magnetic nanoparticles to the glycoprotein of the SARS-CoV-2 corona, followed by aqueous two-phase separation. The project is directed at answering a number of fundamental questions regarding: recognition of live viruses via functionalization of the virus surface with angiotensin converting enzyme 2 labeled staining tag and nanoparticles; chemical and physical processes of acceleration of such a "sandwich" assembly in the micro-volume of transient droplets in the emulsion; and chemical and materials science avenues for selecting a proper combination of water and organic solvents for an emulsion that allows an efficient two-phase separation of viral particles. The project may result in a new technology for early (presymptomatic) detection of the live virus, which offers the possibility of providing at the site-of-need a pre-screening test for prevention of further viral outbreaks and spread of the disease.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

严重急性呼吸道综合征冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2）的快速和不受控制的爆发是一种前所未有的公共卫生紧急情况，需要立即关注以降低发病率和死亡率。在新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）爆发期间，数千名没有明显症状的潜在感染者似乎在传播全球大流行性疾病方面发挥了作用，其中美国的感染水平较高。解决这一问题需要开发新的病毒检测技术。重要的是，必须有简单、可靠和具有成本效益的方法，用于在大量感染者（包括那些没有明显症状的人）中早期检测病毒。此外，预计这种新方法将允许在疾病爆发条件下评估大量测试样本，并成为了解免疫水平的关键。有了这个奖项，化学部的化学测量和成像计划支持了Slava V. Rotkin，丹尼尔J. Hayes，Suresh V. Kuchipudi博士的研究。（宾夕法尼亚州立大学，PSU）和Tetyana Ignatova博士（北卡罗来纳州格林斯伯勒，UNCG）和他们的合作者开发了一种新颖的，准确的，和廉价的预筛选测试，承担了检测少量活病毒颗粒的巨大挑战。新的传感途径解决了有关疾病早期阶段病毒检测的重要问题，以及其他方法不太明显的检测结果，这些方法限制了清晰的流行病学图像的创建。该项目研究了一种新的化学方法，该方法允许人们通过使用施加到与病毒外部结合的纳米颗粒上的磁力以及病毒与其周围环境之间的力的组合来“看到”浓缩的活病毒颗粒，所有这些都发生在3D打印传感器设备内。这种新的传感器具有巨大的潜力，可以在需要的地方快速、轻松地提供有关病毒存在的信息，以及它在病毒脱落机制和预防疾病传播方面的作用。该项目旨在开发一种新的个人护理快速病毒检测技术，以应对但不限于COVID-19。具体而言，该项目旨在能够检测不到1，000个病毒颗粒的病毒剂量，这相当于感染者呼吸道标本中的典型水平，远远早于严重症状。由于与分析物的化学反应的基本限制，实现非基于核酸的方法的如此低的检测限是一项具有挑战性的任务。在该项目中，通过将荧光标记的磁性纳米颗粒选择性结合到SARS-CoV-2冠的糖蛋白上，然后进行水相两相分离，来接近分析物的额外浓度。该项目旨在回答一些基本问题：通过血管紧张素转换酶2标记的染色标签和纳米颗粒对病毒表面进行功能化来识别活病毒;在乳液中瞬时液滴的微体积中加速这种“三明治”组装的化学和物理过程;以及化学和材料科学途径，用于选择水和有机溶剂的适当组合，用于允许病毒颗粒的有效两相分离的乳液。该项目可能会导致一种新的技术，用于早期（症状前）检测活病毒，这提供了可能性，提供在现场的需要，以防止进一步的病毒爆发和疾病的传播pre-screening测试。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。