EAGER: Collaborative Research: Detection and Analysis of Airborne Coronavirus with Bioinspired Membranes

在当前的COVID-19大流行期间，生物病原体通过雾化飞沫传播仍然是主要关注的问题。因此，捕获和分析雾化病原体的能力对于了解和减轻COVID-19或其他新型病原体再次爆发的可能性至关重要。为了满足这一需求，来自缅因大学和马萨诸塞大学阿姆赫斯特分校的一个跨学科研究小组将设计一种生物启发技术，促进从生物气溶胶中有效收集病毒。这项技术的灵感来自肉食性猪笼草，它有一个光滑的边缘和内壁，使昆虫掉落并被困在它的消化液中。通过设计一种由膜表面的液体层组成的复合材料，可以捕获和分析致病颗粒。该团队将优化膜系统，使其能够在雾化飞沫中与导致COVID-19爆发的SARS-CoV-2病毒一起工作，这些飞沫模仿说话、咳嗽和打喷嚏时释放的飞沫。这项工作将通过快速研发廉价、高通量和可广泛部署的技术，填补当前疾病传播监测方法的一个关键空白，该技术可在医院、老年人护理设施和旅游中心等高风险地点持续运行。以生物气溶胶形式形成的新型冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2）等致病因子对疾病监测、控制和治疗提出了独特的挑战。由于难以从固体过滤器表面回收完整的病毒颗粒或吞吐量不足，先前设计病毒气溶胶收集系统的尝试取得了有限的成功。该项目旨在通过采用受Nepenthes猪笼草启发的液体门控膜（LGM）系统来解决这些限制。该系统在膜表面采用了一种水不混溶的液体，形成了一个可重复使用的、可逆的液体陷阱，将活的致病颗粒固定在膜表面的薄液体壳内。将使用呼肠孤病毒模型开发LGM系统，在使用SARS-CoV-2验证该技术之前，将使用逆转录-定量聚合酶链反应、传染性试验和结构评估来评估捕获效率。该团队将探索与缅因州和马萨诸塞州的制造业（包括纸浆和纸制品）密切相关的新知识产权的开发。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The spread of biological pathogens via aerosolized droplets continues to be of primary concern during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the ability to capture and analyze aerosolized pathogens is critical to understand and mitigate the potential for reoccurring outbreaks of COVID-19 or other novel pathogens. To address this need, an interdisciplinary research team from the University of Maine and the University of Massachusetts Amherst will engineer a bioinspired technology that facilitates the efficient collection of viruses from bioaerosols. The inspiration for the technology is the carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plant, which has a slippery rim and inner walls causing insects to fall and become trapped within its digestive fluid. By engineering a composite material comprised of a liquid layer on the surface of a membrane, the capture and analysis of pathogenic particles will be enabled. The team will optimize the membrane system to work with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 outbreak, in aerosolized droplets that mimic those released during talking, coughing, and sneezing. This work will fill a critical gap in current methods of monitoring the spread of disease through fast-tracked research and development of an inexpensive, high-throughput, and widely deployable technology that can be continuously operated at high-risk locations, such as hospitals, elder-care facilities, and travel hubs. Disease-causing agents such as the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that take form as bioaerosols present unique challenges for disease surveillance, containment, and treatment. Previous attempts to design aerosol collection systems for viruses have had limited success due to either the difficulty of retrieving intact virus particles from a solid filter surface or inadequate throughput. This project seeks to address these limitations by adapting a liquid-gated membrane (LGM) system inspired by the Nepenthes pitcher plant. The system adaptation employs a water-immiscible liquid on the surface of the membrane that creates a reusable, reversible liquid trap immobilizing live pathogenic particles within a thin liquid shell at the membrane surface. A model reovirus will be used to develop the LGM system, and capture efficiency will be assessed using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, infectivity assays, and structural assessment before the technology is validated using SARS-CoV-2. The team will explore the development of new intellectual property that would be well-aligned with manufacturing industries of both Maine and Massachusetts, including pulp and paper products.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.