COVID-19 - Advancing ultrasound with microbubble (USMB) for the modulation of viral entry and production in COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2感染导致新冠肺炎，这种疾病已迅速成为一种全球大流行，截至2020年4月15日，全球已有200万人感染该疾病，12.5万人死亡。这种疾病在健康、经济和社会方面的巨大代价和负担迫切需要新的疗法，以限制感染在受影响个人中的传播，限制感染在个人之间的传播，并治疗出现严重疾病症状的患者。 超声联合微泡是一种重要的治疗策略，对新冠肺炎的治疗大有可为。这一策略包括全身给药1-5微米的微泡和超声的靶向治疗，超声可以聚焦到患者体内的小体积。超声与微泡(USMB)的联合作用对周围组织具有高度的局部性影响，这可能允许靶向和局部性地抑制病毒感染或增强抗病毒药物的输送。 SARS-CoV-2病毒感染咽喉细胞，然后感染呼吸道(肺部)细胞，导致不良反应。目前还没有能有效阻止SARS-CoV-2细胞进入或复制的治疗方法。由莱尔森大学的Antonescu博士和领先的医学超声工程公司MD Precision Inc.领导的研究人员的合作旨在完成两件事：(1)更好地了解USMB对呼吸道细胞的基本影响，包括它如何触发类药物分子的摄取或调节病毒进入和复制，以及(2)确定触发这些影响的超声参数，以便在临床前和最终临床环境中使用超声换能器。虽然这项研究旨在了解USMB如何调节细胞对病毒反应的基本特性，但它将对进一步开发新冠肺炎治疗具有重要应用。

SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to COVID-19, a disease that has rapidly become a global pandemic, with >2M individuals infected and >125,000 deaths from the disease worldwide (as of April 15th, 2020). The significant health, economic and social cost and burden of this disease urgently requires new therapies that can limit the spread of infection in affected individuals, limit the spread of infection between individuals, and treat patients that exhibit severe disease symptoms. Ultrasound in combination with microbubbles is an important treatment strategy that holds great promise for the treatment of COVID-19. This strategy involves the systemic administration of 1-5 µm microbubbles and the targeted treatment with ultrasound, which can be focused to a small volume within a patient. The combined effect of the ultrasound with microbubbles (USMB) has highly localized effects on nearby tissues, which may allow for targeted and localized suppression of viral infection or enhanced delivery of antiviral drugs. The SARS-CoV-2 virus infects cells of the throat and then of the respiratory tract (lungs), leading to adverse effects. There are no current treatments that can effectively impede SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry or replication. The partnership of researchers led by Dr. Antonescu from Ryerson University and leading medical ultrasound engineering firm MD Precision Inc aims to accomplish two things: (1) obtain an improved understanding of the fundamental effect of USMB on cells of the respiratory tract, including how this triggers uptake of drug-like molecules or modulates virus entry and replication, and (2) define the ultrasound parameters that triggers these effects, in order to allow engineering of ultrasound transducers for use if preclinical and eventually clinical settings. While this research aims to understand the fundamental properties of how USMB modulates cell responses to viruses, it will have important applications to the further development of COVID-19 treatments.