At the University of Chicago, scientists have developed an absolutely innovative, promising treatment for COVID-19 in the form of nanoparticles with the ability to trap SARS-CoV-2 viruses inside the body and use the body’s own immune system to kill them.
The “nanotraps” lure the virus by imitating the target cells infected by the virus. When the virus gets trapped by the nanotraps, it is then sequestered from other cells and targeted for destruction by the immune system.
Theoretically, these nanotraps could be used on different variants of the virus, resulting in a promising new way to suppress the virus in the future. The therapy is still in the early stages of testing, but the researchers believe that it could be administered through a nasal spray as a treatment for COVID-19.
The findings of the study were published in the journal Matter on April 19th, 2021.
Since the pandemic began, our research team has been developing this new way to treat COVID-19. We have done rigorous testing to prove that these nanotraps work, and we are excited about their potential.
Jun Huang, Assistant Professor, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
The study was led by Huang’s lab.
Designing the Perfect Trap
Led by postdoctoral scholar Min Chen and graduate student Jill Rosenberg, the researchers designed the nanotrap by analyzing the mechanism used by SARS-CoV-2 to bind to cells—a spike-like protein on its surface that attaches itself to the ACE2 receptor protein found on a human cell.
The nanoparticles are made of FDA-approved polymers and phospholipids with a diameter of about 500 nm—quite smaller than a cell. This implies that the nanotraps can reach more areas within the body and capture the virus more effectively.
To ensure the tiny particles appeared the same way they expected, the researchers collaborated with the lab of Associate Professor Bozhi Tian to employ electron microscopes to achieve a better look.
From our imaging, we saw a solid core and a lipid bilayer shell. That’s the essential part because it mimics the cell.
Bozhi Tian, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago
The safety of the system was tested by the researchers in a mouse model, and no toxicity was found. Then, the nanotraps were tested against a pseudovirus, which is a less potent model of a virus that does not replicate, in human lung cells in tissue culture plates. It was found that they totally blocked the entry of the pseudovirus into the cells.
As soon as the pseudovirus attached itself to the nanoparticle—which took about 10 minutes after injection during the tests—the nanoparticles used a molecule that summons the macrophages in the body to engulf and disintegrate the nanotrap.
In general, macrophages eat nanoparticles inside the body. However, the nanotrap molecule accelerates the process. It was found that the nanoparticles were cleared and disintegrated within 48 hours.
The nanoparticles were also with a pseudovirus in an ex vivo lung perfusion system—a pair of donated lungs maintained alive with a ventilator—and it was discovered that they totally blocked infection in the lungs.
Moreover, they collaborated with scientists at Argonne National Laboratory to test the nanotraps using a live virus (instead of a pseudovirus) in an in vitro system. Their system was found to inhibit the virus 10 times better than neutralizing antibodies or soluble ACE2 alone.
Image Credit: Chen and Rosenberg et al.
Post by Amanda Scott, NA CEO. Follow her on twitter @tantriclens
Thanks to Heinz V. Hoenen. Follow him on twitter: @HeinzVHoenen
News
Scientists Just Captured the Stunning Process That Shapes Chromosomes
Scientists at EMBL have captured how human chromosomes fold into their signature rod shape during cell division, using a groundbreaking method called LoopTrace. By observing overlapping DNA loops forming in high resolution, they revealed that large [...]
Bird Flu Virus Is Mutating Fast – Scientists Say Our Vaccines May Not Be Enough
H5N1 influenza is evolving rapidly, weakening the effectiveness of existing antibodies and increasing its potential threat to humans. Scientists at UNC Charlotte and MIT used high-performance computational modeling to analyze thousands of viral protein-antibody interactions, revealing [...]
Revolutionary Cancer Vaccine Targets All Solid Tumors
The method triggers immune responses that inhibit melanoma, triple-negative breast cancer, lung carcinoma, and ovarian cancer. Cancer treatment vaccines have been in development since 2010, when the first was approved for prostate cancer, followed [...]
Scientists Uncover Hidden Protein Driving Autoimmune Attacks
Scientists have uncovered a critical piece of the puzzle in autoimmune diseases: a protein that helps release immune response molecules. By studying an ultra-rare condition, researchers identified ArfGAP2 as a key player in immune [...]
Mediterranean neutrino observatory sets new limits on quantum gravity
Quantum gravity is the missing link between general relativity and quantum mechanics, the yet-to-be-discovered key to a unified theory capable of explaining both the infinitely large and the infinitely small. The solution to this [...]
Challenging Previous Beliefs: Japanese Scientists Discover Hidden Protector of Heart
A Japanese research team found that the oxidized form of glutathione (GSSG) may protect heart tissue by modifying a key protein, potentially offering a novel therapeutic approach for ischemic heart failure. A new study [...]
Millions May Have Long COVID – So Why Can’t They Get Diagnosed?
Millions of people in England may be living with Long Covid without even realizing it. A large-scale analysis found that nearly 10% suspect they might have the condition but remain uncertain, often due to [...]
Researchers Reveal What Happens to Your Brain When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep
What if poor sleep was doing more than just making you tired? Researchers have discovered that disrupted sleep in older adults interferes with the brain’s ability to clean out waste, leading to memory problems [...]
How to prevent chronic inflammation from zombie-like cells that accumulate with age
In humans and other multicellular organisms, cells multiply. This defining feature allows embryos to grow into adulthood, and enables the healing of the many bumps, bruises and scrapes along the way. Certain factors can [...]
Breakthrough for long Covid patients who lost sense of smell
A breakthrough nasal surgery has restored the sense of smell for a dozen long Covid patients. Experts at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust successfully employed a technique typically used for correcting blocked nasal passages, [...]
Scientists Invent Plastic That Can Dissolve In Seawater In Just A Few Hours
Plastic waste and pollution in the sea have been among the most serious environmental problems for decades, causing immense damage to marine life and ecosystems. However, a breakthrough discovery may offer a game-changing solution. [...]
Muscles from the 3D printer
Swiss researchers have developed a method for printing artificial muscles out of silicone. In the future, these could be used on both humans and robots. Swiss researchers have succeeded in printing artificial muscles out [...]
Beneficial genetic changes observed in regular blood donors
Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have identified genetic changes in blood stem cells from frequent blood donors that support the production of new, non-cancerous cells. Understanding the differences in the mutations that accumulate [...]
Shocking Amounts of Microplastics in the Brain – It Could Be Increasing Our Risk of Dementia
The brain has higher concentrations of plastic particles compared to other organs, with increased levels found in dementia patients. In a comprehensive commentary published in Brain Medicine, researchers highlight alarming new evidence of microplastic accumulation [...]
Baffling Scientists for Centuries: New Study Unravels Mystery of Static Electricity
ISTA physicists demonstrate that contact electrification depends on the contact history of materials. For centuries, static electricity has intrigued and perplexed scientists. Now, researchers from the Waitukaitis group at the Institute of Science and [...]
Tumor “Stickiness” – Scientists Develop Potential New Way To Predict Cancer’s Spread
UC San Diego researchers have developed a device that predicts breast cancer aggressiveness by measuring tumor cell adhesion. Weakly adherent cells indicate a higher risk of metastasis, especially in early-stage DCIS. This innovation could [...]
