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
GHCE Concept
From the preface of the book Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artificial Intelligence, Edited by Frank Boehm: Since the publication of my first book (Nanomedical Device and Systems [...]
Human Bodies Are Producing Two Billion Tons of CO2 a Year
A new study reveals that the amount of carbon dioxide produced by human metabolism has increased dramatically over three decades. The carbon dioxide produced by human bodies as they convert food into energy increased [...]
A Hidden DNA Mechanism Could Explain How 20% of Human Cancers Develop
Researchers have identified an unexpected molecular vulnerability in cancers carrying BAF mutations. Mutations found in roughly 20% of human cancers may promote tumor growth by changing how DNA is organized inside cells. Researchers have [...]
Ebola kills over 5,300 in fastest-growing outbreak on record
Africa’s latest Ebola outbreak has killed nearly 5,400 people, the vast majority of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the continent’s top health agency. Africa Centres for Disease Control and [...]
China makes early progress in using sound waves to stimulate damaged brains
Chinese researchers are testing whether focused ultrasound can help restore consciousness in patients with severe brain injuries, adding to a growing international effort to use sound waves to stimulate deep brain structures without surgery. [...]
Micro-drones fly through the body thanks to ultrasound
At the EPFL, micro-drones have been developed that can be moved without a motor or battery.No motors, no batteries, no electronics on board, just small cavities that convert sound waves into thrust: this is [...]
A Single Enzyme Could Hold the Key to Treating a Devastating Brain Disorder
Blocking an enzyme’s production restored brain growth and healthy behaviors in mice engineered to develop Angelman syndrome, pointing to a possible treatment target. Children with Angelman syndrome begin to show difficulties with thinking and [...]
Scientists Develop a Clever New Way To Kill Cancer Cells From the Inside
Scientists have developed an experimental strategy that exploits a chemical byproduct of cancer cells to produce anticancer drugs directly inside them. Scientists in Japan have developed an experimental method that uses a chemical produced [...]
Our books are available worldwide!
Online Sellers other than Amazon, Routledge, and IOPP Indigo Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artifcial Intelligence Global Health Care Equivalency In The Age Of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine And Artificial [...]
After only a short training, people in a coma managed to send targeted signals
Researchers have succeeded in communicating with brain-injured patients who are unconscious. They see enormous potential in this for future treatments. Patients who lie motionless in bed after a severe brain injury and do not [...]
MIT Scientists Reprogram Immune Cells Inside the Body To Destroy Cancer
Natural killer cells reprogrammed inside mice eliminated lymphoma tumors and helped damaged livers heal, though whether this approach could help people with cancer or autoimmune disease remains unknown. To make a cancer treatment from [...]
Melanoma mRNA Vaccine Shows Promise in Preventing Disease Recurrence
Key takeaways: Phase 3 trial finds personalized intismeran plus pembrolizumab may better prevent high-risk melanoma recurrence after surgery The trial enrolled 1,137 patients and builds on phase 2 results showing about half the recurrence [...]
Scientists Discover a Powerful New Weapon Against a Dangerous Gut Infection
The promise of an experimental treatment for C. difficile gut infections lies partly in the bacteria it leaves alive, according to early laboratory and mouse research. Broad-spectrum antibiotics can disrupt the gut’s microbial community, [...]
Your Bones May Hold a Hidden Clue to Blood Cancer Survival
For people with blood cancers called myelodysplastic syndromes, osteoporosis may hold an overlooked clue to survival, a three-year observational study suggests. In blood cancers that develop in the bone marrow, an important clue to [...]
Researchers Discover What Reading for Pleasure May Be Doing to Your Brain
Reading for pleasure may offer surprising benefits for the brain, with research linking the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive abilities, and a lower risk of dementia. Reading for pleasure may do far [...]
Scientists Discover a Hidden Trigger That Keeps Inflammation Alive
Inflammation persists after proteins detach from immune receptors, revealing a potential target for autoimmune treatments. Since a Nobel Prize-winning discovery in the 1990s identified molecules called Toll-like Receptors as the guardians of the human [...]
