Respiratory infections by RNA viruses are one of the major burdens on global health and economy. Viruses like influenza or coronaviruses can be transmitted through respiratory droplets or contaminated surfaces. An effective antiviral coating can decrease the viability of the virus particles in our surroundings significantly, hence reducing their transmission rate. Here, we have screened a series of nanoparticles and their composites for antiviral activity using a nanoluciferase-based highly sensitive influenza A reporter virus. We have identified copper–graphene (Cu–Gr) nanocomposite as a material with strong antiviral activity. Extensive material and biological characterization of the nanocomposite suggested a unique metal oxide-embedded graphene sheet architecture that can inactivate the virion particles within 30 min of preincubation and subsequently interferes with the entry of these virion particles into the host cell. This ultimately results in reduced viral gene expression, replication and production of progeny virus particles, and thereby slowing down of the overall pace of progression of infection. Using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a capping agent, we have been able to generate a Cu–Gr nanocomposite-based highly transparent coating that retains its original antiviral activity in the solid form and hence can be potentially implemented on a wide variety of surfaces to minimize the transmission of respiratory virus infections.
Respiratory infections by RNA viruses are one of the major burdens upon global health and economy. Viruses like influenza or coronaviruses can be transmitted through respiratory droplets or contaminated surfaces. An effective antiviral coating can decrease the viability of the virus particles in the outside environment significantly, hence reducing their transmission rate. In this work, we have screened a series of nanoparticles and their composites for antiviral activity using Nano Luciferase based highly sensitive influenza A reporter virus. Using this screening system, we have identified copper-graphene (Cu-Gr) nanocomposite shows strong antiviral activity. Extensive material and biological characterization of the nanocomposite suggested a unique metal oxide embedded graphene sheet architecture that can inactivate the virion particles only within 30 minutes of pre-incubation and subsequently interferes with the entry of these virion particles into the host cell. This ultimately results in reduced viral gene expression, replication and production of progeny virus particles, slowing down the overall pace of progression of infection. Using PVA as a capping agent, we have been able to generate a Cu-Gr nanocomposite based highly transparent coating that retains its original antiviral activity in the solid form.
We developed a piecewise isothermal nucleic acid test (PINAT) as a platform technology for diagnosing pathogen-associated infections, empowered by an illustrative novel methodology that embeds an exclusive DNA-mediated specific probing reaction with the backbone of an isothermal reverse transcription cum amplification protocol for detecting viral RNA. In a point-of-care format, this test is executable in a unified single-step, single-chamber procedure, leading to seamless sample-to-result integration in an inexpensive, scalable, pre-programmable, and customizable portable device, with mobile-app-integrated interpretation and analytics involving minimal manually operative procedures. The test exhibited a high sensitivity and specificity of detection when assessed using 200 double-blind patient samples for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and subsequently using 170 double-blind patient samples in a point-of-care format outside controlled laboratory settings as performed by unskilled technicians in an organized clinical trial. We also established its efficacy in detecting Influenza A infection by performing the diagnosis at the point of collection with uncompromised detection rigor. The envisaged trade-off between advanced laboratory-based molecular diagnostic procedures and the elegance of common rapid tests renders the method ideal for deployment in resource-limited settings towards catering the needs of the underserved.
We report a novel piece-wise isothermal nucleic acid test (PINAT) for diagnosing pathogen-associated RNA that embeds an exclusive DNA-mediated specific probing reaction with the backbone of an isothermal reverse-transcription cum amplification protocol as a unified single-step procedure. This single step sample-to-result test method has been seamlessly integrated in an inexpensive, scalable, pre-programmable and portable instrument, resulting in a generic platform technology for detecting nucleic acid from a wide variety of pathogens. The test exhibited high sensitivity and specificity of detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection when assessed using 200 double-blind patient samples, conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), reporting a positive and negative percent agreement of 94.6% and 98% respectively. We also established its efficacy in detecting Influenza-A virus infection, performing the diagnosis at the point of collection with uncompromised detection rigor. The envisaged trade-off between advanced laboratory-based procedures with the elegance of common rapid tests renders the innovation to be ideal for deployment in resource-limited settings towards catering the needs of the underserved.
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