New nanoimmunoassay can detect anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in ultralow-volume blood samples
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been the largest global public health crisis in recent memory. To date, it has been responsible for over 158.3 million infections and over 3.3 million deaths the world over.
Managing this crisis, mitigating viral spread, and planning to prepare for the next phase of the pandemic involves numerous testing and analysis regimes. Continuous monitoring of the virus spread to control the disease, the efficacy of vaccines in trials, current infection fatality rates and the health status post-vaccination, call for a large sampling of blood and tests to detect the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2.
Could antiviral surface designs help reduce SARS-CoV-2’s spread?
It is now widely known that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), spreads via respiratory droplets. The persistence of the aerosol in the environment largely determines the success of the viral transmission.
In addition, the virus-laden droplets can also deposit on various surfaces by forming a fomite. While wearing masks and maintaining social distances help to mitigate the spread of the virus, the common surfaces that we touch contribute to this secondary source of viral transmission.
When a respiratory droplet from a COVID-19 infected person or an asymptomatic carrier lands on a surface, it is highly potent for transmissibility. Although about 99% of the liquid evaporates from the droplet, a thin layer of moisture remains, which keeps the virus viable. While frequent sanitation or the application of cold atmospheric
Mechano-immunological response to SARS-CoV-2
When influenza A viruses and the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infect the human body, innate immune responses in the lung act as the first line of defense against these pathogens, however, little is known about how these responses are controlled locally within the physical microenvironment of the human breathing lung.
Because it is difficult to tease out the regulatory cues in the local environment within a living organ
in vivo, and the mechanical cues experienced are absent in conventional culture models, the latest technology of human organs-on-chips is used.
In a recent study, researchers demonstrated a human organ-on-a-chip (Organ Chip) microfluidic model of the lung alveolus (Alveolus Chip) - that recapitulates the human alveolar-capillary interface with an air-liquid interface (ALI) and vascular fluid flow to understand the local triggers in the lung
Nanoparticle (SpFN) vaccine candidate elicits multifactorial cellular immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 in vivo
Researchers have developed a promising new anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine candidate that utilizes nanotechnology and shows robust, long-lived immunity in mouse models.
According to this new study, the vaccine enhanced the recruitment of APCs (antigen-presenting cells), increased polyfunctional spike-specific T cells, with a bias towards TH1 responses, IFN-γ and TNFα as the dominant cytokines, and more robust SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific recall response and presented broad protection against other coronavirus strains. The researchers have performed a thorough study of the vaccine-evoked innate and adaptive immune responses in mice against SARS-CoV-2.
Study of 180 breastfeeding mothers after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination
Vaccines against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, were developed at an unprecedented pace. To date, more than 1 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, many of which messenger RNA (mRNA) based.
Clinical trials for both the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 and Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccines demonstrated the ability to prevent infection and severe disease, leading to emergency use authorization U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine have recommended that these mRNA vaccines be made available for lactating women. However, the initial trials excluded breastfeeding women, leading to questions about their safety.