Efficient on-chip isolation of HIV subtypes.
Nanoplasmonic quantitative detection of intact viruses from unprocessed whole blood.
Infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B pose an omnipresent threat to global health. Reliable, fast, accurate, and sensitive platforms that can be deployed at the point-of-care (POC) in multiple settings, such as airports and offices, for detection of infectious pathogens are essential for the management of epidemics and possible biological attacks. To the best of our knowledge, no viral load technology adaptable to the POC settings exists today due to critical technical and biological challenges. Here, we present for the first time a broadly applicable technology for quantitative, nanoplasmonic-based intact virus detection at clinically relevant concentrations.
The sensing platform is based on unique nanoplasmonic properties of nanoparticles utilizing immobilized antibodies to selectively capture rapidly evolving viral subtypes. We demonstrate the capture, detection, and quantification of multiple HIV subtypes (A, B, C, D, E, G, and subtype panel) with high repeatability, sensitivity, and specificity down to 98 ± 39 copies/mL (i.e., HIV subtype D) using spiked whole blood samples and clinical discarded HIV-infected patient whole blood samples validated by the gold standard, i.e., RT-qPCR. This platform technology offers an assay time of 1 h and 10 min (1 h for capture, 10 min for detection and data analysis).
The presented platform is also able to capture intact viruses at high efficiency using immuno-surface chemistry approaches directly from whole blood samples without any sample preprocessing steps such as spin-down or sorting. Evidence is presented showing the system to be accurate, repeatable, and reliable. Additionally, the presented platform technology can be broadly adapted to detect other pathogens having reasonably well-described biomarkers by adapting the surface chemistry. Thus, this broadly applicable detection platform holds great promise to be implemented at POC settings, hospitals, and primary care settings.
Efficient on-chip isolation of HIV subtypes.
HIV has caused a global pandemic over the last three decades. There is an unmet need to develop point-of-care (POC) viral load diagnostics to initiate and monitor antiretroviral treatment in resource-constrained settings. Particularly, geographical distribution of HIV subtypes poses significant challenges for POC immunoassays. Here, we demonstrated a microfluidic device that can effectively capture various subtypes of HIV particles through anti-gp120 antibodies, which were immobilized on the microchannel surface. We first optimized an antibody immobilization process using fluorescent antibodies, quantum dot staining and AFM studies. The results showed that anti-gp120 antibodies were immobilized on the microchannel surface with an elevated antibody density and uniform antibody orientation using a Protein G-based surface chemistry.
Further, RT-qPCR analysis showed that HIV particles of subtypes A, B and C were captured repeatably with high efficiencies of 77.2 ± 13.2%, 82.1 ± 18.8, and 80.9 ± 14.0% from culture supernatant, and 73.2 ± 13.6, 74.4 ± 14.6 and 78.3 ± 13.3% from spiked whole blood at a viral load of 1000 copies per mL, respectively. HIV particles of subtypes A, B and C were captured with high efficiencies of 81.8 ± 9.4%, 72.5 ± 18.7, and 87.8 ± 3.2% from culture supernatant, and 74.6 ± 12.9, 75.5 ± 6.7 and 69.7 ± 9.5% from spiked whole blood at a viral load of 10,000 copies per mL, respectively. The presented immuno-sensing device enables the development of POC on-chip technologies to monitor viral load and guide antiretroviral treatment (ART) in resource-constrained settings.
Subcellular localization of tyrosine-nitrated proteins is dictated by reactive oxygen species generating enzymes and by proximity to nitric oxide synthase.
Using high-resolution immuno-electron microscopy the steady-state subcellular distribution of tyrosine-nitrated proteins in different cells and tissues was evaluated. In quiescent eosinophils and neutrophils in the bone marrow intracellular nitrated proteins were mainly restricted to the peroxidase-containing secretory granules. The inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was expressed in the same granules. Proteins nitrated on tyrosine residues were also abundant in the cytosol of circulating erythrocytes. In the vasculature, nitrated proteins were mainly located in mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum of the endothelial cells, fibroblasts, and smooth muscle cells. Endogenous nitrated proteins were also found in chondrocytes in cartilage, where it was typically associated with the cytoplasmic interface of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane.
Nitrated proteins were also prominent in the peroxisomes of liver hepatocytes and of secretory cells in the lacrimal gland. Challenge of mouse dendritic cells with lipopolysaccharide induced iNOS protein expression in cytosol and peroxisomes and was associated with an increased 3-nitrotyrosine formation in cytosol, mitochondria, and peroxisomes. These data indicate that nitric oxide-dependent protein tyrosine nitration is a physiologically relevant process localized within specific subcellular compartments in close proximity to iNOS and to enzymes capable of peroxidative chemistry and reactive oxygen species production.