RAPID - Impact of Coronaviridae lipid, protein and RNA interaction on copper, zinc, and their derivatives coated personal protective equipment surfaces and viral infectivity

Engineering - Personal protective equipment (PPE), such as face masks, gloves and surgical gowns, forms the primary barrier for medical, healthcare and laboratory workers for protection against contact with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The virus lives on the surface of currently available PPE materials for many days. Recent evidence suggests that copper or copper zinc oxide composites with antimicrobial activity may inactivate virus. However, the mechanism for this is poorly understood at present. This project will test the hypothesis that PPE surfaces coated with copper or zinc oxide nanoparticles (NANO-PPE) will cause denaturation and degradation of viral biomolecules, thus leading to viral inactivation. The project sheds new insight into hybrid materials containing these biotic metals on the PPE surface, especially characterizing their interactions to biomaterials such as lipid, protein or RNA and the impact on structure-function. The RAPID project draws on several complementary areas of technology including, nanomaterial surface chemistry and processes, biophysics, biochemistry, and virology. This provides a unique interdisciplinary training environment for a diverse group of post-graduate, graduate and undergraduate students to engage in this cutting-edge research. Societal impact is that NANO-PPE stands to inactivate virus on contact, better protecting personnel from viral infection and thus limiting community spread, and long-term may help protect against other healthcare associated infections and drug resistant bacteria. This project is jointly funded by the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) Division and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

The primary objective of this RAPID project is to gain a more fundamental understanding of nanoscale interactions of viral or viral-mimetic lipid, protein and RNA to PPE materials surface-coated with copper or copper/zinc oxide composites. The goals of the project are; 1) to fabricate PPE materials coated with copper and/or zinc oxide nanoparticles, mixtures and composites, 2) to characterize their nano-bio interactions and quantify the biomolecular denaturation and degradation caused by the nanoscale interaction, and 3) to place surrogate respiratory virus in contact with NANO-PPE and determine functional impact on viral titer and infectivity. Standard industrial scale processes such as electrospinning and deep coating will be used to coat the surface of PPE (face-mask, nitrile glove and surgical gown) with copper and zinc oxide nanoparticles. Surface interactions with the viral lipid, protein and RNA will be investigated by transmission electron microscopy, FT-IR, Raman/Photoluminescence, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Biomolecular denaturation and degradation will be quantified by 2-dimensional fluorescence difference spectroscopy, circular dichroism, gel electrophoresis, tryptic digestion and liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy. Finally, viral titer and RT-PCR will be used to quantify impact of nanoscale interaction on biological activity. Overall, the experiments will probe structure-functional impact of nanoscale interaction of virus and its inhibition by coming into contact with NANO-PPE. The project will be integrated into a graduate class in Nanomedicine within a unit on nanoscale interactions and characterization methods and into the PI and co-PIs research programs involving undergraduate, masters, PhD and post-doctoral students. Products of this research will be translated to a corporate partner for rapid manufacturing and introduction into the healthcare and laboratory supply chain. This project is jointly funded by the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) Division and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.