Collaborative Research: Transport of model-virus through the lung liquid lining

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, is similar to other respiratory coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV (2002) and MERS-CoV (2012). All these viruses cause dangerous respiratory disorders with high mortality and grave impacts on society. This virus destroys the cells that produce lung surfactants which, among other things, keep the alveoli air-sacks from collapsing, and eventually the lungs fill with liquid. The fluid dynamic interactions between the liquid lining of the lung, the lung surfactants, and the respiratory virus are presently not well understood. This project addresses this gap by conducting experiments and numerical modeling to capture the essential fluid dynamics of a model virus interacting with lung surfactant. The numerical models will then be used to simulate physiologically relevant scales, not accessible experimentally. In addition to understanding flow in the lung liquid lining, the present knowledge gap in predictive modeling of interfacial dilation and compression is hampering developments in other areas, such as in water waves, which are of utmost importance in modeling of carbon dioxide gas exchange between the atmosphere and the oceans.

The two primary functions of lung surfactants are regulating the interfacial tension and surface viscosities of the liquid lining of the alveoli, and providing a first line of immune defense against airborne pathogens. Predictive models for the transport of small particles in a surfactant-covered liquid layer will be developed. A key advancement in the proposed modeling of surface elasticity is to measure the equation-of-state of the monolayer in a state corresponding to that found when it has been subjected to a large number of dilation/compression cycles. The usual approach of determining properties of a recently spread monolayer undergoing slow compression is inappropriate for modeling monolayer hydrodynamics coupled to an oscillatory bulk flow, as the monolayer is in a different state with very different interfacial properties. The role of interfacial dilatational viscosity and its significance relative to surface elasticity remains poorly understood and presents a major impediment to the predictive modeling of free-surface flows. The PIs have a proven track record of productive multidisciplinary collaboration, and will continue to provide a unique educational opportunity for the graduate and undergraduate students.

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.