College of Engineering professor Dibakar Bhattacharya, Ph.D., and his Ph.D. Led by a team of researchers from the University of Kentucky. student, Roli Mills, has developed a medical face mask membrane that can capture and inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein upon contact.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Bhattacharya, known to friends and colleagues as “DB”, along with colleagues from all disciplines in the UK, received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create materials . Their work was published in the journal Nature communication material on 24 May.
SARS-CoV-2 is covered with a spike protein, which allows the virus to enter host cells once in the body. The team developed a membrane that contains proteolytic enzymes that bind to and inactivate protein spikes.
“This new material can filter out the virus like an N95 mask, but it also contains antiviral enzymes that completely inactivate it. This innovation is another layer of protection against SARS-CoV-2 which is the virus.” could help prevent the spread of the disease,” said DB, director of the UK’s Center for Membrane Sciences. “This is promising development of new products that can protect against SARS-CoV-2 and many other human pathogenic viruses.”
In DB’s team, J. Todd Hastings, Ph.D., Thomas D’Zubla, Ph.D., and Kevin Baldridge, Ph.D. were involved. from the College of Engineering; Yinan Wei, Ph.D., a former professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Chemistry; and Lou Hersh, PhD, in the College of Medicine’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry. College of Engineering doctoral student Roly Mills (NSF Graduate Fellow and first author of the article), and graduate students Ronald Vogler, Matthew Bernard and Jacob Concolino contributed extensively to the project.
The team developed the membrane, which was built largely through an existing collaboration with a membrane manufacturer. This was then tested using SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins that were immobilized on synthetic particles. Not only could the material filter out aerosols the size of a coronavirus, but it was also able to destroy the spike protein within 30 seconds of contact.
The study reported that the membrane provided a safety factor well above the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s standard for N95 masks, meaning it could filter at least 95% of airborne particles.
“These membranes have proven to be a promising system of advancement toward new-generation respiratory face masks and enclosed-environmental filters that can significantly reduce coronavirus transmission by virus protein inactivation and advanced aerosol particle capture,” the study reports. “
The new membrane builds on the Center’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and NSF-funded activities, which have developed various functional membranes for environmental remediation. Unlike passive membranes, functional membranes provide additional advantages by interacting with unwanted particles such as viruses through selective binding or inactivation.
material provided by University of Kentucky, Original written by Elizabeth Chapin. Note: Content can be edited for style and length.
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