Influenza (flu) is a highly prevalent respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses, representing a significant global health burden due to its substantial morbidity and mortality rate. Vaccination remains the most effective strategy for influenza prevention, and well-characterized animal models of influenza infection serve as essential tools for evaluating vaccine protective efficacy. However, animal models utilizing live influenza virus strains pose significant biosafety concerns, and many such strains are not readily available for research. To address these challenges, we established a novel visual mouse infection model using an HIV-based vector system. This model employs influenza pseudoviruses carrying a luciferase reporter gene, enabling real-time monitoring of viral load and in vivo tracking of viral distribution during infection. Using this infection model, we assessed the in vivo protective efficacy of an influenza vaccine and cross-validated the pseudovirus-based evaluation results against a live virus-infected mouse model. Our study thus establishes a safer and more convenient platform for evaluating influenza vaccine efficacy, including the assessment of broad-spectrum neutralization capacity.
We have developed a convenient surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platform based on vertical standing gold nanowires (v-AuNWs) which enabled the on-mask detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) related substances such as the Spike-1 protein and the corresponding pseudo-virus. The Spike-1 protein was clearly distinguished from BSA protein with an accuracy above 99 %, and the detection limit could be achieved down to 0.01 μg/mL. Notably, a similar accuracy was achieved for the pseudo-SARS-CoV-2 (pSARS-2) virus as compared to the pseudo-influenza H7N9 (pH7N9) virus. The sensing strategy and setups could be easily adapted to the real SARS-CoV-2 virus and other highly contagious viruses. It provided a promising way to screen the virus carriers by a fast evaluation of their wearing v-AuNWs integrated face-mask which was mandatory during the pandemic.
To achieve reliable detection of viral antigens, it is critical to develop of antifouling sensor arrays. Herein, we introduce a robust strategy for facile design and construction of hydrogel-based antifouling sensor arrays with a light-responsive bifunctional crosslinker. Upon UV light irradiation, the capture antibodies and blocking agents can be chemically conjugated onto the hydrogel interface to generate antifouling sensor arrays with desirable protein patterns with the aid of a hole-array mask. We demonstrated the antifouling sensor arrays for the quantitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with satisfying sensitivity and high signal-to-background ratio. We further confirmed the prepared multiplexed sensor arrays for the detection of multiple viral proteins simultaneously in complex environments. Moreover, we achieved the quantitative detection of synthetic virus-like particles and SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses with satisfying detection performances. All these evidences suggested that the hydrogel-based antifouling sensor arrays holds great potential for quantitative analysis of viral antigens and virus particles in real applications.
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）