Engineers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis have received federal funding for a rapid COVID-19 test using a newly developed technology called plasmonic-fluor.
The test is based on a new biolabeling technology called plasmonic-fluor
Engineers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis have received federal funding for a rapid COVID-19 test using a newly developed technology.
Srikanth Singamaneni, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, and his team have developed a rapid, highly sensitive and accurate biosensor based on an ultrabright fluorescent nanoprobe, which has the potential to be broadly deployed.
Called plasmonic-fluor, the ultrabright fluorescent nanoprobe can also help in resource-limited conditions because it requires fewer complex instruments to read the results. The National Science Foundation has awarded Singamaneni and his team a $100,008 grant toward developing a COVID-19 test using plasmonic-fluor.
Singamaneni hypothesizes their plasmonic-fluor-based biosensor will be 100 times more sensitive compared with the conventional SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection method. Increased sensitivity would allow clinicians and researchers to more easily find positive cases and lessen the chance of false negatives.
Plasmonic-fluor works by increasing the fluorescence signal to background noise. Imagine trying to catch fireflies outside on a sunny day. You might net one or two, but against the glare of the sun, those little buggers are difficult to see. What if those fireflies had the similar brightness as a high-powered flashlight?
Plasmonic-fluor effectively turns up the brightness of fluorescent labels used in a variety of biosensing and bioimaging methods. In addition to COVID-19 testing, it could potentially be used to diagnose, for instance, that a person has had a heart attack by measuring the levels of relevant molecules in blood or urine samples.
Using plasmonic-fluor, which is composed of gold nanoparticles coated with conventional dyes, researchers have been able to achieve up to a 6,700-fold brighter fluorescent nanolabel compared with conventional dyes, which can potentially lead to early diagnosis. Using this nanolabel as an ultrabright flashlight, they have demonstrated the detection of extremely small amounts of target biomolecules in biofluids and even molecules present on the cells.
The study was published in the April 20 issue of Nature Biomedical Engineering.
Gold nanoparticles serve as beacons
In biomedical research and clinical labs, fluorescence is used as a beacon to see and follow target biomolecules with precision. It’s an extremely useful tool, but it’s not perfect.
“The problem in fluorescence is, in a lot of cases, it’s not sufficiently intense,” Singamaneni said. If the fluorescent signal isn’t strong enough to stand out against background signals, just like fireflies against the glare of the sun, researchers may miss seeing something less abundant but important.
“Increasing the brightness of a nanolabel is extremely challenging,” said Jingyi Luan, lead author of the paper. But here, it’s the gold nanoparticle sitting at the center of the plasmonic-fluor that really does the work of efficiently turning the fireflies into flashlights, so to speak. The gold nanoparticle acts as an antenna, strongly absorbing and scattering light. That highly concentrated light is funneled into the fluorophore placed around the nanoparticle. In addition to concentering the light, the nanoparticles speed up the emission rate of the fluorophores. Taken together, these two effects increase the fluorescence emission.
Essentially, each fluorophore becomes a more efficient beacon, and the 200 fluorophores sitting around the nanoparticle emit a signal that is equal to 6,700 fluorophores.
In addition to detecting low quantities of molecules, sensing time can be shortened using plasmonic-fluor as brighter beacons mean fewer captured proteins are needed to determine their presence.
The researchers have also shown that plasmonic-fluor allows the detection of multiple proteins simultaneously. And in flow cytometry, plasmonic-fluor’s brightening effect allows for a more precise and sensitive measurement of proteins on cell surface, whose signal may have been buried in the background noise using traditional fluorescent tagging.
There have been other efforts to enhance fluorescent tagging in imaging, but many require the use of an entirely new workflow and measurement platform. In addition to plasmonic-fluor’s ability to greatly increase the sensitivity and decrease the sensing time, it doesn’t require any changes to existing laboratory tools or techniques.
The technology has been licensed to Auragent Bioscience LLC by Washington University’s Office of Technology Management. Auragent is in the process of further development and scaling up the production of plasmonic-fluors for commercialization.
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Plasmonic-fluor
- Fluor’s Newly Appointed General Manager, Etienne Bredell, Aims for Strategic Growth in South Africa
It may be available only for a limited time on this website. Etienne Bredell, recently appointed General Manager of Fluor’s South Africa office, brings more than 30 years of industry knowledge ...
- Plasmonic Materials Market Current Scenario with Future Aspect Analysis
InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of a market assessment report on the “Global Plasmonic Materials Market– (By Material (Gold, Silver, Aluminum, Copper, Graphene, Others), By ...
- Cracking The Code: Understanding Analyst Reviews For Fluor
In the latest quarter, 4 analysts provided ratings for Fluor (NYSE:FLR), showcasing a mix of bullish and bearish perspectives. In the table below, you'll find a summary of their recent ratings ...
- Plasmonic Crystals: Harnessing Light at the Nanoscale
EBL allows for precise control over the size, shape, and arrangement of the metallic nanostructures, enabling the fabrication of complex plasmonic crystal geometries. Nanoimprint Lithography is a high ...
- Fluor (FLR) Wins a Spot in Global Contingency Services Contract
Fluor Corporation FLR clinched a significant win, securing a spot on the Global Contingency Services Multiple Award Contract III by the U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Plasmonic-fluor
[google_news title=”” keyword=”plasmonic fluor” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Rapid COVID-19 test
- With pandemic over, deadliest infectious disease in world is still tuberculosis
Just a short time after “Gone With the Wind star” Vivien Leigh appeared at Atlanta’s Loews Grand Theatre for the 1939 premiere of the legendary film, the British actress caught tuberculosis on a trip ...
- COVID-19 outbreak at Blind River’s North Shore Health Network
COVID-19 has been confirmed on the acute care unit of the North Shore Health Network (NSHN), prompting Algoma Public Health to declare an outbreak at the Blind River site.
- Study identifies immunity threshold for protection against COVID-19 in children
As COVID-19 becomes endemic, an important group of people who continue to require vaccination is future birth cohorts of children. Yet, in the face of everchanging variants, as well as the waning of ...
- New Brunswick mulls future of COVID-19 rapid tests, as virus kills 2, hospitalizes child under 4
New Brunswick is mulling the future of its COVID-19 rapid point of care testing program, as the virus claimed two more lives and hospitalized 17 people, including a child under four.
- Covid-19 booster dose encouraged for kids, says MOH after NUS study shows 3rd jab not needed
The ministry also encouraged all who are aged 6 months and above to get vaccinated a year after their last dose. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Rapid COVID-19 test
[google_news title=”” keyword=”rapid COVID-19 test” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]