Bryden, W. A. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2021

Capture of Viruses and Microorganisms in Aerosols Using A Newly Designed Collection System: A Proof-of-concept Study

Aerosols contain human pathogens that cause public health disasters such as tuberculosis (TB) and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The current technologies for the collection of viruses and microorganisms in aerosols face critical limitations, necessitating the development of a new type of sampling system to advance the capture technology. Herein, we presented a new type of collection system, which exploits the affinity between carbon chains and organic molecules on the surfaces of viruses and microorganisms. We demonstrated that the physical capture efficiency of the collection system was over 99% for particle sizes from 0.3 to 10 {micro}m. We further evaluated the biochemical capture efficiency of the collection system using mass spectrometry approaches and showed that the biochemical information of viruses and microorganisms was well preserved. Coupled with well-established molecular technologies, this new type of capture technology can be used for the investigation of aerosol-related disease transmission models, as well as the development of innovative screening and monitoring tools for human diseases and public health issues.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2020

A Novel System for The Comprehensive Collection of Nonvolatile Molecules from Human Exhaled Breath

Characterization of nonvolatile molecules in exhaled breath particles can be used for respiratory disease monitoring and diagnosis. Conventional methods for the collection of nonvolatile molecules in breath heavily rely on the physical properties of exhaled breath particles. Strategies taking advantage of their chemical properties have not yet been explored. In the present study, we developed a column system in which the surface chemistry between organic nonvolatile molecules and octadecyl carbon chain was exploited for the comprehensive collection of metabolites, lipids, and proteins. We demonstrated that the collection system had the capture efficiency of 99% and the capacity to capture representative nonvolatile molecules. The collection system was further evaluated using human subjects and proteins collected from human exhaled breath were characterized and identified using gel electrophoresis and bottom-up proteomics. The identified 303proteins from mass spectrometry were further searched against reported bronchoalveolar lavage fluid proteomes and it was shown that 60 proteins have the tissue origin of lower respiratory airways. In summary, we demonstrate that our collection system can collect nonvolatile molecules from human exhaled breath in an efficient and comprehensive manner and has the potential to be used for the study of respiratory diseases.

biochemistry↗