A novel inactivated virus system (InViS) for a fast and inexpensive assessment of viral disintegration.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused considerable interest worldwide in antiviral surfaces, and there has been a dramatic increase in the research and development of innovative material systems to reduce virus transmission in the past few years. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) norms 18,184 and 21,702 are two standard methods to characterize the antiviral properties of porous and non-porous surfaces. However, during the last years of the pandemic, a need for faster and inexpensive characterization of antiviral material was identified. Therefore, a complementary method based on an Inactivated Virus System (InViS) was developed to facilitate the early-stage development of antiviral technologies and quality surveillance of the production of antiviral materials safely and efficiently. The InViS is loaded with a self-quenched fluorescent dye that produces a measurable increase in fluorescence when the viral envelope disintegrates. In the present work, the sensitivity of InViS to viral disintegration by known antiviral agents is demonstrated and its potential to characterize novel materials and surfaces is explored. Finally, the InViS is used to determine the fate of viral particles within facemasks layers, rendering it an interesting tool to support the development of antiviral surface systems for technical and medical applications

Engineering the Bioactivity of Flame-Made Ceria and Ceria/Bioglass Hybrid Nanoparticles

ISSN:1944-8244ISSN:1944-825

Microfluidic Co-Culture Platform to Recapitulate the Maternal–Placental–Embryonic Axis

Safety assessment of the effects of developmental toxicants on pregnant women is challenging, and systemic effects in embryo–maternal interactions are largely unknown. However, most developmental toxicity studies rely on animal trials, while in vitro platforms that recapitulate the maternal–placental–embryonic axis are missing. Here, the development of a dedicated microfluidic device for co-cultivation of a placental barrier and 3D embryoid bodies to enable systemic toxicity testing at the embryo–maternal interface is reported. The microfluidic platform features simple handling and recuperation of both tissue models, which facilitates post-hoc in-depth analysis at the tissue and single-cell level. Gravity-driven flow enables inter-tissue communication through the liquid phase as well as simple and robust operation and renders the platform parallelizable. As a proof of concept and to demonstrate platform use for systemic embryotoxicity testing in vitro, maternal exposure to plastic microparticles is emulated, and microparticle effects on the embryo–placental co-culture are investigated.ISSN:2701-019