Tunable and label-free virus enrichment for ultrasensitive virus detection using carbon nanotube arrays

Yin-Ting Yeh; Yi Tang; Aswathy Sebastian; Archi Dasgupta; Nestor Perea-Lopez; Istvan Albert; Huaguang Lu; Mauricio Terrones; Si-Yang Zheng

doi:10.1126/sciadv.1601026

Tunable and label-free virus enrichment for ultrasensitive virus detection using carbon nanotube arrays

Sci Adv. 2016 Oct 7;2(10):e1601026. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1601026. eCollection 2016 Oct.

Authors

Yin-Ting Yeh¹, Yi Tang², Aswathy Sebastian³, Archi Dasgupta⁴, Nestor Perea-Lopez⁵, Istvan Albert⁶, Huaguang Lu², Mauricio Terrones⁷, Si-Yang Zheng⁸

Affiliations

¹ Micro and Nano Integrated Biosystem Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.; Penn State Material Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
² Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
³ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁵ Department of Physics and Center for 2-Dimensional and Layered Materials, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.; Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁷ Penn State Material Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.; Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.; Department of Physics and Center for 2-Dimensional and Layered Materials, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.; Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁸ Micro and Nano Integrated Biosystem Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.; Penn State Material Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.; Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.; Department of Electrical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.

Abstract

Viral infectious diseases can erupt unpredictably, spread rapidly, and ravage mass populations. Although established methods, such as polymerase chain reaction, virus isolation, and next-generation sequencing have been used to detect viruses, field samples with low virus count pose major challenges in virus surveillance and discovery. We report a unique carbon nanotube size-tunable enrichment microdevice (CNT-STEM) that efficiently enriches and concentrates viruses collected from field samples. The channel sidewall in the microdevice was made by growing arrays of vertically aligned nitrogen-doped multiwalled CNTs, where the intertubular distance between CNTs could be engineered in the range of 17 to 325 nm to accurately match the size of different viruses. The CNT-STEM significantly improves detection limits and virus isolation rates by at least 100 times. Using this device, we successfully identified an emerging avian influenza virus strain [A/duck/PA/02099/2012(H11N9)] and a novel virus strain (IBDV/turkey/PA/00924/14). Our unique method demonstrates the early detection of emerging viruses and the discovery of new viruses directly from field samples, thus creating a universal platform for effectively remediating viral infectious diseases.

Keywords: N-doped; NGS; PCR; Virus; carbon nanotubes; enrichment; field samples; improved detection; influenza; sensor.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biosensing Techniques / methods*
Influenza A virus / isolation & purification*
Influenza in Birds / diagnosis*
Nanotubes, Carbon / chemistry*
Turkeys

Substances

Nanotubes, Carbon

Abstract

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding