Nanowire Sensor based Assay for Detecting Dengue and Chikungunya Virus

PROJECT SUMMARY The Dengue DENV and Chikungunya viruses CHIKV are primarily transmitted by two types of mosquitoes the Aedes aegypti and the Aedes albopictus Patients infected by DENV may experience dengue fever dengue hemorrhagic fever DHF and dengue shock syndrome DSS DHF and DSS could be fatal and are of particular public health concern in endemic regions of the U S Africa Asia and the Americas Patients infected by CHIKV experience symptoms similar to acute febrile illnesses fever and joint pain Cases of CHIKV are on the rise in the U S as of when a significant number of cases were reported Currently no FDA approved vaccines or anti viral drugs are available in U S to mitigate the symptoms caused by these viral diseases While early and accurate detection of vector borne illnesses correlates to better outcomes no single laboratory test can accurately diagnose and monitor DENV and CHIKV To address the growing need for timely detection of vector borne viruses InnoSense LLC ISL and its collaborator Colorado State University propose to develop Nano VIR an innovative polymer nanowire microelectronic biosensor The biosensor builds upon ISL s emerging and proven polymer nanowire technology Nano VIR is expected to detect DENV and CHIKV with a sensitivity of genome copy equivalent ml with specificity within minutes In Phase I ISL s objectives are fabricate polymer nanowire biosensor for DENV and CHIKV detection demonstrate Nano VIR s capability to accurately detect DENV and CHIKV In Phase II ISL will optimize the sensitivity specificity accuracy and reliability of the biosensor in a clinical setting using patient samples from CSU Once optimized a prototype with accompanying hardware and software will be developed for detection of both DENV and CHIKV in a single assay PROJECT NARRATIVE The Dengue DENV and Chikungunya virus CHIKV are primarily transmitted by two types of mosquitoes Both viruses are of particular public concern in endemic regions of the U S Africa Asia and the Americas where early detection is crucial to treatment and outbreak containment InnoSense LLC and Colorado State University aim to address the need for rapid and accurate detection of vector borne viruses with a simple low cost point of care biosensor Nano VIR using a single assay