New University of Colorado at Boulder 'Flu Chip' May Help Combat Future Epidemics, Pandemics
- From: "Chim" <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: 7 Nov 2005 11:57:29 -0800
ATTENTION: Medical, Science editors
BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- A novel "Flu Chip"
developed at the University of Colorado at Boulder that can determine
the genetic signatures of specific influenza strains from patient
samples within hours may help world health officials combat coming
epidemics and pandemics.
Tests last month on the new technology by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta showed the CU-Boulder Flu Chip can
determine the genetic make-up of types and subtypes of the flu virus in
about 11 hours, said CU-Boulder Professor Kathy Rowlen of the chemistry
and biochemistry department. Current methods for characterizing flu
subtypes infecting patients take about four days.
The Flu Chip is expected to be in wide use in laboratories within a
year, said Rowlen, who has led the two-year CU-Boulder research effort.
Rowlen, who is working on the Flu Chip development with CU-Boulder
chemistry Professor Robert Kuchta and a team of postdoctoral
researchers and students, said they are conferring with CU's Technology
Transfer Office and plan to make the Flu Chip genetic sequences freely
available to interested researchers.
There currently are less than 200 facilities worldwide that provide
detailed strain analysis of influenza, said Rowlen. Strain
identification is critical for tracking emerging strains and in
determining which flu strains are most likely to infect people the
following year in order to develop annual, preventative vaccines, she
said.
"This new technology should help provide better global influenza
surveillance by making it easier for more laboratories to swiftly
identify severe flu strains, which in turn may aid health officials to
stem potential flu epidemics and even pandemics," Rowlen said.
The chip, which can be configured to test for all known flu virus
strains as well as new variant strains, was evaluated for three primary
subtypes of flu in the October CDC test -- the avian flu strain H5N1,
and two of the most common human flu types worldwide in recent winters,
H1N1 and H3N2. The chip was more than 90 percent accurate and will be
tested again "side by side" with standard flu-virus culturing methods
for accuracy and speed at the CDC's Atlanta headquarters next month.
"This was the first time a version of the Flu Chip was tested outside
of our lab, and it exceeded our expectations," she said. The technology
was developed with a $2 million, five-year grant to CU from the
National Institute of Infectious Diseases.
The Flu Chip fits on a microscope slide and contains an array of
microscopic spots, Rowlen said. Genetic bits of information that are
complimentary to known, individual influenza strains are "spotted"
robotically in an array, where each row of three spots contains a
specific sequence of "capture" DNA. Each spot is approximately
one-hundredth of an inch in diameter. The microarray is then immersed
in a wash of influenza gene fragments obtained from the fluid of an
infected individual.
RNA fragments from the infected fluid bind to specific DNA segments on
the microarray like a key in a lock, indicating both a match and that
the virus signature is present, she said. The captured RNA is then
labeled with another complimentary sequence that also contains a
fluorescent dye, and such "hits" light up like a pinball machine when
the chip is inserted into a laser scanner.
The Flu Chip also should be able to recognize mutations that might
occur in avian flu H5N1, which has been spreading rapidly from bird to
bird in Asia, Russia and parts of Europe, said Kuchta. While the avian
virus does not now spread effectively from person to person, world
health officials are fearful the strain will mutate and become
transmittable between humans, possibly triggering a worldwide pandemic.
"If an unusual flu subtype surfaces that has characteristics of both
avian and human flu types, we could detect it rapidly using this
technology," Kuchta said.
Standard laboratory culturing techniques by the CDC and WHO currently
take four days to five days to determine flu strains afflicting
patients, said Kuchta. While commercial tests like rapid antigen
testing can detect influenza in less than an hour, none provide genetic
information about various flu subtypes, he said.
Rowlen said that within a few years, the technology could be downsized
to fit into a hand-held portable device the size of a cell phone or PDA
and taken into remote areas around the world to test for lethal strains
of flu.
"We can make it small and simple enough to take into rural areas in
places like the Congo, Cambodia or Indonesia that may lack lab
facilities," she said. "One of our goals has been to address the needs
of developing nations by providing an inexpensive, field-portable test
kit for respiratory illnesses to the World Health Organization for
global screening of respiratory illness."
Kuchta said the team hopes to cut down on the 11-hour virus
identification process. "We are now looking at ways to amplify the
fluorescent signal after we capture the RNA on the microarray, which
could shorten the identification time to just a couple of hours," he
said.
Rowlen said the Flu Chip could also play a significant role in alerting
government officials to an "engineered" influenza virus arising from
terrorism.
Hurricane Katrina displayed the vulnerability of the United States to
natural catastrophes, she said. "A flu pandemic is inevitable since the
virus continually mutates and is naturally spread by migratory birds.
Whether this year or 10 years from now, it is important to be prepared
for such an event."
Most experts agree that preparations for a flu pandemic include early
identification, vaccine development, the wide availability of
pharmaceuticals and planning for possible local quarantine events.
During the "Spanish Flu" pandemic of 1918-1919, between 20 million and
40 million people died from influenza in less than a year and an
estimated one-fifth of the world's population became infected.
The flu chip also could be used to swiftly test for the avian flu virus
at large, remote bird farms in Asia, Europe and Russia, said Kuchta.
The chip also could be easily reconfigured to use for the global
surveillance of any RNA virus, including SARS, measles, HIV and
hepatitis C, the researchers said.
Other members of the Flu Chip team include CU-Boulder postdoctoral
researchers Erica Dawson, Daniela Dankbar, Martin Mehlman and Chad
Moore, graduate students James Smagala and Michael Townsend and
undergraduate Amy Reppert. The group has been working on the project
with CDC Influenza Branch Chief Dr. Nancy Cox and CDC researcher
Catherine Smith.
CONTACTS: Kathy Rowlen, 303-492-5033, rowlen(at)colorado.edu
Robert Kuchta, 303-492-7027, kuchta(at)colorado.edu
Jim Scott, CU-Boulder Office of News Services,
303-492-3114
NOTE TO EDITORS: Images are available at
http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/fluchip/.
30- Media Contact: Jim Scott, 303-492-3114
AScribe - The Public Interest Newswire / 510-653-9400
www.ascribe.org
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11/07/05 12:52 EST
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