Nanotechnology Applications to Biodefense Research

Abstract

<p>The bioterrorism attacks perpetrated after 9/11 have forced a change in biological research across the nation. The Department of Health and Human Services and The Department of Homeland Security have both called for immediate research on the development of countermeasures for biological weapons. Nanotechnology offers unique and far-reaching solutions to the needs of bio-threat elimination. Our research is based on the application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as broad spectrum anti-viral as well as anti-bacterial agents. As viral countermeasures we have successfully demonstrated that AgNPs are capable of preventing the entry of a smallpox analog virus. To accomplish this task an FDA viral neutralization assay was modified to work during the viral entry time frame. The results show that AgNPs significantly prevent poxvirus entry at amounts as low as 63 Ilg/mL. Furthermore, AgNPs prevented the infection of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) bioengineered to express an entry factor that allows it to infect almost any cell in the human body, instead of its normal T-cell target. To determine AgNP effectiveness against HIV, a novel antiviral assay was created. Our novel assay shows AgNP inhibition of HIV as low as 2 Ilg/mL. The Wooley laboratory has also shown AgNPs have potent antibacterial properties against Staphylococcus aureus, Eschericia coli, and Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague. Using standard antimicrobial and drug development techniques, an effective antibacterial concentration was determined to be 17.5 Ilg/mL. AgNP toxicity testing has shown our standard 25 nm AgNPs to be nontoxic at concentrations as high as 1,000 Ilg/mL. The large gap between the effective antimicrobial and cytotoxic concentrations shows that AgNPs have the potential for a high therapeutic index. This suggests that AgNPs could be used as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent to protect the population from any sort of biological catastrophe, natural and man-made.</p><p>This presentation occurred at the Wright State University Campus-Wide Celebration of Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities on April 16, 2010</p>