Difference between revisions of "Team:CCU Taiwan/Education"

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<p>This page is used by the judges to evaluate your team for the <a href="https://2020.igem.org/Judging/Medals">medal criterion</a> or <a href="https://2020.igem.org/Judging/Awards"> award listed below</a>. </p>
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    <h1 class="wordcenter shadow">Education</h1>
 
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    <ul>
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        <li><a href="#ins">Inspiration</a></li>
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        <li><a href="#dec">Detection of Dengue Virus</a>
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        <li><a href="#dendetx">Dengue Virus Detection Kit (DENDETX)</a>
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<div class="contents s12 m6 l4" id="text">
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            <h2>Inspiration</h2>
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            <p>Dengue fever is a disease that affects tropical and subtropical regions, where the population density is relatively high. <b>Half of the world population</b> is under the threat of dengue fever, with <b>390 million infections</b> every year. This number greatly exceeds the number of cases of COVID-19, which was about 25 million by September 1, 2020, causing dengue fever to be listed by WHO as a <b>top 10 health threat.</b></p>
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            <br>
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            <p>Dengue fever can progress into more serious conditions known as <b>dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF)</b> or <b>dengue shock syndrome (DSS)</b>. An estimated <b>500,000 patients</b> will develop into DHF or DSS, which results in about <b>25,000 deaths</b> every year.</p>
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            <br>
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            <p>If proper medical treatment is not taken or if a person has previously been infected, dengue fever patients will have higher risk of developing <b>dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF)</b>. This usually happens between the 3rd to 7th day of dengue fever cycle. Patients in this phase begin bleeding in organs and pleural effusion. Those symptoms contribute to increasing vascular permeability, which will cause the leakage of plasma and a <b>mortality rate of 20%</b>.</p>
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            <br>
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            <p>If the condition becomes worse, patients will go into <b>dengue shock syndrome (DSS)</b>. Symptoms of DSS include a sudden drop in blood pressure, severe abdominal pain, vomiting and restlessness, increasing the <b>mortality rate to 40%</b>. Once a patient goes into DSS, it can be <b>fatal within 12 to 24 hours</b>.</p>
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            <br>
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            <p>Taiwan, which is in the subtropical region, is under the threat of dengue virus. There was an outbreak of dengue fever in southern Taiwan, Kaohsiung and Tainan, from 2014 to 2015. There were over 44,000 confirmed cases in an epidemic that spread from Tainan to other cities, causing 220 deaths. Although the threat of dengue fever has historically been greater in southern Taiwan, according to TCDC (Taiwan Center of Disease Control) statistics, in 2020 there was <b>local transmission</b> of dengue fever in Taoyuan, in northern Taiwan, showing that the <b>potentially affected population is increasing</b>.</p>
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            <br>
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            <p>However, there are <b>no effective treatments or vaccines</b> for dengue infections. The use of the vaccine is still highly restricted for most countries in Asia. Thus, health care systems are still facing a huge challenge from dengue fever.</p>
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        <section id="dec">
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            <h2>Detection of Dengue Virus</h2>
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            <p>To overcome the huge challenge of dengue fever, we want to develop a <b>novel detection device</b>. A transmembrane protein, <b>C-type lectin domain family 5 member A (CLEC5A)</b>, usually found on macrophages and dendritic cells, is a <b>critical receptor</b> for the dengue virus infection. When CLEC5A interacts with the <b>envelope protein (E protein)</b> of dengue virus, it can lead to <b>downstream transduction and cytokine storm</b>, causing the high mortality of DSS. This inspired us to consider whether the <b>binding of CLEC5A and E protein</b> could be utilized to detect dengue virus.</p>
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            <br>
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            <p>However, CLEC5A is a large transmembrane protein, making it both difficult to induce overexpression and also difficult to purify. Therefore, we chose several parts of CLEC5A which we speculate will interact with the E protein to design <b>short peptides of about 1.3 kDa</b>, which serve as a detection reagent instead of full-length CLEC5A.</p>
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            <br>
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            <p>We used <b>Rosetta simulation</b> to check whether the peptides can interact with E protein or not. We also produced an E protein from the bl046 strain of dengue virus using E.coli, so we can test the interaction.</p>
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        </section>
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        <br>
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        <section id="dendetx">
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            <h2>Dengue Virus Detection Kit (DENDETX)</h2>
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            <p>Our test is designed to detect <b>whole virus particles</b> in blood samples, based on the binding between E proteins from dengue virus and TRSs. The proposed mechanism of the test is as follows:</p>
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            <br>
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            <ol>
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                <li>The sample is dropped on the sample pad.</li>
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                <li>Gold nanoparticle with TRS1 binds to virus particles in the sample in the conjugate pad.</li>
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                <li>The virus particles will be restrained on the test line via an interaction between TRS2 and virus particles, showing a red band of gold nanoparticles indicating a positive result.</li>
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                <li>Gold nanoparticles with TRS1 bind to the E proteins mounted on the control line also producing a red band to confirm the test works properly.</li>
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            </ol>
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                <p>Figure1. Dengue Virus Detection Kit (DENDETX)</p>
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            <p>We hope early detection can allow patients to get proper medical care sooner to minimize the mortality.</p>
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<h1>Education </h1>
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<h3>Gold Medal Criterion #6</h3>
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<p> Develop and implement science communication, education, and/or outreach materials related to synthetic biology.
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All activities must follow Safety policies for <a href="https://2020.igem.org/Safety/Policies#subjects">Human Subjects Research</a>.
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Please see the <a href="https://2020.igem.org/Judging/Medals">2020 Medals Page</a> for more information.
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<h3>Best Education Special Prize</h3>
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<p>To compete for the <a href="https://2020.igem.org/Judging/Awards">Best Education prize</a>, please describe your work on this page  and also fill out the description on the <a href="https://2020.igem.org/Judging/Judging_Form">judging form</a>. Please note you can compete for both the Gold Medal criterion #6 and the Best Education prize with this page. </p>
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Revision as of 07:58, 7 October 2020

Education

Inspiration

Dengue fever is a disease that affects tropical and subtropical regions, where the population density is relatively high. Half of the world population is under the threat of dengue fever, with 390 million infections every year. This number greatly exceeds the number of cases of COVID-19, which was about 25 million by September 1, 2020, causing dengue fever to be listed by WHO as a top 10 health threat.


Dengue fever can progress into more serious conditions known as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) or dengue shock syndrome (DSS). An estimated 500,000 patients will develop into DHF or DSS, which results in about 25,000 deaths every year.


If proper medical treatment is not taken or if a person has previously been infected, dengue fever patients will have higher risk of developing dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). This usually happens between the 3rd to 7th day of dengue fever cycle. Patients in this phase begin bleeding in organs and pleural effusion. Those symptoms contribute to increasing vascular permeability, which will cause the leakage of plasma and a mortality rate of 20%.


If the condition becomes worse, patients will go into dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Symptoms of DSS include a sudden drop in blood pressure, severe abdominal pain, vomiting and restlessness, increasing the mortality rate to 40%. Once a patient goes into DSS, it can be fatal within 12 to 24 hours.


Taiwan, which is in the subtropical region, is under the threat of dengue virus. There was an outbreak of dengue fever in southern Taiwan, Kaohsiung and Tainan, from 2014 to 2015. There were over 44,000 confirmed cases in an epidemic that spread from Tainan to other cities, causing 220 deaths. Although the threat of dengue fever has historically been greater in southern Taiwan, according to TCDC (Taiwan Center of Disease Control) statistics, in 2020 there was local transmission of dengue fever in Taoyuan, in northern Taiwan, showing that the potentially affected population is increasing.


However, there are no effective treatments or vaccines for dengue infections. The use of the vaccine is still highly restricted for most countries in Asia. Thus, health care systems are still facing a huge challenge from dengue fever.


Detection of Dengue Virus

To overcome the huge challenge of dengue fever, we want to develop a novel detection device. A transmembrane protein, C-type lectin domain family 5 member A (CLEC5A), usually found on macrophages and dendritic cells, is a critical receptor for the dengue virus infection. When CLEC5A interacts with the envelope protein (E protein) of dengue virus, it can lead to downstream transduction and cytokine storm, causing the high mortality of DSS. This inspired us to consider whether the binding of CLEC5A and E protein could be utilized to detect dengue virus.


However, CLEC5A is a large transmembrane protein, making it both difficult to induce overexpression and also difficult to purify. Therefore, we chose several parts of CLEC5A which we speculate will interact with the E protein to design short peptides of about 1.3 kDa, which serve as a detection reagent instead of full-length CLEC5A.


We used Rosetta simulation to check whether the peptides can interact with E protein or not. We also produced an E protein from the bl046 strain of dengue virus using E.coli, so we can test the interaction.


Dengue Virus Detection Kit (DENDETX)

Our test is designed to detect whole virus particles in blood samples, based on the binding between E proteins from dengue virus and TRSs. The proposed mechanism of the test is as follows:


  1. The sample is dropped on the sample pad.
  2. Gold nanoparticle with TRS1 binds to virus particles in the sample in the conjugate pad.
  3. The virus particles will be restrained on the test line via an interaction between TRS2 and virus particles, showing a red band of gold nanoparticles indicating a positive result.
  4. Gold nanoparticles with TRS1 bind to the E proteins mounted on the control line also producing a red band to confirm the test works properly.

Figure1. Dengue Virus Detection Kit (DENDETX)

We hope early detection can allow patients to get proper medical care sooner to minimize the mortality.

© iGEM Team, 2020 CCU Taiwan