Development of an optical trap based fiber optic nanopipette for studying single-virus single-cell interactions
In this project, a single particle aperture trap will be fabricated onto the end of an optical fiber to provide optimal coupling to the trap and also to have a robust, fully integrated device. Furthermore the optical fiber is portable, easy to work with, has mature commercialized optical components and unlike optical tweezers, it can be moved mechanically without disturbing the optical field and releasing the trapped particle. Single virus entities will be trapped and transported near a single cell, and the interactions between both particles will be observed. The broad application of this technique will offer valuable insight not only into the workings of different viruses with both human and bacterial cells leading to advances in pharmaceuticals and genomics but also in the future can be used to study protein cell interactions advancing the field of proteomics.
This proposed research provides a new framework to optically trap a single virus particle without the need for molecular tethers. This nondestructive technique can be applied to other biomolecules such as proteins. The findings will be used to further advance the understanding of the physics of biological interactions, specifically between a virus and a cell, leading to future advances in disease treatment. The results of this research will be incorporated into a course on biophotonics taught to both undergraduate and graduate students to teach students about basic optics and its application to emerging biological applications.
