PRIME-Guard
A PRoactive Immune Modulation and Evasion-blocking Platform for Virus Prevention
The Challenge of a Silent Invader
A Viral "Invisibility Cloak"
After entering host cells, viruses don't immediately initiate replication. Instead, they exploit a critical "golden window" of 1 to 4 hours post-entry to systematically disrupt the intracellular immune surveillance system. By suppressing key proteins such as RIG-I and cGAS, viruses establish favorable conditions for large-scale replication before the host immune system can mount an effective response.
This time lag is crucial for viral immune evasion, but it also presents us with an unprecedented opportunity for intervention. Our project is inspired by this very notion: can we act before the virus does, proactively activating the cell's defense mechanisms?
Explore the Complete Mechanism of Virus Immune Evasion →Step 1: The virus enters the cell via endocytosis
Step 2: The virus disrupts the immune surveillance system
Step 3: The immune response lags, and the virus replicates
Our Solution: A Proactive Immune Modulation and Evasion-blocking Platform
Multi-Target Co-Activation
We use CRISPRa technology to activate three key host defense genes: IFITM3, CH25H, and RAB7A, all at once. This triple defense mechanism effectively blocks virus fusion, modulates immune responses, and accelerates virus degradation.
Design Information →Innovative Delivery Platform
To safely and efficiently deliver the CRISPRa system into cells, we encapsulate the dCas9 plasmid and sgRNA in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and further embed the LNPs in hydrogel. This platform enables the continuous, slow release of drugs, extending their effectiveness.
Project Implementation →Secure and Controllable Design
Our platform features high security. We use non-integrative plasmids to avoid unintended modifications to the host cell genome. The hydrogel release mechanism also significantly reduces the potential off-target effects, providing a safe and controllable delivery system for clinical applications.
Safety Choices →Impact and Future Outlook
Our project is not just for one specific virus. By simply changing the sgRNAs used, this "Immune Sentinel" platform has the potential to become a General Host-Directed Therapy) for a wide range of viruses, providing a new, fast-response strategy for dealing with future viral outbreaks.
Our collaboration with Dr. Dapeng Li and Dr. Dijin Xu have been instrumental in shaping this project into its final form. We have also been exploring the complex interactions between viruses and hosts, which we hope to utilize with the goal of expanding the efficacy of our system and further characterizing its potential.
Human Practice Information →