School of Physics, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), Tehran, 19395-5531, Iran.
Department of Theoretical Physics, JoŽef Stefan Institute, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Soft Matter. 2021 Apr 28;17(16):4296-4303. doi: 10.1039/d1sm00232e.
While almost any kind of face mask offers some protection against particles and pathogens of different sizes, the most efficient ones make use of a layered structure where one or more layers are electrically charged. These electret layers are essential for the efficient filtration of difficult-to-capture small particles, yet the exact nature of electrostatic capture with respect to the charge on both the particles and the electret fibres as well as the effect of the immediate environment remain unclear. Here, we explore in detail the electrostatic interactions between the surface of a single charged electret fibre and a model of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Using Poisson-Boltzmann electrostatics coupled to a detailed spike protein charge regulation model, we show how pH and salt concentration drastically change both the scale and the sign of the interaction. Furthermore, the configuration of the few spike proteins closest to the electret fibre turns out to be as important for the strength of the interaction as their total number on the virus envelope, a direct consequence of spike protein charge regulation. The results of our work elucidate the details of virus electrostatics and contribute to the general understanding of efficient virus filtration mechanisms.
虽然几乎任何类型的口罩都能提供一定程度的针对不同大小的颗粒和病原体的防护，但最有效的口罩采用了分层结构，其中一层或多层带有电荷。这些驻极体层对于高效过滤难以捕获的小颗粒至关重要，但关于颗粒和驻极体纤维上的电荷以及周围环境的影响，静电捕获的确切性质仍不清楚。在这里，我们详细探讨了单根带电荷的驻极体纤维表面与 SARS-CoV-2 病毒模型之间的静电相互作用。我们使用泊松-玻尔兹曼静电学与详细的刺突蛋白电荷调节模型相结合，展示了 pH 值和盐浓度如何极大地改变相互作用的规模和符号。此外，与驻极体纤维最接近的少数几个刺突蛋白的构象对于相互作用的强度与它们在病毒包膜上的总数一样重要，这是刺突蛋白电荷调节的直接结果。我们工作的结果阐明了病毒静电学的细节，并有助于更深入地了解高效的病毒过滤机制。
