IonVision was used to study the viral infection status of cells in a study in the E3 project! The study was performed in tandem with a chemical ionization mass spectrometer to get precise information of the compounds that different viral infections produce. The cell lines and infections were made by a team from the University of Helsinki, and the mass spectrometer was handled by a team from Tampere University.

Cells were cultured in flasks and infected with Influenza A, human coronavirus NL63 or OC43. The volatile organic compounds produced by the infections were sampled every 12 hours from the headspace above the culture.

As a preliminary result, we were able to find that the headspace concentration of C3H6O (acetone and propanal) was distinguishable between reference culture and the influenza A infected culture within 12 hours after the number of infectious units peaked. These results were shared in a poster presentation at the Tackling Pandemics seminar in May 2023, where we also exhibited IonVision to the rest of the E3 community.

The search through the IonVision and mass spectrometer spectras continues with other VOCs in mind, and the human corona viruses still need to be thoroughly examined. So stay tuned and look forward to an article on the topic in the future.

You can read more about the E3 Pandemic Response on their site here. The project brings together 7 research organizations and 22 companies for joint innovation in the future prevention and response to pandemics!