Opportunities for biomaterials to address the challenges of COVID-19

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has revealed major shortcomings in our ability to mitigate transmission of infectious viral disease and provide treatment to patients, resulting in a public health crisis. Within months of the first reported case in China, the virus has spread worldwide at an unprecedented rate. COVID-19 illustrates that the biomaterials community was engaged in significant research efforts against bacteria and fungi with relatively little effort devoted to viruses. Accordingly, biomaterials scientists and engineers will have to participate in multidisciplinary antiviral research over the coming years. Although tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have historically dominated the field of biomaterials, current research holds promise for providing transformative solutions to viral outbreaks. To facilitate collaboration, it is imperative to establish a mutual language and adequate understanding between clinicians, industry partners, and research scientists. In this article, clinical perspectives are shared to clearly define emerging healthcare needs that can be met by biomaterials solutions. Strategies and opportunities for novel biomaterials intervention spanning diagnostics, treatment strategies, vaccines, and virus-deactivating surface coatings are discussed. Ultimately this review serves as a call for the biomaterials community to become a leading contributor to the prevention and management of the current and future viral outbreaks.

Keywords: COVID-19; antivirals; biomaterials; diagnostics; filtration.

FIGURE 1

Structure of SARS‐CoV‐2 virus particle. Nucleocapsid (N), envelope (E), and spike (S) proteins along with matrix form a shell surrounding single‐stranded (ss) RNA. Reproduced with permission from Astuti et al.

FIGURE 2

Diagnostic strategies for SARS‐CoV‐2 nucleic acid detection. (a) CRISPR/Cas‐based detection; in the presence of target RNA sequences (blue), Cas proteins become activated and cleave fluorophore‐RNA‐quencher reporter molecules, resulting in an increase in fluorescence. (b) RNA toehold sensors; in the presence of target RNA, toehold sensors unfold, allowing ribosomes to bind and synthesize enzymes encoded by a messenger RNA (mRNA) sequence located downstream from the loop region. Newly synthesized enzymes then convert substrate into colored product. (c) MNAzymes; multi‐part nucleic acid (MNA)‐based enzymes assemble in the presence of target RNA and subsequently cleave reporter molecules to generate signal

FIGURE 3

Biomaterials‐based therapeutic strategies for treatment of COVID‐19. Nanodecoys designed to trap and sequester virus can be directly injected into the blood (top left), while nanoparticles loaded with drugs can be formulated as inhalants to provide local delivery to lung tissue (top right). Extracorporeal blood treatments can replenish O₂ (bottom right), modulate immune signaling via proinflammatory cytokine removal or anti‐inflammatory cytokine supplementation, or directly remove viral particles from the bloodstream (bottom left)

FIGURE 4

Mechanisms of materials to prevent virus spread and inactivation. (a) Use of porous gold nanoparticles (PoGNP) to prevent influenza virus attachment to cell surface; M2‐ matrix ion channel 2. Reproduced with permission from Kim et al (b) Proposed mechanism of Influenza A virus inactivation by polymer N,N‐dodecyl methyl‐polyethylenimine (DM‐PEI) paint coated on surfaces. Reproduced with permission from Hsu et al.