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Review
. 2020 Sep;15(21):2085-2102.
doi: 10.2217/nnm-2020-0247. Epub 2020 Jul 29.

Nanomedicine as a promising approach for diagnosis, treatment and prophylaxis against COVID-19

Affiliations
Review

Nanomedicine as a promising approach for diagnosis, treatment and prophylaxis against COVID-19

Noura H Abd Ellah et al. Nanomedicine (Lond). 2020 Sep.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the newly emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) puts the world in an unprecedented crisis, leaving behind huge human losses and deep socioeconomic damages. Due to the lack of specific treatment against SARS-CoV-2, effective vaccines and antiviral agents are urgently needed to properly restrain the COVID-19 pandemic. Repositioned drugs such as remdesivir have revealed a promising clinical efficacy against COVID-19. Interestingly, nanomedicine as a promising therapeutic approach could effectively help win the battle between coronaviruses (CoVs) and host cells. This review discusses the potential therapeutic approaches, in addition to the contribution of nanomedicine against CoVs in the fields of vaccination, diagnosis and therapy.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; chloroquine; coronavirus; nanomedicine; remdesivir.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Coronavirus.
(A) Coronavirus genome structure; (B) Transmission electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2, showing spherical stained blue viruses. (C) Coronavirus structure. E: Envelope; HE: Hemagglutinin; N: Nucleocapsid; M: Membrane; S: Spike; SARS-CoV-2: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. (B) Reproduced with permission from [13].
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Clinical phase vaccine candidates for the coronavirus disease 2019.
aAPC: Artificial antigen-presenting cells; Ad5-nCoV: Adenovirus Type 5 vectored COVID-19 vaccine; DC: Dendritic cell; LNP: Lipid nanoparticles; LV: Lentiviral vector; S: Spike; SARS-CoV-2: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Nanoparticle-based assays for coronaviruses.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.. Emerging diagnostic tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2.
C: Control well; G: Conjugate pad; S: Sample well; T: Testing well.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.. Nanoparticles-based therapy for coronaviruses via preventing viral entry.
NP: Nanoparticle; SARS-CoV-2: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2; RBD: Receptor-binding domain.

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