Insights from nanotechnology in COVID-19 treatment

Abstract

In just a few months, SARS-CoV-2 and the disease it causes, COVID-19, created a worldwide pandemic. Virologists, biologists, pharmacists, materials scientists, and clinicians are collaborating to develop efficient treatment strategies. Overall, in addition to the use of clinical equipment to assist patient rehabilitation, antiviral drugs and vaccines are the areas of greatest focus. Given the physical size of SARS-CoV-2 and the vaccine delivery platforms currently in clinical trials, the relevance of nanotechnology is clear, and previous antiviral research using nanomaterials also supports this connection. Herein we briefly summarize current representative strategies regarding nanomaterials in antiviral research. We focus specifically on SARS-CoV-2 and the detailed role that nanotechnology can play in addressing this pandemic, including i) using FDA-approved nanomaterials for drug/vaccine delivery, including further exploration of the inhalation pathway; ii) introducing promising nanomaterials currently in clinical trials for drug/vaccine delivery; iii) designing novel biocompatible nanomaterials to combat the virus via interfering in its life cycle; and iv) promoting the utilization of nanomaterials in pneumonia treatment.

Keywords: Antiviral drugs; COVID-19; Clinical trials; Nanotechnology; Vaccines.

Graphical abstract

Fig. 1

Representative strategies against viruses using nanotechnology. a) Antiviral drug delivery: design drug-conjugated human vault nanoparticles against HIV-1 infection, Adapted from Ref. [49]. Copyright 2019 American Chemical Society; b) Vaccine delivery: modified dendrimer nanoparticles (MDNP) with lipid-anchored polyethylene glycol-2000 (PEG-2000) for antiviral mRNA delivery, Adapted from Ref. [52]. Copyright 2016 National Academy of Sciences; c) Multivalent binding strategy: virus-like glycodendrinanoparticles were introduced to capture virus and block infection, Adapted from Ref. [68]. Copyright 2018 Nature Publishing Group; d) Host cell membrane-mimicking strategy: the nanodecoy carrying host cell membrane for adsorbing Zika virus, and representative transmission electron microscope (TEM) image of one nanodecoy that binds the Zika virus (indicated by red arrows). Scale bar, 50 nm. Adapted from Ref. [71]. Copyright 2020 American Chemical Society.

Fig. 2

Outlooks from nanotechnology against SARS-CoV-2.