Antiviral Activity of Graphene-Silver Nanocomposites against Non-Enveloped and Enveloped Viruses.

Yi-Ning Chen,Pai-Ling Chang,Yi-Huang Hsueh,Chien-Te Hsieh,Dong-Ying Tzou

doi:10.3390/ijerph13040430

Abstract

The discovery of novel antiviral materials is important because many infectious diseases are caused by viruses. Silver nanoparticles have demonstrated strong antiviral activity, and graphene is a potential antimicrobial material due to its large surface area, high carrier mobility, and biocompatibility. No studies on the antiviral activity of nanomaterials on non-enveloped viruses have been reported. To investigate the antiviral activity of graphene oxide (GO) sheets and GO sheets with silver particles (GO-Ag) against enveloped and non-enveloped viruses, feline coronavirus (FCoV) with an envelope and infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) without an envelope were chosen. The morphology and sizes of GO and GO-Ag were characterized by transmission, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. A virus inhibition assay was used to identify the antiviral activity of GO and GO-Ag. Go-Ag inhibited 25% of infection by FCoV and 23% by IBDV, whereas GO only inhibited 16% of infection by FCoV but showed no antiviral activity against the infection by IBDV. Further application of GO and GO-Ag can be considered for personal protection equipment to decrease the transmission of viruses.

Highlights

Various emerging infectious diseases caused by viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Ebola virus, norovirus, and dengue virus have prompted the discovery and development of antimicrobial reagents and personal protection equipment (PPE) to guard against infectious agents
Limited studies have found that agents. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) show antiviral activity against human immunodeficiency virus [1,4,5,6], hepatitis B virus [7], herpes simplex virus type 1 [8], respiratory syncytial virus [9], monkey poxvirus [10], Tacaribe virus [11], and H1N1 influenza A virus [12,13,14]
Infectivity % = ˆ 100%; GO: graphene oxide; GO sheets and Ag NPs (GO-Ag): graphene oxide with Ag particles; IBDV: infectious bursal disease virus; N.A.: no available. This is the first report investigating the antiviral activity of GO and GO-Ag against enveloped and non-enveloped viruses

Summary

Introduction

Various emerging infectious diseases caused by viruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Ebola virus, norovirus, and dengue virus have prompted the discovery and development of antimicrobial reagents and personal protection equipment (PPE) to guard against infectious agents. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have been proven to be the most effective antimicrobial agents against bacteria and viruses because of their high surface-area-to-volume ratio and unique chemical and physical properties, even though they have shown cytotoxicity at high concentrations [1,2,3]. Limited studies have found that Ag NPs show antiviral activity against human immunodeficiency virus [1,4,5,6], hepatitis B virus [7], herpes simplex virus type 1 [8], respiratory syncytial virus [9], monkey poxvirus [10], Tacaribe virus [11], and H1N1 influenza A virus [12,13,14]. Public Health 2016, 13, 430; doi:10.3390/ijerph13040430 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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