Abstract
Nanotechnology and nanomedicine have excellent potential in dealing with a range of different health problems, including viruses, which are considered to be a serious challenge in the medical field. Application of nanobiotechnology could represent a new avenue for the treatment or disinfection of viruses. There is increasing concern regarding the control of coronaviruses, among these, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 are well known and dangerous examples. This article aims to provide an overview of recent studies on the effectiveness of nanoparticles as diagnostic or antiviral tools against coronaviruses. The possibilities of effectively using nanomaterials as vaccines and nanosensors in this field are also presented.
Highlights
Today, there is increasing concern on how to battle coronaviruses as they have been changing the way we live with novel coronavirus disease being a problematic example
Several studies have been conducted on the application of nanomaterials in the treatment, anti-infection and detection of some types of coronavirus, including those discussed in this report, as well as others [52,53,54,55]
An overview of studies regarding the effectiveness of nanoparticles for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes was presented envisioning the possibility of applying nanomaterials in development of a highly effective vaccine against coronaviruses
Summary
Kim et al proposed a ferritin-based NP assembly mediated by RNA as a novel molecular chaperone and demonstrated that using their NP-based vaccine against MERS-CoV can induce CD4+ T cells, which in turn leads to the generation of IFN-γ and TNF-α upon antigen stimulation [30]. Results indicated that vaccination with AuNP-adjuvanted protein elicited strong IgG response but, in contrast to a Toll-like receptor agonist-adjuvanted vaccine, did not result in induction of protective antibodies and decreasing eosinophilic infiltration Owing to their immunogenic properties, various types of NPs, including gold NPs, spike protein NPs and hollow polymeric NPs have all been reported to have considerable potency to induce an immune response against coronaviruses in animal models and in vitro. In 2014, Lv et al compared the strength of immune responses induced by four different silver nanomaterials, including silver NPs, silver nanowires of 60 and 400 nm and silver colloids, on TGEV in infected swine testicle cells [38]. CoV: Coronavirus; FCoV: Feline coronavirus; GO-Ag: Graphene-silver nanocomposites; HTCC-NS/MS: N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-trimethyl chitosan-nano/microsphere; MERS: Middle East respiratory syndrome; NP: Nanoparticle; NW: Nanowire; PEDV: porcine epidemic diarrhea virus; ST: Swine testicle; TGEV: Transmissible gastroenteritis
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