Cell-Based Biomaterials for COVID-19 Prevention and Therapy.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to threaten human health, economic development and national security. Although many vaccines and drugs have been explored to fight against the major pandemic, their efficacy and safety still need to be improved. Cell-based biomaterials, especially living cells, extracellular vesicles and cell membranes, offer great potential in preventing and treating COVID-19 owing to their versatility and unique biological functions. In this review, we describe the characteristics and functions of cell-based biomaterials and their biological applications in COVID-19 prevention and therapy. We first summarize the pathological features of COVID-19, providing enlightenment on how to fight against COVID-19. Next, we focus on the classification, organization structure, characteristics, and functions of cell-based biomaterials. Finally, we comprehensively describe the progress of cell-based biomaterials in overcoming COVID-19 in different aspects, including the prevention of viral infection, inhibition of viral proliferation, anti-inflammation, tissue repair, and alleviation of lymphopenia. At the end of this review, a look forward to the challenges of this aspect is presented. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.