State of the Art Nanotechnology to Combat Current COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

COVID-19 has lately emerged as the most severe pandemics of the 20 century, with lethal consequences and ahigher rate of propagation. More than 6.3 million individuals have died around the world as of this writing (June 10, 2022), while around 11.9 billion people have been vaccinated worldwide by June 06, 2022.1 Since noeffective drug against COVID-19 has been approved to date, it highlights the crucial need for developing newertherapeutic targets, vaccines, and antibodies to eliminate COVID-19 viral load and associated side effects.2Though, delivering these agents in a tailored manner that avoids off-targeting and excessive drug absorption isextremely difficult. It is commonly known that nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems improveconventional therapies, up till now, their application in viral infections remains underdeveloped andunderutilized, as seen by the COVID-19 epidemic.3 Nanotechnology enhances the pharmacological propertiesof drug by allowing the use of nano-systems such as organic (micelles, liposomes, polymers) and inorganic(metallic, quantum dots, carbon nano-tubes) nanoparticles for encapsulation. Nanotechnology has the highpotential to combat against COVID-19 in a number of ways, for instance, prevention of viral contamination byspraying and developing personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as developing appropriate antiviraldisinfectants.4 Numerous nanocarriers have been used for drug delivery to address issues such as inadequatesolubility, permeability, and target ability, all of which contribute to drug molecules failing to exert the desiredtherapeutic impact.5 To identify COVID-19 infection or immune response, various nanomaterials can beemployed as extremely accurate and sensitive nano-based biosensors.6 A nanotechnology research group atUniversity of Georgia developed a rapid test based on optical sensors designed for COVID-19 detection inAugust 2020. In March 2022, they filed a patent application on rapid COVID-19 detection, using an optical nanosensor, developed based on human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 protein (ACE2) functionalized silvernanotriangle arrays.7 Nanomedicine possess several characteristics that can be used to accurately transporttherapeutic agents to the target cells, and the specific ligand conjugated nanoparticle connects with epitopes ofthe virus, causing the virus to be inactivated and unable to enter the cells. As a result, nanomedicine-basedtechniques that target COVID-19 binding, entry, replication, and budding can be used to neutralize theinfection.8 A number of products based on nanotechnology, like nano-silver is on the market currently due totheir ability to combat viruses. Remdesivir is one of nanomedicine's greatest accomplishments in themanagement of COVID-19 infection. Furthermore, plasmonic nanoparticles (silver, gold and their hybridnanostructures) have anti-infective properties against COVID-19 and have been useful in the development ofdiagnostic assays. For this reason, nanomedicine has shown to be critical in combating the COVID-19 epidemic.5Several nanocarriers have been explored in designing and delivering vaccines such as lipid nanoparticles beable to deliver mRNA into the cytoplasm which directly translate in to the target protein.9 In 2020, UK regulatorsapproved the COVID-19 mRNA encapsulated lipid nanoparticles based vaccine created by Pfizer and BioNTechfor emergency use, followed by authorization of Moderna's vaccine.10 Recently, both of these nanoparticlebased vaccines have been fully approved by the FDA.11 The licensing of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines wasunquestionably a huge milestone in nanotechnology. Currently ten innovative technologies based on lipidnanoparticles are in clinical pipelines for COVID-19 vaccines.11In conclusion, nanoparticles may play a vital role in COVID-19 pathogenesis at several phases during viral entry.Nano-encapsulated drugs may also be more effective at triggering intracellular pathways that produceirreversible virus damage and limit viral transcription, translation, and reproduction.Going forward, nanoparticle-based vaccines will play mounting role in enhancing vaccination outcomes againstCOVID-19. Scholars may use state-of-the-art nanomedicine as a platform to examine their involvement inmanaging the COVID-19 pandemic with greater efficacy.How to cite this: Awan UA, Saeed RF, Naeem M, Mumtaz S, Qazi AS. State of the Art Nanotechnology to Combat Current COVID-19 Outbreak. Life and Science. 2022; 3(3): 141-142.doi: http://doi.org/10.37185/LnS.1.1.229