Nanotheranostics against COVID-19: From multivalent to immune-targeted materials
Autor
Hassanzadeh, Parichehr
Institución
Resumen
Destructive impacts of COVID-19 pandemic worldwide necessitates taking more appropriate
measures for mitigating virus spread and development of the effective theranostic agents. In
general, high heterogeneity of viruses is a major challenging issue towards the development of
effective antiviral agents. Regarding the coronavirus, its high mutation rates can negatively affect
virus detection process or the efficiency of drugs and vaccines in development or induce drug
resistance. Bioengineered nanomaterials with suitable physicochemical characteristics for sitespecific therapeutic delivery, highly-sensitive nanobiosensors for detection of very low virus
concentration, and real-time protections using the nanorobots can provide roadmaps towards the
imminent breakthroughs in theranostics of a variety of diseases including the COVID-19.
Besides revolutionizing the classical disinfection procedures, state-of-the-art nanotechnologybased approaches enable providing the analytical tools for accelerated monitoring of coronavirus
and associated biomarkers or drug delivery towards the pulmonary system or other affected
organs. Multivalent nanomaterials capable of interaction with multivalent pathogens including
the viruses could be suitable candidates for viral detection and prevention of further infections.
Besides the inactivation or destruction of the virus, functionalized nanoparticles capable of
modulating patient’s immune response might be of great significance for attenuating the
exaggerated inflammatory reactions or development of the effective nanovaccines and
medications against the virus pandemics including the COVID-19.