4.8 Article

Effective SARS-CoV-2 antiviral activity of hyperbranched polylysine nanopolymers

Journal

NANOSCALE
Volume 13, Issue 39, Pages 16465-16476

Publisher

ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/d1nr03745e

Keywords

-

Funding

  1. project Nano4Covid from Sardegna Ricerche
  2. European Virus Archive GLOBAL (EVA-GLOBAL) project from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program [87102]
  3. MUR [FISR2020IP_02620]
  4. Fondazione Fondazione Centro Servizi alla Persona
  5. Programma Operativo Nazionale (PON) Ricerca e Innovazione 2014-2020 Linea 1

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The COVID-19 pandemic, which originated in Wuhan, China, has rapidly spread globally, leading to over 130 million cases and 3 million deaths. Various strategies, including community-based behaviors, antiviral treatments, and vaccines, are being used to combat the pandemic. While behavior-based measures and vaccines have shown success, there is an urgent need for effective treatments to address the limitations of existing antiviral options like Remdesivir.
The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) had spread rapidly since December 2019, when it was first identified in Wuhan, China. As of April 2021, more than 130 million cases have been confirmed, with more than 3 million deaths, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in history. Different approaches must be put in place to confront a new pandemic: community-based behaviours (i.e., isolation and social distancing), antiviral treatments, and vaccines. Although behaviour-based actions have produced significant benefits and several efficacious vaccines are now available, there is still an urgent need for treatment options. Remdesivir represents the first antiviral drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 but has several limitations in terms of safety and treatment benefits. There is still a strong request for other effective, safe, and broad-spectrum antiviral systems in light of future emergent coronaviruses. Here, we describe a polymeric nanomaterial derived from l-lysine, with an antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 associated with a good safety profile in vitro. Nanoparticles of hyperbranched polylysine, synthesized by l-lysine's thermal polymerization catalyzed by boric acid, effectively inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 replication. The virucidal activity is associated with the charge and dimension of the nanomaterial, favouring the electrostatic interaction with the viral surface being only slightly larger than the virions' dimensions. Low-cost production and easiness of synthesis strongly support the further development of such innovative nanomaterials as a tool for potential treatments of COVID-19 and, in general, as broad-spectrum antivirals.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.8
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available