Nano Letter: Cell nanosponges significantly inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infected cells!

, June 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/
Biovalleys //nano-
particles encased in the human lung cell membrane and in the membrane of human immune cells can attract and neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 virus in cell culture, causing the virus to lose the ability to hijack host cells and reproducethe first data, published june 17 in the journal nano
Letters,, describe a new direction in the fight against COVID-19The "
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sponge" was developed by engineers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and tested by researchers at Boston Universityresearchers at the University of California, San Diego, say the nanoscale particles are "nanosponges" because they absorb harmful pathogens and toxinsin laboratory experiments, both lung cells and nanosponges of immune cell types caused the SARS-CoV-2 virus to lose nearly 90% of its "viral infection" in dose-dependent fashionViral infection refers to the ability of a virus to enter the host cell and use its resources to replicate and produce additional infectious virus particlesthese nanosponges are not aimed at the virus itself, but to protect healthy cells that are invaded by the virusPhoto Credit David Baillot University of California San Diego"Traditionally, drug developers for infectious diseases have delved into the details of pathogens in order to find a target for medication." Our approach is different We just need to know what the target cells are And then our goal is to protect our targets by creating bionic baits," said Liangfang Zhang, a professor of nanoengineering at UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering more than a decade ago, his lab first created the bionic nanosponge platform, and has been developing its wide spread ever since When a new type of coronavirus appeared, Zhang "almost immediately" came up with the idea of using a nanosponge platform to fight it in addition to the encouraging data on neutralizing viruses in cell culture, the researchers note that nanosponges wrapped in the outer membrane of macrophages may have an additional benefit: the absorption of inflammatory cytokine proteins, which are involved in some of the most dangerous aspects of COVID-19, are produced by the immune response generated by infection make and test THE COVID-19nm sponge
each COVID-19 nm sponge -- 1,000 times smaller than the width of human hair -- consists of a cell membrane-wrapped polymer core extracted from the upper skin of the lungs or macrophages These membranes that cover sponges contain the same protein receptors as the cells they simulate, including any receptors used by SARS-CoV-2 to enter the cells in the body researchers prepared several different concentrations of nanosponges in the solution to test the new coronavirus To test the ability of nanosponges to block SARS-CoV-2 infection, researchers at the University of California, San Diego asked a team from Boston University's National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory (NEIDL) to conduct independent tests At the highest biosecurity research facility in the BSL-4 laboratory, researchers led by Anthony Griffiths, associate professor of microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine, tested the ability of different concentrations of each type of nanosponge to reduce the infection of live infectious SARS-CoV-2 The same strain was tested in other COVID-19 treatments and vaccine studies when the concentration is 5 mg per milliliter, the sponge encased in the lung cell membrane inhibits 93% of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from infectious The macrophage-covered sponge inhibited 88% of THE SARS-CoV-2 virus infection Viral infection refers to the ability of a virus to enter the host cell and use its resources to replicate and produce additional infectious virus particles "From the point of view of
immunologists and virologists, nanosponge platforms are immediately of interest as a potential antiviral drug because of its ability to fight any type of virus." This means that these cell membrane nanosponges may function in a more comprehensive way in treating broad-spectrum viral infections than drugs or antibodies that may be very specifically blocking SARS-CoV-2 infections or replications At first, I was optimistic that it would work, and then I was shocked when I saw the results and what it meant for the whole treatment development! Anna Honko, an assistant professor of research at Boston University's National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory (NEIDL), said In the coming months, researchers and collaborators at the University of California, San Diego, will evaluate the efficacy of nanosponges in animal models The team at the University of California, San Diego, has demonstrated short-term safety in the airways and lungs of mice Whether these COVID-19nm sponges can be tested in the human body depends on a number of factors, but researchers are taking action as soon as possible another interesting aspect of our " is that even if the SARS-CoV-2 mutation, our nanosponge method should still work as long as the virus can still invade the cells we are imitating." I'm not sure that some of the vaccines and treatments that are being developed can say that "
the researchers also hope that these nanosponges will be able to fight any new coronavirus or even other respiratory viruses, including any virus that could trigger the next respiratory pandemic mimics lung epithelial cells and immune cells
new coronavirus-infected lung epithelial cells are usually the first step in infection with COVID-19, and Professor Zhang and his colleagues concluded that it makes sense to wrap fragments of the outer membrane of the epithelial cell in the pulmonary epithelial cell to trick the virus into infecting them rather than lung cells macrophages are white blood cells that play an important role in inflammation and are also very active in the lungs during COVID-19 disease, so Zhang and colleagues created another nanosponge that covers the membrane of macrophages team plans to study whether macrophages also have the ability to calm cytokine storms in PATIENTs with COVID-19 nanosponges can block coronavirus infection
"We'll see if macrophages nanosponges can neutralise these excess cytokines and neutralized viruses," Zhang said using macrophage fragments as a cloak is the basis for years of research into macrophages nanosponges to treat sepsis In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2017, , Zhang and a team of UCSD researchers showed that macrophage nanosponges can safely neutralise endotoxins and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the blood of mice Cellics Therapeutics, a San Diego biotech company founded by Zhang, is working to apply the results of macrophage nanosponges to clinical practice new coronavirus nanosponge platform will require a lot of testing before scientists know if it is a safe and effective human antiviral therapy, Zhang warned But if the sponge reaches the stage of clinical trial, there are a number of possible ways to provide treatment, including intubation of patients directly into the lungs, through inhalers such as asthma patients, or intravenous lying, especially to treat cytokine storm complications a therapeutic dose of nanosponges could flood the lungs with a trillion or more nanosponges, sucking the virus out of healthy cells Once the virus binds to the sponge, "it loses its viability, is no longer contagious, and is absorbed and digested by our own immune cells." "
photo source: Nano Letter "I see the potential for preventive treatment, a treatment that can be given early, because once nanosponges enter the lungs, they can stay in the lungs for a period of time." If the virus comes, if there is a nanosponge waiting for it, it may be stopped "
nanosponges more than a decade ago, Zhang created the first extra-film nanoparticles at UCSD's lab The first nanosponge was encased in fragments of the red cell membrane These nanosponges are being developed to treat bacterial pneumonia, and have been preclinically tested at all stages by San Diego-based Cellics Therapeutics The company is currently submitting to the FDA a trial-based new drug (IND) for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia The company estimates that the first patients clinical trials will take the drug next year UCSD researchers have also found that nanosponges can deliver drugs to wound sites, absorb bacteria toxins that cause sepsis, and intercept them before infecting human T-cells the basic structure of each nanosponge is the same: a biodegradable, The FDA approved polymer core shone shone on a specific type of cell membrane so that it could masquerade as red blood cells, immune T cells, or platelet cells This disguise prevents the immune system from detecting and attacking these dangerous intruders "I think cell membrane fragments are active ingredients, " This is another way of looking at drug development For the new crown pneumonia, I hope that the other teams as soon as possible to come up with a safe and effective treatment and vaccine At the same time, we are working and planning, just as the world is counting on us References: Nanosponges intercept SARS-CoV-2 infectionvirus
Cellular Nanosponges Inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Infection
," Nano Letters (2020) pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02278
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