Nanotraps Help Catch, Clear Coronavirus

Nanoparticles that capture SARS-CoV-2 viruses within the body hold promise as a new treatment option for fighting the novel coronavirus. The results were published in the journal Matter.// "Nanotraps" attract the virus by mimicking the target cells the virus infects. When the virus binds to the Nanotraps, the traps then sequester the virus from other cells and target it for destruction by the immune system.

Therapy remains in early stages of testing. So, the researchers envision it could be administered via a nasal spray as a treatment for COVID-19.

"Since the pandemic began, our research team has been developing this new way to treat COVID-19," said Asst. Prof. Jun Huang, whose lab led the research. "We have done rigorous testing to prove that these Nanotraps work, and we are excited about their potential."

Researchers designed nanoparticles with a high density of ACE2 proteins on their surface. They designed other nanoparticles with neutralizing antibodies on their surfaces.

By attaching ACE to nanoparticles, the researchers created robust system for trapping and eliminating the virus. Made of FDA-approved polymers and phospholipids, the nanoparticles are about 500 nanometers in diameter - much smaller than a cell. So, Nanotraps can reach more areas inside the body and more effectively trap the virus.

Safety of this was evaluated system in a mouse model and found no toxicity. They then tested the Nanotraps against a pseudovirus - a less potent model of a virus that doesn't replicate - in human lung cells in tissue culture plates and found that they completely blocked entry into the cells.

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The researchers also tested the nanoparticles with a pseudovirus in an ex vivo lung perfusion system - a pair of donated lungs that is kept alive with a ventilator - and found that they completely blocked infection in the lungs.

They also collaborated with researchers at Argonne National Laboratory to test the Nanotraps with a live virus (rather than a pseudovirus) in an in vitro system. They found that their system inhibited the virus 10 times better than neutralizing antibodies or soluble ACE2 alone.

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"That's what is so powerful about this Nanotrap," Rosenberg said. "It's easily modulated. We can switch out different antibodies or proteins or target different immune cells, based on what we need with new variants."

The Nanotraps can be stored in a standard freezer and could ultimately be given via an intranasal spray, which would place them directly in the respiratory system and make them most effective.

It could be possible to serve a vaccine by optimizing the Nanotrap formulation, creating an ultimate therapeutic system for the virus.

"This is the starting point," Huang said. "We want to do something to help the world."

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Source-Medindia