Superior possibilities and upcoming horizons for nanoscience in COVID-19: noteworthy approach for effective diagnostics and management of SARS-CoV-2 outbreak.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused great havoc and affected many parts of the world. It has imposed a great challenge to the medical and health fraternity with its ability to continue mutating and increasing the transmission rate. Some challenges include the availability of current knowledge of active drugs against the virus, mode of delivery of the medicaments, its diagnosis, which are relatively limited and do not suffice for further prognosis. One recently developed drug delivery system called nanoparticles is currently being utilized in combating COVID-19. This article highlights the existing methods for diagnosis of COVID-19 such as computed tomography scan, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, nucleic acid sequencing, immunoassay, point-of-care test, detection from breath, nanotechnology-based bio-sensors, viral antigen detection, microfluidic device, magnetic nanosensor, magnetic resonance platform and internet-of-things biosensors. The latest detection strategy based on nanotechnology, biosensor, is said to produce satisfactory results in recognizing SARS-CoV-2 virus. It also highlights the successes in the research and development of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines that are already in use. In addition, there are a number of nanovaccines and nanomedicines currently in clinical trials that have the potential to target COVID-19.

Current research trends on SARS-CoV2 virus against nanovaccine formulation

The field of vaccination has advanced by leaps and bounds;however, effective and novel vaccines are yet to be developed, especially for rapidly spreading coronavirusdisease 2019 (COVID-19)/SARS-CoV2. Many vaccines are created using conventionalapproaches to eradicate COVID-2019, which is presently a global threat. Evenvaccines using nanotechnology are also in the race. Nanotechnology has acceleratedthe evolution of newer vaccines that are safe and highly effective in eradicating theSARS-CoV2. Nanovaccines (NVs) were developed recently where new drugs can beaccommodated through nanoparticle (NP) carriers. The similar nanosize betweenthe nano-scaled materials and pathogens ensures optimal trigger response of theimmune system, resulting in satisfactory cellular and humoral immunity responses.Targeted delivery of NPs results in enhanced antibody response, improved stabilitycoupled with longer duration drug release, and prolonged immunogenic memory.This chapter highlights recently developed antiviral nanovaccines against COVID-19. Although the development of NVs is in the infancy stage and few are in the earlyclinical phases, we firmly believe the newer generation of NVs have greater possibilityof treatment and prevention of bacterial and viral infections. © 2022 Scrivener Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

Functionalization of nanobiomaterials in nanovaccinology

Nanovaccines are highly efficient for the treatment of many diseases due to their exact biochemical interactions and active constituents in it. Vaccinations are the best preventive technique used against infectious diseases. To synthesize highly potential vaccines, there is a need to develop new adjuvants and delivery system that improve immunogenicity. Applications of nanotechnology in vaccine synthesis helps to improve the applications based on it. Vaccinations are most efficient preventive measure against infectious diseases. Presently Covid 19 vaccines are on high demand. But still, vaccine hesitance is present in many countries. Vaccine hesitance about COVID-19 virus results from unjustified fear of hypothetical side effects of vaccines and the lack of trust of vaccine safety and efficacy. Nowadays, vaccine development is evolving at a high rate, and the number of candidate vaccine is progressively increasing day by day. This review analyzes the new approach of functionalized bionanomaterial-based nanovaccines and their applications. © 2022 Scrivener Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.

Nanostrategies to Develop Current Antiviral Vaccines.

Infectious diseases are a worldwide concern. They are responsible for increasing the mortality rate and causing economic and social problems. Viral epidemics and pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, force the scientific community to consider molecules with antiviral activity. A number of viral infections still do not have a vaccine or efficient treatment and it is imperative to search for vaccines to control these infections. In this context, nanotechnology in association with the design of vaccines has presented an option for virus control. Nanovaccines have displayed an impressive immune response using a low dosage. This review aims to describe the advances and update the data in studies using nanovaccines and their immunomodulatory effect against human viruses.

Nanovaccines to combat virus-related diseases.

The invention and application of vaccines have made tremendous contributions to fight against pandemics for human beings. However, current vaccines still have shortcomings such as insufficient cellular immunity, the lack of cross-protection, and the risk of antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). Thus, the prevention and control of pandemic viruses including Ebola Virus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Influenza A viruses, Zika, and current SARS-CoV-2 are still extremely challenging. Nanoparticles with unique physical, chemical, and biological properties, hold promising potentials for the development of ideal vaccines against these viral infections. Moreover, the approval of the first nanoparticle-based mRNA vaccine BNT162b has established historic milestones that greatly inspired the clinical translation of nanovaccines. Given the safety and extensive application of subunit vaccines, and the rapid rise of mRNA vaccines, this review mainly focuses on these two vaccine strategies and provides an overview of the nanoparticle-based vaccine delivery platforms to tackle the current and next global health challenges. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Infectious Disease Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies.

Emerging vaccine nanotechnology: From defense against infection to sniping cancer.

Looking retrospectively at the development of humanity, vaccination is an unprecedented medical landmark that saves lives by harnessing the human immune system. During the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, vaccination is still the most effective defense modality. The successful clinical application of the lipid nanoparticle-based Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines highlights promising future of nanotechnology in vaccine development. Compared with conventional vaccines, nanovaccines are supposed to have advantages in lymph node accumulation, antigen assembly, and antigen presentation; they also have, unique pathogen biomimicry properties because of well-organized combination of multiple immune factors. Beyond infectious diseases, vaccine nanotechnology also exhibits considerable potential for cancer treatment. The ultimate goal of cancer vaccines is to fully mobilize the potency of the immune system as a living therapeutic to recognize tumor antigens and eliminate tumor cells, and nanotechnologies have the requisite properties to realize this goal. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in vaccine nanotechnology from infectious disease prevention to cancer immunotherapy and highlight the different types of materials, mechanisms, administration methods, as well as future perspectives.

Engineered nanomaterials as fighters against SARS-CoV-2: The way to control and treat pandemics.

In this editorial trend, we aim to collect and present recently available data about the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 virus, severity, infection, replication, diagnosis, and current medications. In addition, we propose the role of nanomaterials in controlling and treating COVID-19 through their antiviral and antibacterial potential with suggested action mechanisms indicating the capability of interaction between these nanomaterials and SARS-CoV-2. These nanomaterials might be among the possible and most effective cures against coronavirus.

Chapter 20 - Nanovesicles for delivery of antiviral agents

In the era of nanomedicine, the development of drug delivery technologies is being revolutionized. Nanomedicine allowed great enhancements in pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of the drugs through the improvement of specific targeting of drugs and prolongation of their bioavailability in the body as compared to conventional therapy, and hence providing unique therapeutic approaches for eradicating viral diseases. Recently, nanosystems for delivery of antiviral agents have been extensively explored. The application of nanovesicles as drug carriers witnessed tremendous advancement and presented a paradigm shift in nanomedicine. This chapter displays the large plethora of nanovesicles available, and their fabrication and characterization techniques. In addition, the current applications of nanovesicles in nanomedicine are extensively reviewed, along with the challenges they possess. The chapter also expounds on the research and application of nanovesicles for delivery of antiviral agents to attack viral infections, such as influenza, HIV, and the most recent COVID-19. Highlights on antiviral monotherapies, currently approved or still undergoing clinical investigations, are also discussed. Alongside expanding on the current state of conventional nanovesicles, a specific focus is given to the studies investigating biomimetic nanovesicles and exosomes, due to their high potential in antiviral therapy. Finally, future perspectives are discussed aiming to translate the outstanding research outcome into clinical settings.

An overview on nanoparticle-based strategies to fight viral infections with a focus on COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) led to COVID-19 and has become a pandemic worldwide with mortality of millions. Nanotechnology can be used to deliver antiviral medicines or other types of viral reproduction-inhibiting medications. At various steps of viral infection, nanotechnology could suggest practical solutions for usage in the fight against viral infection. Nanotechnology-based approaches can help in the fight against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nanoparticles can play an essential role in progressing SARS-CoV-2 treatment and vaccine production in efficacy and safety. Nanocarriers have increased the speed of vaccine development and the efficiency of vaccines. As a result, the increased investigation into nanoparticles as nano-delivery systems and nanotherapeutics in viral infection, and the development of new and effective methods are essential for inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this article, we compare the attributes of several nanoparticles and evaluate their capability to create novel vaccines and treatment methods against different types of viral diseases, especially the SARS-CoV-2 disease.

Recombinant vaccines in 2022: a perspective from the cell factory.

The last big outbreaks of Ebola fever in Africa, the thousands of avian influenza outbreaks across Europe, Asia, North America and Africa, the emergence of monkeypox virus in Europe and specially the COVID-19 pandemics have globally stressed the need for efficient, cost-effective vaccines against infectious diseases. Ideally, they should be based on transversal technologies of wide applicability. In this context, and pushed by the above-mentioned epidemiological needs, new and highly sophisticated DNA-or RNA-based vaccination strategies have been recently developed and applied at large-scale. Being very promising and effective, they still need to be assessed regarding the level of conferred long-term protection. Despite these fast-developing approaches, subunit vaccines, based on recombinant proteins obtained by conventional genetic engineering, still show a wide spectrum of interesting potentialities and an important margin for further development. In the 80's, the first vaccination attempts with recombinant vaccines consisted in single structural proteins from viral pathogens, administered as soluble plain versions. In contrast, more complex formulations of recombinant antigens with particular geometries are progressively generated and explored in an attempt to mimic the multifaceted set of stimuli offered to the immune system by replicating pathogens. The diversity of recombinant antimicrobial vaccines and vaccine prototypes is revised here considering the cell factory types, through relevant examples of prototypes under development as well as already approved products.

White Blood Cell Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles: Recent Development and Medical Applications.

White blood cells (WBCs) are immune cells that play essential roles in critical diseases including cancers, infections, and inflammatory disorders. Their dynamic and diverse functions have inspired the development of WBC membrane-coated nanoparticles (denoted "WBC-NPs"), which are formed by fusing the plasma membranes of WBCs, such as macrophages, neutrophils, T cells, and natural killer cells, onto synthetic nanoparticle cores. Inheriting the entire source cell antigens, WBC-NPs act as source cell decoys and simulate their broad biointerfacing properties with intriguing therapeutic potentials. Herein, the recent development and medical applications of WBC-NPs focusing on four areas, including WBC-NPs as carriers for drug delivery, as countermeasures for biological neutralization, as nanovaccines for immune modulation, and as tools for the isolation of circulating tumor cells and fundamental research is reviewed. Overall, the recent development and studies of WBC-NPs have established the platform as versatile nanotherapeutics and tools with broad medical application potentials.

Evaluating the immunogenicity of gold nanoparticles conjugated RBD with Freund's adjuvant as a potential vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.

BACKGROUND: and Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 is currently considered as the most challenging issue in the field of health and medicine by causing a global pandemic. Vaccines are counted as a promising candidate to terminate this deadly pandemic. Various structural proteins in SARS-CoV-2 have recently drawn attention to be utilized as candidate vaccines to stimulate immune responses against COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In current study, the RBD protein was cloned and expressed in E. coli host. Then, the expressed RBD protein was purified and its characterizations were evaluated through various methods. Gold nanoparticles, which were utilized as a carrier for candidate Nano-vaccine, were synthesized via oxidation-reduction reaction. While Gold NPs-conjugated RBD was injected into the second treatment group, in the first candidate vaccine, RBD was injected into the first treatment group solely. Complete and Incomplete Freud's Adjuvant were also utilized for both treatment groups to enhance the immune responses against RBD antigen. Immunizations were repeated 2 times in 14-day intervals to boost the immune system of BALB/c mice. The humoral and cell-mediated immune responses were examined through immune and cytokine assays. RESULTS: Our outcomes demonstrate that strong short-term humoral immunity (IgM) was induced in both the first and second treatment group, while long-term humoral responses (IgG) were only observed in the second treatment group. While stronger short- and long-term humoral (IgM and IgG, respectively) were observed in the second treatment group, particular cytokines production (TNF-ɑ and IFN-γ) as a marker of cell-mediated responses were significantly higher in the first treatment group. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our study results show the high potentiality of RBD protein as an appropriate stimulating antigen in vaccine synthesis and testifies RBD-based candidate vaccines to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Our outcomes also recommend that Nano-vaccines can be more suitable candidates when stronger long-term immune responses matter.

Current Research Trends on SARS-CoV2 Virus Against Nanovaccine Formulation Flexibility, adaptation, and roles of patient navigators in oncology during COVID-19

Summary The field of vaccination has advanced by leaps and bounds;however, effective and novel vaccines are yet to be developed, especially for rapidly spreading coronavirusdisease 2019 (COVID-19)/SARS-CoV2. Many vaccines are created using conventionalapproaches to eradicate COVID-2019, which is presently a global threat. Evenvaccines using nanotechnology are also in the race. Nanotechnology has acceleratedthe evolution of newer vaccines that are safe and highly effective in eradicating theSARS-CoV2. Nanovaccines (NVs) were developed recently where new drugs can beaccommodated through nanoparticle (NP) carriers. The similar nanosize betweenthe nano-scaled materials and pathogens ensures optimal trigger response of theimmune system, resulting in satisfactory cellular and humoral immunity responses.Targeted delivery of NPs results in enhanced antibody response, improved stabilitycoupled with longer duration drug release, and prolonged immunogenic memory.This chapter highlights recently developed antiviral nanovaccines against COVID-19. Although the development of NVs is in the infancy stage and few are in the earlyclinical phases, we firmly believe the newer generation of NVs have greater possibilityof treatment and prevention of bacterial and viral infections. Background The impact of COVID-19 on cancer care during the first 6 months of the pandemic has been significant. The National Navigation Roundtable Workforce Development Task Group conducted a national survey to highlight the role of patient navigators (PNs). Methods An anonymous online survey captured how cancer care navigation changed during 2 phases: 1) March 13 to May 31, 2020;and 2) June 1 to September 4, 2020. Differences between the 2 time periods for categorical variables were assessed using ?2 tests, and 1-way analyses of variance were used for ordinal variables. Results Almost one-half of PNs expected changes in duties (49%) during phase 1. By phase 2, PNs showed greater confidence in retaining PN work (P < .001) and reduced changes to duties (P < .01). PNs reported new training on COVID-19 and telehealth during phase 1 (64% and 27%, respectively) and phase 2 (54% and 19%, respectively). Significant decreases in service delays were identified by phase 2 for cancer screening (P < .001), preventive care (P < .001), medical treatment (P < .01), cancer treatment (P < .001), and cancer survivorship services (P < .01). PNs reported that the top patient issues were COVID-19 concerns, medical care disruptions, and finances, and there were decreases in medical care disruptions (P < .01) during phase 2. PNs addressed myths related to mask use, COVID-19 spread, disbelief, risk, clinical changes, transmission prevention, and finances/politics. Conclusions The PN role demonstrated resiliency and adaptability. Both clinical and nonclinical oncology PNs identified key patient needs and can provide connections with patient populations that have been economically and socially marginalized, which is necessary to build trust throughout the pandemic.

New Advances in Nanomaterial-Based Antiviral Strategies

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and other major viral infectious diseases have become a significant threat to people's life and economic/social development. In recent years, with the development of nanotechnology, nanomaterial-based antiviral agents have been extensively studied. However, the clinical applications of antiviral nanomaterials are still limited. Herein, the recent advances in nanomaterial-based antiviral strategies, mainly including antiviral nanodrugs, drug nanocarriers, and nanovaccines, are summarized. The clinical challenges and prospects of nanomaterial-based antiviral strategies are also discussed.

Lipid-based nanovaccines

Vaccination has had a tremendous impact on global health and the quality of human life by reducing the mortality and morbidity caused by infectious diseases. However, effective and therapeutic vaccines have yet to be developed for completely carrying deadly diseases. In the past few decades, there has been increasing focus on the field of nanotechnology in the combination with vaccination. Nanovaccine formulations not only provide enhanced antigen stability and immunogenicity but also offer targeted delivery and prolonged release. A high number of NP vaccines with varied physicochemical characteristics and properties have been approved for clinical use. The initial part of this review provides information about lipid-based nanoparticles in which nucleic acids such as DNA (as plasmids) and RNA (as mRNA) are encapsulated in order to be used for vaccination. Subsequently, there is presented a short overview according to the first lipid-based marketed products, Inflexal V and Epaxal, and their correlation with today’s lipid-based nanovaccines. This review also focuses on the research efforts for the development of lipid-based vaccines against SARS, MERS and of the recent developments in nanotechnology-based approaches in view of the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19. Finally, there are highlighted the promising new treatments and future perspectives of these nanovaccines. © 2021, Zita Medical Managent. All rights reserved.

Nanoagent-based theranostic strategies against human coronaviruses.

The emergence of human coronaviruses (HCoVs), especially the current pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), engender severe threats to public health globally. Despite the outstanding breakthrough of new vaccines and therapeutic medicines in the past years, HCoVs still undergo unpredictable mutations, thus demanding more effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Benefitting from the unique physicochemical properties and multiple nano-bio interactions, nanomaterials hold promising potential to fight against various HCoVs, either by providing sensitive and economic nanosensors for rapid viral detection, or by developing translatable nanovaccines and broad-spectrum nanomedicines for HCoV treatment. Herein, we systemically summarized the recent applications of nanoagents in diagnostics and therapeutics for HCoV-induced diseases, as well as their limitations and perspectives against HCoV variants. We believe this review will promote the design of innovative theranostic nanoagents for the current and future HCoV-caused pandemics.

From Bench to the Clinic: The Path to Translation of Nanotechnology-Enabled mRNA SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines.

During the last decades, the use of nanotechnology in medicine has effectively been translated to the design of drug delivery systems, nanostructured tissues, diagnostic platforms, and novel nanomaterials against several human diseases and infectious pathogens. Nanotechnology-enabled vaccines have been positioned as solutions to mitigate the pandemic outbreak caused by the novel pathogen severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. To fast-track the development of vaccines, unprecedented industrial and academic collaborations emerged around the world, resulting in the clinical translation of effective vaccines in less than one year. In this article, we provide an overview of the path to translation from the bench to the clinic of nanotechnology-enabled messenger ribonucleic acid vaccines and examine in detail the types of delivery systems used, their mechanisms of action, obtained results during each phase of their clinical development and their regulatory approval process. We also analyze how nanotechnology is impacting global health and economy during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Nanotechnology-based antiviral therapeutics.

The host immune system is highly compromised in case of viral infections and relapses are very common. The capacity of the virus to destroy the host cell by liberating its own DNA or RNA and replicating inside the host cell poses challenges in the development of antiviral therapeutics. In recent years, many new technologies have been explored for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of viral infections. Nanotechnology has emerged as one of the most promising technologies on account of its ability to deal with viral diseases in an effective manner, addressing the limitations of traditional antiviral medicines. It has not only helped us to overcome problems related to solubility and toxicity of drugs, but also imparted unique properties to drugs, which in turn has increased their potency and selectivity toward viral cells against the host cells. The initial part of the paper focuses on some important proteins of influenza, Ebola, HIV, herpes, Zika, dengue, and corona virus and those of the host cells important for their entry and replication into the host cells. This is followed by different types of nanomaterials which have served as delivery vehicles for the antiviral drugs. It includes various lipid-based, polymer-based, lipid-polymer hybrid-based, carbon-based, inorganic metal-based, surface-modified, and stimuli-sensitive nanomaterials and their application in antiviral therapeutics. The authors also highlight newer promising treatment approaches like nanotraps, nanorobots, nanobubbles, nanofibers, nanodiamonds, nanovaccines, and mathematical modeling for the future. The paper has been updated with the recent developments in nanotechnology-based approaches in view of the ongoing pandemic of COVID-19.Graphical abstract.

Biosynthesis of Self-Assembled Proteinaceous Nanoparticles for Vaccination.

Recent years have seen enormous advances in nanovaccines for both prophylactic and therapeutic applications, but most of these technologies employ chemical or hybrid semi-biosynthetic production methods. Thus, production of nanovaccines has to date failed to exploit biology-only processes like complex sequential post-translational biochemical modifications and scalability, limiting the realization of the initial promise for offering major performance advantages and improved therapeutic outcomes over conventional vaccines. A Nano-B5 platform for in vivo production of fully protein-based, self-assembling, stable nanovaccines bearing diverse antigens including peptides and polysaccharides is presented here. Combined with the self-assembly capacities of pentamer domains from the bacterial AB5 toxin and unnatural trimer peptides, diverse nanovaccine structures can be produced in common Escherichia coli strains and in attenuated pathogenic strains. Notably, the chassis of these nanovaccines functions as an immunostimulant. After showing excellent lymph node targeting and immunoresponse elicitation and safety performance in both mouse and monkey models, the strong prophylactic effects of these nanovaccines against infection, as well as their efficient therapeutic effects against tumors are further demonstrated. Thus, the Nano-B5 platform can efficiently combine diverse modular components and antigen cargos to efficiently generate a potentially very large diversity of nanovaccine structures using many bacterial species.

Recent Advances and Future Perspectives in Polymer-Based Nanovaccines.

Vaccination is the most valuable and cost-effective health measure to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases. A significant number of infectious diseases and chronic disorders are still not preventable by existing vaccination schemes; therefore, new-generation vaccines are needed. Novel technologies such as nanoparticulate systems and adjuvants can enable safe and effective vaccines for difficult target populations such as newborns, elderly, and the immune-compromised. More recently, polymer-based particles have found application as vaccine platforms and vaccine adjuvants due to their ability to prevent antigen degradation and clearance, coupled with enhanced uptake by professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Polymeric nanoparticles have been applied in vaccine delivery, showing significant adjuvant effects as they can easily be taken up by APCs. In other words, polymer-based systems offer a lot of advantages, including versatility and flexibility in the design process, the ability to incorporate a range of immunomodulators/antigens, mimicking infection in different ways, and acting as a depot, thereby persisting long enough to generate adaptive immune responses. The aim of this review is to summarize the properties, the characteristics, the added value, and the limitations of the polymer-based nanovaccines, as well as the process of their development by the pharmaceutical industry.