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.

Advances in the design and development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

Since the end of 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread worldwide. The RNA genome of SARS-CoV-2, which is highly infectious and prone to rapid mutation, encodes both structural and nonstructural proteins. Vaccination is currently the only effective method to prevent COVID-19, and structural proteins are critical targets for vaccine development. Currently, many vaccines are in clinical trials or are already on the market. This review highlights ongoing advances in the design of prophylactic or therapeutic vaccines against COVID-19, including viral vector vaccines, DNA vaccines, RNA vaccines, live-attenuated vaccines, inactivated virus vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines and bionic nanoparticle vaccines. In addition to traditional inactivated virus vaccines, some novel vaccines based on viral vectors, nanoscience and synthetic biology also play important roles in combating COVID-19. However, many challenges persist in ongoing clinical trials.