Role of biomaterials in the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and study of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

T Cell and Natural Killer Cell Membrane-Camouflaged Nanoparticles for Cancer and Viral Therapies

Extensive research has been conducted on the application of nanoparticles in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Due to their exceptional characteristics and flexible structure, they are classified as highly efficient drug delivery systems, ensuring both safety and targeted delivery. Nevertheless, nanoparticles still encounter obstacles, such as biological instability, absence of selectivity, recognition as unfamiliar elements, and quick elimination, which restrict their remedial capacity. To surmount these drawbacks, biomimetic nanotechnology has been developed that utilizes T cell and natural killer (NK) cell membrane-encased nanoparticles as sophisticated methods of administering drugs. These nanoparticles can extend the duration of drug circulation and avoid immune system clearance. During the membrane extraction and coating procedure, the surface proteins of immunological cells are transferred to the biomimetic nanoparticles. Such proteins present on the surface of cells confer several benefits to nanoparticles, including prolonged circulation, enhanced targeting, controlled release, specific cellular contact, and reduced in vivo toxicity. This review focuses on biomimetic nanosystems that are derived from the membranes of T cells and NK cells and their comprehensive extraction procedure, manufacture, and applications in cancer treatment and viral infections. Furthermore, potential applications, prospects, and existing challenges in their medical implementation are highlighted.

Development of mechanosensitive synthetic cells for biomedical applications

The ability of cells to sense and respond to their physical environment plays a fundamental role in a broad spectrum of biological processes. As one of the most essential molecular force sensors and transducers found in cell membranes, mechanosensitive (MS) ion channels can convert mechanical inputs into biochemical or electrical signals to mediate a variety of sensations. The bottom-up construction of cell-sized compartments displaying cell-like organization, behaviors, and complexity, also known as synthetic cells, has gained popularity as an experimental platform to characterize biological functions in isolation. By reconstituting MS channels in the synthetic lipid bilayers, we envision using mechanosensitive synthetic cells for several medical applications. Here, we describe three different concepts for using ultrasound, shear stress, and compressive stress as mechanical stimuli to activate drug release from mechanosensitive synthetic cells for disease treatments.

Using chitosan, hyaluronic acid, alginate, and gelatin-based smart biological hydrogels for drug delivery in oral mucosal lesions: A review

AIMS

Oral mucosal diseases can lead to pain, difficulty speaking and eating, psychological distress, and cancer. Topical drug delivery using biological macromolecules, specifically hydrogels, is gaining interest due to the drawbacks of conventional treatments for oral mucosal lesions.

SCOPE

Biological hydrogels made from natural polymers and their derivatives, such as chitosan, hyaluronic acid, alginate, and gelatin, represent promising alternatives to conventional oral medication delivery methods. Topical drug delivery is beneficial for oral mucosal lesions as it can directly target the affected area, especially with the development of smart stimuli-responsive hydrogels, which allow for more controlled drug release. Biological hydrogels have already been used to deliver drugs like lidocaine and nystatin. This review summarizes the current research on applying smart natural polymer-based hydrogels for drug delivery in oral mucosal lesions.

CONCLUSION

Smart biological hydrogels show great promise as topical drug delivery systems for oral mucosal lesions, offering sustained drug release, increased therapeutic efficacy, and minimized systemic complications. Technological advancement is expected to lead to the development of more effective and safer drug delivery systems. The potential benefits of biological polymer-based hydrogels make them an exciting area of research for oral mucosal lesion treatment.

Biomedical equipments, vaccine and drug in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 virus caused an infectious disease, named COVID-19. Biomedical equipments, vaccine and drug have played a crucial role in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Nevertheless, up to now, there still has been no literature summarizing the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of this infectious disease from the perspective of biomedical equipments. Thus, this review wants to give an overview on the biomedical equipments, vaccine and drug in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this disease, and avoids the overlap with previous research, more emphasis on biomedical equipments, and less emphasis on biomaterials. The existing problems in the current research and application were summarized, and the future research direction was proposed, so as to provide reference to deal with similar viral infections in the future.

Biomimetic cell membrane-coated poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) are commonly used for drug delivery because of their favored biocompatibility and suitability for sustained and controlled drug release. To prolong NP circulation time, enable target-specific drug delivery and overcome physiological barriers, NPs camouflaged in cell membranes have been developed and evaluated to improve drug delivery. Here, we discuss recent advances in cell membrane-coated PLGA NPs, their preparation methods, and their application to cancer therapy, management of inflammation, treatment of cardiovascular disease and control of infection. We address the current challenges and highlight future research directions needed for effective use of cell membrane-camouflaged NPs.

Engineering organ-on-a-chip systems to model viral infections

Infectious diseases remain a public healthcare concern worldwide. Amidst the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, increasing resources have been diverted to investigate therapeutics targeting the COVID-19 spike glycoprotein and to develop various classes of vaccines. Most of the current investigations employ two-dimensional (2D) cell culture and animal models. However, 2D culture negates the multicellular interactions and three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment, and animal models cannot mimic human physiology because of interspecies differences. On the other hand, organ-on-a-chip (OoC) devices introduce a game-changer to model viral infections in human tissues, facilitating high-throughput screening of antiviral therapeutics. In this context, this review provides an overview of thein vitroOoC-based modeling of viral infection, highlighting the strengths and challenges for the future.

Blood filtering system for COVID-19 management: novel modality of the cytokine storm therapeutics

The newly emerged coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is virulent, contagious, and has rapidly gained many mutations, which makes it highly infectious and swiftly transmissible around the world. SARS-CoV-2 infects people of all ages and targets all body organs and their cellular compartments, starting from the respiratory system, where it shows many deleterious effects, to other tissues and organs. Systemic infection can lead to severe cases that require intensive intervention. Multiple approaches were elaborated, approved, and successfully used in the intervention of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. These approaches range from the utilization of single and/or mixed medications to specialized supportive devices. For critically ill COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, both extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and hemadsorption are utilized in combination or individually to support and release the etiological factors responsible for the "cytokine storm" underlying this condition. The current report discusses hemadsorption devices that can be used as part of supportive treatment for the COVID-19-associated cytokine storm.

Engineering viral genomics and nano-liposomes in microfluidic platforms for patient-specific analysis of SARS-CoV-2 variants

New variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are continuing to spread globally, contributing to the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasing resources have been focused on developing vaccines and therapeutics that target the Spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. Recent advances in microfluidics have the potential to recapitulate viral infection in the organ-specific platforms, known as organ-on-a-chip (OoC), in which binding of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) of the host cells occurs. As the COVID-19 pandemic lingers, there remains an unmet need to screen emerging mutations, to predict viral transmissibility and pathogenicity, and to assess the strength of neutralizing antibodies following vaccination or reinfection. Conventional detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants relies on two-dimensional (2-D) cell culture methods, whereas simulating the micro-environment requires three-dimensional (3-D) systems. To this end, analyzing SARS-CoV-2-mediated pathogenicity via microfluidic platforms minimizes the experimental cost, duration, and optimization needed for animal studies, and obviates the ethical concerns associated with the use of primates. In this context, this review highlights the state-of-the-art strategy to engineer the nano-liposomes that can be conjugated with SARS-CoV-2 Spike mutations or genomic sequences in the microfluidic platforms; thereby, allowing for screening the rising SARS-CoV-2 variants and predicting COVID-19-associated coagulation. Furthermore, introducing viral genomics to the patient-specific blood accelerates the discovery of therapeutic targets in the face of evolving viral variants, including B1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta), B.1.617.2 (Delta), c.37 (Lambda), and B.1.1.529 (Omicron). Thus, engineering nano-liposomes to encapsulate SARS-CoV-2 viral genomic sequences enables rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the long COVID-19 era.

From Biomedical Applications of Alginate towards CVD Implications Linked to COVID-19

In the past year, researchers have focused their attention on developing new strategies for understanding how the coronavirus affects human health and developing novel biomaterials to help patients with cardiovascular disease, which greatly increases the risk of complications from the virus. Natural biopolymers have been investigated, and it has been proven that alginate-based materials have important features. This review presents an overview of alginate-based materials used for developing innovative biomaterial platforms for biomedical applications to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus. As presented in this review, COVID-19 affects the cardiovascular system, not only the lungs. The first part of the review presents an introduction to cardiovascular diseases and describes how they have become an important problem worldwide. In the second part of the review, the origin and unique properties of the alginate biopolymer are presented. Among the properties of alginate, the most important are its biocompatibility, biodegradability, low cost, nontoxicity, unique structure, and interesting features after chemical modification. The third section of the review illustrates some of the functions of alginate in biomedical, pharmaceutical, and drug delivery applications. Researchers are using alginate to develop new devices and materials for repairing heart tissues that have been damaged by the coronavirus. Further, insights regarding how cardiovascular disease affects COVID-19 patients are also discussed. Finally, we conclude the review by presenting a summary of the impacts of COVID-19 on cardiovascular patients, their implications, and several hypothetical alginate-based treatments for infected patients.

Potential Application of Bionanoparticles to Treat Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Infection

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a contagious virus that spreads exponentially across the world, resulting in serious viral pneumonia. Several companies and researchers have put their tremendous effort into developing novel vaccines or drugs for the complete eradication of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. Bionanotechnology plays a vital role in designing functionalized biocompatible nanoparticulate systems with higher antiviral capabilities. Thus, several nanocarriers have been explored in designing and delivering drugs and vaccines. This problem can be overcome with the intervention of biomaterials or bionanoparticles. The present review describes the comparative analysis of SARS infection and its associated etiological agents. This review also highlighted some nanoparticles that have been explored in the treatment of COVID-19. However, these carriers elicit several problems once they come in contact with biological systems. Often, the body’s immune system treats these nanocarriers as foreign particles and antigens. In contrast, some bionanoparticles are highlighted here with their potential application in SARS-CoV-2. However, bionanoparticles have demonstrated some drawbacks discussed here with the possible outcomes. The scope of bioinspired nanoparticles is also discussed in detail to explore the new era of research. It is highly essential for the effective delivery of these nanoparticles to the target site. For effective management of SARS-CoV-2, different delivery patterns are also discussed here.

Impact of COVID-19 on materials science research innovation and related pandemic response

ABSTRACT

The scope of impact that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has had and continues to have on life, society, and the world as we know it will be debated for years to come. One thing is for certain, scientists, engineers, clinicians, and researchers around the globe rallied to heed the call for innovation, particularly in the field of materials science. In this special issue of MRS Bulletin, we feature six articles, two of which showcase primary consumable materials research and development, along with four review articles highlighting materials innovation over the last 18 months in diagnostics, prevention, and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

GRAPHIC ABSTRACT

Could Nanotechnology Help to End the Fight Against COVID-19? Review of Current Findings, Challenges and Future Perspectives

A serious viral infectious disease was introduced to the globe by the end of 2019 that was seen primarily from China, but spread worldwide in a few months to be a pandemic. Since then, accurate prevention, early detection, and effective treatment strategies are not yet outlined. There is no approved drug to counter its worldwide transmission. However, integration of nanostructured delivery systems with the current management strategies has promised a pronounced opportunity to tackle the pandemic. This review addressed the various promising nanotechnology-based approaches for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of the pandemic. The pharmaceutical, pharmacoeconomic, and regulatory aspects of these systems with currently achieved or predicted beneficial outcomes, challenges, and future perspectives are also highlighted.