Layer-by-layer nanocoating of antiviral polysaccharides on surfaces to prevent coronavirus infections
Abstract
In 2020, the world is being ravaged by the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, which causes a severe
respiratory disease, Covid-19. Hundreds of thousands of people have succumbed to the disease.
Efforts at curing the disease are aimed at finding a vaccine and/or developing antiviral drugs. Despite
these efforts, the WHO warned that the virus might never be eradicated. Countries around the
world have instated non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing and wearing of
masks in public to curb the spreading of the disease. Antiviral polysaccharides provide the ideal
opportunity to combat the pathogen via pharmacotherapeutic applications. However, a layer-by-layer
nanocoating approach is also envisioned to coat surfaces to which humans are exposed that could
harbor pathogenic coronaviruses. By coating masks, clothing, and work surfaces in wet markets
among others, these antiviral polysaccharides can ensure passive prevention of the spreading of the
virus. It poses a so-called “eradicate-in-place” measure against the virus. Antiviral polysaccharides
also provide a green chemistry pathway to virus eradication since these molecules are primarily of
biological origin and can be modified by minimal synthetic approaches. They are biocompatible as
well as biodegradable. This surface passivation approach could provide a powerful measure against
the spreading of coronaviruses
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/35653https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/15/3415/pdf
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25153415