Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a new virus in the coronavirus family that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), emerges as a big threat to the human race. To date, there is no medicine and vaccine available for COVID-19 treatment. While the development of medicines and vaccines are essentially and urgently required, what is also extremely important is the repurposing of smart materials to design effective systems for combating COVID-19. Graphene and graphene-related materials (GRMs) exhibit extraordinary physicochemical, electrical, optical, antiviral, antimicrobial, and other fascinating properties that warrant them as potential candidates for designing and development of high-performance components and devices required for COVID-19 pandemic and other futuristic calamities. In this article, we discuss the potential of graphene and GRMs for healthcare applications and how they may contribute to fighting against COVID-19.
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In addition, graphene, a thin layer of carbon atoms with high conductivity, has been widely studied as a SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tool. In one study, anti-spike antibodies immobilized on a graphene sheet were able to bind to spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2, resulting in changes in current and voltage, which were monitored by a field-effect transistor.32 Based on this method, the limit of detection in nasopharyngeal swab samples of COVID-19 patients was 242 copies of viral RNA/mL.32 Another biosensor utilized nanoflakes of reduced-graphene-oxide to immobilize antigens on gold electrodes.33 Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the samples bound to antigens and changed electrical impedance.33 Graphene also enabled a multiplex detection system.34 SARS-CoV-2 antigen and antibodies were immobilized on separate graphene electrodes to detect two antibodies (IgG and IgM), one antigen (nucleocapsid) and one inflammatory biomarker (C-reactive protein) simultaneously in blood and saliva samples. The results provided useful information to diagnose current infection, past infection, and disease severity.34
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Role of different types of nanomaterials against diagnosis, prevention and therapy of COVID-19
Abstract
In 2019, a novel type of coronavirus emerged in China called SARS-COV-2, known COVID-19, threatens global health and possesses negative impact on people’s quality of life, leading to an urgent need for its diagnosis and remedy. On the other hand, the presence of hazardous infectious waste led to the increase of the risk of transmitting the virus by individuals and by hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, in this review, we survey previous researches on nanomaterials that can be effective for guiding strategies to deal with the current COVID-19 pandemic and also decrease the hazardous infectious waste in the environment. We highlight the contribution of nanomaterials that possess potential to therapy, prevention, detect targeted virus proteins and also can be useful for large population screening, for the development of environmental sensors and filters. Besides, we investigate the possibilities of employing the nanomaterials in antiviral research and treatment development, examining the role of nanomaterials in antiviral- drug design, including the importance of nanomaterials in drug delivery and vaccination, and for the production of medical equipment. Nanomaterials-based technologies not only contribute to the ongoing SARS- CoV-2 research efforts but can also provide platforms and tools for the understanding, protection, detection and treatment of future viral diseases…
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Recent progress of graphene oxide as a potential vaccine carrier and adjuvant
Vaccine is one of the most effective strategies for preventing and controlling infectious diseases and some noninfectious diseases, especially cancers. Adjuvants and carriers have been appropriately added to the vaccine formulation to improve the immunogenicity of the antigen and induce long-lasting immunity. However, there is an urgent need to develop new all-purpose adjuvants because some adjuvants approved for human use have limited functionality. Graphene oxide (GO), widely employed for the delivery of biomolecules, excels in loading and delivering antigen and shows the potentiality of activating the immune system. However, GO aggregates in biological liquid and induces cell death, and it also exhibits poor biosolubility and biocompatibility. To address these limitations, various surface modification protocols have been employed to integrate aqueous compatible substances with GO to effectively improve its biocompatibility. More importantly, these modifications render functionalized-GO with superior properties as both carriers and adjuvants. Herein, the recent progress of physicochemical properties and surface modification strategies of GO for its application as both carriers and adjuvants is reviewed. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Due to its unique physicochemical properties, graphene oxide is widely employed in medicine for purposes of photothermal treatment of cancer, drug delivery, antibacterial therapy, and medical imaging. Our work describes the surface modification of graphene oxide and for the first time summarizes that functionalized graphene oxide serves as a vaccine carrier and shows significant adjuvant activity in activating cellular and humoral immunity. In the future, it is expected to be introduced into vaccine research to improve the efficacy of vaccines.
Keywords: Adjuvant delivery; Antigen delivery; Functionalized-GO; Immune adjuvant; Vaccine adjuvant; Vaccine nano-carrier.
- PMID: 32531395
- DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2020.06.009
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. 2011 Feb;7(1):106-7.
doi: 10.1166/jbn.2011.1224.
Toxicity of graphene in normal human lung cells (BEAS-2B)
- PMID: 21485826
- DOI: 10.1166/jbn.2011.1224
Abstract
Graphite nanomaterials such as thermally exfoliated graphite oxide (GO) are versatile in many applications. However, little is known about its effects on biological systems. In this study we characrerized the GO using dynamic light scattering (DLS) along with the toxicological aspects related to cytotoxicity and apoptosis in normal human lung cells (BEAS-2B). A significant concentration and time dependent decrease in cell viability was observed at different concentrations (10-100 microg/ml) by the MTT assay after 24 and 48 h of exposure and significant increase of early and late apoptotic cells was observed as compared to control cells. Our study demonstrates that GO induces cytotoxicity and apoptosis in human lung cells.
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Graphene and graphene oxide
The nanomaterial graphene and graphene oxide with two dimensions have caught a lot of consideration because of their antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Antibody-conjugated graphene sheets not only can quickly recognize targeted proteins of the virus but also be remedial for huge population screening, and improvement of environmental sensors and filters (Palmieri & Papi, 2020). Besides, the functionalized graphene could be utilized as a disinfectant due to acceptable viral capture capacity that, combined with heat or light-mediated inactivation. Besides, graphene sensor arrays can be implemented on standard utility textiles and drug efficacy screening. Indeed, biosensing procedures utilizing antibodies to specifically catch the entire infection exist. Moreover, graphene-based field-effect transistors (FET) as potable sensors have been designed to analyze COVID-19 viral load in clinical nasopharyngeal samples, utilizing special antibody against its spike protein (Seo et al., 2020). Indeed, the spike antibody of SARS-CoV-2 was immobilized on the FET device by conjugating onto the graphene sheet through an interfacing molecule as probe linker (Fig. 2]). The FET-based biosensing device accomplishes the detection of SARS-CoV-2 by evaluation of its performance using a cultured virus, antigen protein, and nasopharyngeal swab samples from infected individuals (Ferrari et al., 2015).
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Whitney Webb reviews scientific literature on Graphene Oxide
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The Age of Aluminum Documentary
featuring Dr. Christopher Exley and Professor Yehuda Shoenfield
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