The world population faces a major problem of viral infections that are difficult to threat and, in some cases, cause substantial causes of disease and mortality. While some viral diseases, such as smallpox, have been eradicated with the help of vaccines there are still many pressing viral pathogens that require attention. These viruses include HIV, Rhinovirus, Hepatitis C, Influenza, Zika virus, Yellow fever, Ebolavirus, etc. While tremendous strides have made with small molecule therapeutic strategies, these drugs are unable to prevent all viral disease and many viruses have already developed resistance to these molecules. Consequently, there is a great need for broad-spectrum antivirals agents against a range of viruses. The tremendous success of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as antimicrobial agents in a number of commercially available products has led to an emerging interest in the use of metal nanomaterials as novel antivirals. While recent studies show that AgNPs with various surface coatings can reduce the infectivity of different types of viruses, very little work has been done in this area. Moreover, the mechanisms of viral inhibition of AgNPs is not well understood. Here we will discuss the design of AgNPs with several surface coatings against the viral activity of a robust thermoacidophilic virus Sulfolobus spindle-shaped virus (SSV1) and the yellow fever virus. We will evaluate the effect on viral infectivity and the mechanism of inhibition of AgNPs with coated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol (PEG), sodium citrate, and hybrid lipid membranes. These studies will provide valuable information on the effect of coatings on viral infectivity and we will be able to compare the importance of AgNPs and Ag+ ions on viral activity compared to its surface coatings.

Tuning the surface architecture of silver nanoparticles for use as anti-viral agents

256th National Meeting (2018)

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