Antiviral polymers have shown to significantly enhance the inhibition of viral infection in comparison to monomeric analogues.<sup>1-3</sup> This observation is thought to be a result of polyvalency, where multiple binding sites on the same polymer have a synergistic effect and dramatically increase inhibition. Influenza infection and replication is initiated through interactions between hemagglutinin on the virus surface and sialic acid on the epithelial surface of the lungs. By using the hemagglutinin-sialic acid binding interactions as a model, “decoy receptors” (polymers containing sialic acid) can be designed and synthesized to bind to the viral surface and inhibit interaction with cells, therefore lessening infection. To do this, we will synthesize a library of polymers with systematically varied parameters (molecular weight, sialic acid amount, sialic acid linkage, comonomer identity, and topology) and measure their inhibition with the hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) assay. From this data, we can study structure-property relationships and optimize materials for enhanced inhibition of influenza.

Developing sialic acid containing polymers for influenza inhibition

ACS Fall 2021

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