<br/>Severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has gripped the world in an ongoing pandemic and timely investigations of various aspects of its nature are of paramount importance. In this lecture I will present arguments supporting the idea that the current absence of antiviral therapeutics that specifically target human coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, is largely due to the underuse of nanotechnologies in viral research. In addition, the effects of single-point mutations on the specifics of the interaction between the receptor-binding domains on the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV and its targets in the human cells will be elaborated. Such analyses of the structural differences and the impact of mutations on different viral strains and members of the coronavirus genera are an essential aid in the development of effective therapeutic strategies for an infection such as SARS-CoV-2. At the same time, fundamental research focusing on the interface between nanostructures and coronaviruses is of essential importance for building a knowledge base from which more express medical treatments can be produced for a rapidly spreading community-acquired disease such as COVID-19 than it is the case today. Such fundamental knowledge also presents the only route to the rational design of precisely targeted therapeutics for coronavirus infections. The development of COVID-19 vaccines utilizing nanotechnologies ensures that this is a prospective path to follow, assuming that the various technological and socioeconomic obstacles that have appeared in the course of traversing this path are surmountable.

SARS-CoV-2: Molecular interaction specifics viewed through the prism of nanotechnologies

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.