Graphene Sheets with Defined Dual Functionalities for the Strong SARS‐CoV‐2 Interactions

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 poses a major threat to the public health worldwide, as it causes a respiratory disease named COVID-19. Since the first case report in December 2019, a pandemic ensued with approximately one million deaths within the first nine months. [1] SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the beta-coronavirus genus. All coronaviruses have a lipid envelope with a capsid, which encapsulates the helical nucleocapsid with the RNA genome. [2] The most prominent viral envelope component is the spike glycoprotein (S), which interacts with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on the surface of host cells and initiates virus entry, the first step of the SARS-CoV-2 infection cycle. [1,3-5] Moreover, the polybasic cleavage site of S is found to play a crucial role in the binding between the virus and ACE2. [6] Numerous efforts have been devoted to development of vaccines that generate neutralizing antibodies toward S to block viral interaction with Search of new strategies for the inhibition of respiratory viruses is one of the urgent health challenges worldwide, as most of the current therapeutic agents and treatments are inefficient. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a pandemic and has taken lives of approximately two million people to date. Even though various vaccines are currently under development, virus, and especially its spike glycoprotein can mutate, which highlights a need for a broad-spectrum inhibitor. In this work, inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 by graphene platforms with precise dual sulfate/alkyl functionalities is investigated. A series of graphene derivatives with different lengths of aliphatic chains is synthesized and is investigated for their ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 and feline coronavirus. Graphene derivatives with long alkyl chains (>C9) inhibit coronavirus replication by virtue of disrupting viral envelope. The ability of these graphene platforms to rupture viruses is visualized by atomic force microscopy and cryogenic electron microscopy. A large concentration window (10 to 100-fold) where graphene platforms display strongly antiviral activity against native SARS-CoV-2 without significant toxicity against human cells is found. In this concentration range, the synthesized graphene platforms inhibit the infection of enveloped viruses efficiently, opening new therapeutic and metaphylactic avenues against SARS-CoV-2. The ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under

Polysulfates Block SARS‐CoV‐2 Uptake through Electrostatic Interactions**

“…Upon dilution, the virions are released from the binding, which supports our claim that the LPG 20 S 0.94 inhibits SARS‐CoV‐2 by electrostatic interactions with the spike protein. It is envisioned that a combination with hydrophobic aliphatic chains could result in a virucidal polymer, [36, 37] as demonstrated in one of our recent studies [38] …”

Functionalized Masks: Powerful Materials against COVID‐19 and Future Pandemics

“…Graphene‐based materials have been used extensively in biomedical applications. [ 134 , 135 , 136 ] Especially after the outbreak of the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic there have many reports on utilizing graphene‐based materials for fighting against this virus, [ 137 , 138 , 139 ] including some related to the use of graphenes in face masks. The key and unique properties that graphenes can endow in the masks include i) superhydrophobicity of graphenes increases the wetting resistance of the mask by aerosols containing viruses and bacteria and enhances the self‐cleaning of the masks, ii) excellent electrothermal behavior of graphenes can create local high temperatures which can easily inactivate the microorganisms, and iii) inherent antimicrobial properties of the graphene‐based nanomaterials.…”

Functionalized Graphene Platforms for Anticancer Drug Delivery

“…Taking advantage of the huge conjugated π-systems, high specific surface area, and useful functionality, graphene platforms can be used as novel nanocarriers for different therapeutic agents. [95][96][97][98] Incorporation of polymeric systems into the graphene structure allows tailoring these platforms into new multifunctional systems to deliver a variety of moieties such as therapeutic, targeting, and diagnostic agents. 97,99 Non-covalent and covalent functionalization are two major strategies for the modification of graphene and its derivatives.…”