A group of researchers have used advanced modeling to design anti-viral nanoparticles that bind to and destroy a range of viruses in vitro. Their findings were reported yesterday in Nature Materials.
The researchers wanted to design a new antiviral nanoparticle that mimics HSPG, a cell surface protein that many viruses bind to as part of their pathology. While drugs do exist that mimic HSPG to prevent viruses from attaching to surfaces, they currently only bind weakly and do not destroy the viruses after attaching.
To overcome these challenges, the international team of scientists used advanced computational modeling techniques to generate the precise structures of various target viruses and nanoparticles down to the location of individual atoms. This enabled them to estimate strength and permanence of potential bonds and allowed them to predict how the bond could change over time to destroy the virus.
A design was created that was predicted to be able to bind irreversibly to a range of viruses and cause lethal deformations without affecting healthy tissue. Indeed, the nanoparticles were able to bind irreversibly to herpes simplex virus, human papillomavirus, syncytial virus, Dengue virus and Lentivirus in vitro.
These nanoparticles may someday offer a much needed broad spectrum treatment for viruses.
Image: A molecular dynamics model showing a nanoparticle binding to the outer envelope of the human papillomavirus. Image courtesy of UIC professor of chemistry, Petr Kral.