Think like a Virus: Toward Improving Nanovaccine Development against SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

There is no doubt that infectious diseases present global impact on the economy, society, health, mental state, and even political aspects, causing a long-lasting dent, and the situation will surely worsen if and when the viral spread becomes out of control, as seen during the still ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Despite the considerable achievements made in viral prevention and treatment, there are still significant challenges that can be overcome through careful understanding of the viral mechanism of action to establish common ground for innovating new preventative and treatment strategies. Viruses can be regarded as devil nanomachines, and one innovative approach to face and stop the spread of viral infections is the development of nanoparticles that can act similar to them as drug/vaccine carriers. Moreover, we can use the properties that different viruses have in designing nanoparticles that reassemble the virus conformational structures but that do not present the detrimental threats to human health that native viruses possess. This review discusses the current preventative strategies (i.e., vaccination) used in facing viral infections and the associated limitations, highlighting the importance of innovating new approaches to face viral infectious diseases and discussing the current nanoapplications in vaccine development and the challenges that still face the nanovaccine field.