Nanovaccine: A hope to triumph the battle against novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Singh, Anurag; Maurya, Anand; Mishra, Gaurav; Awasthi, Rajendra; Dua, Kamal; Kulkarni, Giriraj

BACKGROUND The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection has caused the global emergence of coronavirus in humans during the last 12 months. Till May 11, 2021, the confirmed global COVID-19 cases and deaths reached 158551526 and 3296855, respectively. METHODS Goblet cells and ciliated cells in the nose act as the initial infection site of SARS-CoV-2. Thus, mucus immunity is important to protect from infection. The outburst of SARS-CoV-2 infection can be halted only when an effective vaccine will be developed. RESULTS Globally, over 100 different vaccines are under investigation, including DNA vaccines, RNA vaccines, inactivated virus vaccines, adenovirus-based vaccines, recombinant/ subunit protein vaccines, peptide vaccines, and virus-like particles etc. Inactivated virus vaccines and mRNA, and adenovirus-based vaccines have moved fast into clinical trials. CONCLUSION Vaccines containing spike protein of SARS-CoV as subunit could effectively prevent binding of coronavirus to the host cell and membrane fusion. Thus, spike protein can be used as a major target for subunit vaccine preparation.