Antiviral Therapeutics: Graphene Oxide Nanosheets Interact and Interfere with SARS-CoV-2 Surface Proteins and Cell Receptors to Inhibit Infectivity (Small 25/2021)

Unal, Mehmet Altay Bayrakdar Fatma Nazir Hasan Besbinar Omur Gurcan Cansu Lozano Neus Arellano Luis M.; Yalcin, Süleyman Panatli Oguzhan Celik Dogantan Alkaya Damla Agan Aydan Fusco Laura Suzuk Yildiz Serap Delogu Lucia Gemma Akcali Kamil Can Kostarelos Kostas Yilmazer Açelya

In article number 2101483, Kostas Kostarelos, Açelya Yilmazer, and co-workers report that thin, biological-grade graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets show molecular affinity toward the SARS-CoV-2 viral spike and the ACE2-bound spike complex. GO nanosheets were shown to inhibit the infection of wild-type SARS-CoV-2 experimentally in cell cultures. Through an interplay of molecular dynamics simulations and cell biology, this work demonstrates that graphene oxide sheets could offer a platform to effectively interact and potentially transport other molecules to inactivate SARS-CoV-2.