Background: Influenza viruses (IVs) have become increasingly resistant to antiviral drugs that target neuraminidase and matrix protein 2 due to gene mutations that alter their drug-binding target protein regions. Consequently, almost all recent IV pandemics have exhibited resistance to commercial antiviral vaccines. To overcome this challenge, an antiviral target is needed that is effective regardless of genetic mutations. Main body:In particular, hemagglutinin (HA), a highly conserved surface protein across many IV strains, could be an effective antiviral target as it mediates binding of IVs with host cell receptors, which is crucial for membrane fusion. HA has 6 disulfide bonds that can easily bind with the surfaces of gold nanoparticles. Herein, we fabricated porous gold nanoparticles (PoGNPs) via a surfactant-free emulsion method that exhibited strong affinity for disulfide bonds due to gold-thiol interactions, and provided extensive surface area for these interactions. A remarkable decrease in viral infectivity was demonstrated by increased cell viability results after exposing MDCK cells to various IV strains (H1N1, H3N2, and H9N2) treated with PoGNP. Most of all, the viability of MDCK cells infected with all IV strains increased to 96.8% after PoGNP treatment of the viruses compared to 33.9% cell viability with non-treated viruses. Intracellular viral RNA quantification by real-time RT-PCR also confirmed that PoGNP successfully inhibited viral membrane fusion by blocking the viral entry process through conformational deformation of HA. Conclusion:We believe that the technique described herein can be further developed for PoGNP-utilized antiviral protection as well as metal nanoparticle-based therapy to treat viral infection. Additionally, facile detection of IAV can be achieved by developing PoGNP as a multiplatform for detection of the virus.

The objectives of this research were to evaluate antioxidant activities and nutritional components, including phenolic acid, catechin, organic acid, sugar, and amino acid, of persimmon juice from persimmons grown in different regions around Korea. Persimmon (Diospyros kaki) exhibits potent antioxidant effects in DPPH, ABTS, reducing power, and FRAP methods of analysis. The levels of nutritional constituents showed significant differences among all the samples. In particular, tartaric acid, glucose, gallic acid, epicatechin gallate and aspartic acid were observed to be the predominant component for each of their general chemical groups, with total average contents of 1876.51 mg/kg, 62.69 g/kg, 12.73 mg/kg, 208.99 mg/kg, and 31.84 mg/100 g, respectively. Interestingly, persimmons from the Hadong region presented the highest sugar (130.60 g/kg), phenolic acid (42.27 mg/kg), and catechin (527.97 mg/kg) contents in comparison with other regional samples. Moreover, this location exhibited the greatest antioxidant activity with highest total phenolic (298.01 mg GAE/kg) and flavonoid (32.11 mg/kg RE) contents. Our results suggest that strong antioxidant activities of persimmons correlate with high phenolic acid and catechin contents, particularly gallic acid and epicatechin gallate. Additionally, these two compounds may be key factors when considering the useful ingredients of persimmon.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic poses serious global health concerns with the continued emergence of new variants. The periodic outbreak of novel emerging and re-emerging infectious pathogens has elevated concerns and challenges for the future. To develop mitigation strategies against infectious diseases, nano-based approaches are being increasingly applied in diagnostic systems, prophylactic vaccines, and therapeutics. This review presents the properties of various nanoplatforms and discusses their role in the development of sensors, vectors, delivery agents, intrinsic immunostimulants, and viral inhibitors. Advanced nanomedical applications for infectious diseases have been highlighted. Moreover, physicochemical properties that confer physiological advantages and contribute to the control and inhibition of infectious diseases have been discussed. Safety concerns limit the commercial production and clinical use of these technologies in humans; however, overcoming these limitations may enable the use of nanomaterials to resolve current infection control issues via application of nanomaterials as a platform for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of viral diseases.

While the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) accounts for the current global pandemic, the emergence of other unknown pathogens, named “Disease X,” remains a serious concern in the future. Emerging or re‐emerging pathogens continue to pose significant challenges to global public health. In response, the scientific community has been urged to create advanced platform technologies to meet the ever‐increasing needs presented by these devastating diseases with pandemic potential. This review aims to bring new insights to allow for the application of advanced nanomaterials in future diagnostics, vaccines, and antiviral therapies, thereby addressing the challenges associated with the current preparedness strategies in clinical settings against viruses. The application of nanomaterials has advanced medicine and provided cutting‐edge solutions for unmet needs. Herein, an overview of the currently available nanotechnologies is presented, highlighting the significant features that enable them to control infectious diseases, and identifying the challenges that remain to be addressed for the commercial production of nano‐based products is presented. Finally, to conclude, the development of a nanomaterial‐based system using a “One Health” approach is suggested. This strategy would require a transdisciplinary collaboration and communication between all stakeholders throughout the entire process spanning across research and development, as well as the preclinical, clinical, and manufacturing phases.

This work describes efficient co-delivery system based on phenylboronic acid functionalized polymersomes.