Graphene oxide/silver nanoparticle ink formulations rapidly inhibit influenza A virus and OC43 coronavirus infection in vitro

  1. Meredith J. Crane
  2. Stephen Devine
  3. Amanda M. Jamieson

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Abstract

Respiratory tract infections present a significant risk to the human population, both through seasonal circulation and novel introductions with pandemic potential. There is a strong need for antiviral compounds with broad antimicrobial activity that can be coated onto filtration systems and personal protective equipment to augment their ability to remove infectious particles from the environment. Graphene oxide and silver nanoparticles are both materials with documented antimicrobial properties. Here, we tested the in vitro antiviral properties of several graphene oxide–silver nanoparticle composite materials, which were prepared through three different methods: reduction with silver salt, direct addition of silver nanospheres, and direct addition of silver nanospheres to thiolized graphene. These materials were tested over short time scales for their antiviral activity against two enveloped RNA viruses, influenza A virus and OC43 coronavirus, by performing viral plaque assays after exposure of the viruses to each material. It was found that the graphene oxide – silver nanoparticle materials generated by direct addition of the silver nanospheres were able to completely inhibit plaque formation by both viruses within one minute of exposure. Materials generated by the other two methods had varying levels of efficacy against influenza A virus. These studies indicate that graphene oxide-silver nanoparticle composite materials can rapidly neutralize RNA viruses and demonstrate their potential for use in a wide range of applications.

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    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.02.25.432893: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Cell Line Authenticationnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Experimental Models: Cell Lines
    SentencesResources
    The supernatant from the GO-AgNP treatment plates was serially diluted in 1x PBS supplemented with calcium and magnesium (Genesee Scientific) containing 0.2% BSA (Fisher Scientific) and 100µL was seeded onto MDCK cell monolayers.
    MDCK
    suggested: CLS Cat# 602280/p823_MDCK_(NBL-2, RRID:CVCL_0422)
    Plaque assays were performed using Vero E6 cells to quantify viral plaque forming units (PFU) following treatments.
    Vero E6
    suggested: RRID:CVCL_XD71)
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    MDCK cells were grown to 9095% confluence in 6-well tissue culture plates in DMEM (ThermoFisher Scientific/Gibco) containing 10% FBS (ThermoFisher Scientific/Gibco) and 1% Penicillin-Streptomycin (ThermoFisher Scientific).
    ThermoFisher Scientific/Gibco
    suggested: None
    The abstract graphic was created using BioRender.com.
    BioRender
    suggested: (Biorender, RRID:SCR_018361)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

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  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.02.25.432893v1 on bioRxiv