Bioengineering tools to speed up the discovery and preclinical testing of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 and therapeutic agents for COVID-19

Manuela Teresa Raimondi; Francesca Donnaloja; Bianca Barzaghini; Alberto Bocconi; Claudio Conci; Valentina Parodi; Emanuela Jacchetti; Stephana Carelli

doi:10.7150/thno.47406

Bioengineering tools to speed up the discovery and preclinical testing of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 and therapeutic agents for COVID-19

Theranostics. 2020 May 27;10(16):7034-7052. doi: 10.7150/thno.47406. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Manuela Teresa Raimondi¹, Francesca Donnaloja¹, Bianca Barzaghini¹, Alberto Bocconi¹, Claudio Conci¹, Valentina Parodi¹, Emanuela Jacchetti¹, Stephana Carelli²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering G. Natta, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy.
² Pediatric Clinical Research Center "Fondazione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi", Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences L. Sacco, University of Milano, Italy.

Abstract

This review provides an update for the international research community on the cell modeling tools that could accelerate the understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection mechanisms and could thus speed up the development of vaccines and therapeutic agents against COVID-19. Many bioengineering groups are actively developing frontier tools that are capable of providing realistic three-dimensional (3D) models for biological research, including cell culture scaffolds, microfluidic chambers for the culture of tissue equivalents and organoids, and implantable windows for intravital imaging. Here, we review the most innovative study models based on these bioengineering tools in the context of virology and vaccinology. To make it easier for scientists working on SARS-CoV-2 to identify and apply specific tools, we discuss how they could accelerate the discovery and preclinical development of antiviral drugs and vaccines, compared to conventional models.

Keywords: Coronavirus; antiviral; bioengineering; preclinical testing; target; vaccine.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Antiviral Agents / isolation & purification*
Antiviral Agents / pharmacology*
Betacoronavirus* / chemistry
Betacoronavirus* / genetics
Betacoronavirus* / immunology
Bioengineering / methods
Bioengineering / trends
Bioreactors
COVID-19
COVID-19 Vaccines
Cell Culture Techniques
Computer Simulation
Coronavirus Infections / drug therapy*
Coronavirus Infections / immunology
Coronavirus Infections / prevention & control*
Drug Discovery / methods
Drug Discovery / trends
Drug Evaluation / methods
Drug Evaluation / trends
Drug Resistance, Viral
Host Microbial Interactions / genetics
Host Microbial Interactions / immunology
Humans
Models, Biological
Organoids / cytology
Organoids / virology
Pandemics / prevention & control*
Pneumonia, Viral / drug therapy*
Pneumonia, Viral / immunology
Pneumonia, Viral / prevention & control*
SARS-CoV-2
Theranostic Nanomedicine
Viral Vaccines / isolation & purification*
Viral Vaccines / pharmacology*

Substances

Antiviral Agents
COVID-19 Vaccines
Viral Vaccines

Grants and funding

ERC_/European Research Council/International