Antiviral mechanism change of poly(styrene sulfonate) through gold nanoparticle coating

Abstract

Viruses are pathogens capable of causing serious global health problems and therefore the development of interventions against them is of paramount importance. One strategy towards designing broad-spectrum antivirals is through the mimicking of sulfonated glycopolymers on the cell surface so that the virion/cell interaction is inhibited by the antiviral material. A number of natural and synthetic polymers have been investigated, however, most show a virustatic mechanism, which is reversible and non-destructive. Herein we present a facile route to virucidal materials by attaching a previously known virustatic polymer, poly(styrene sulfonate), onto gold nanoparticles. We show that it is possible to alter the polymer's mode of action whilst maintaining its low IC50 by changing the macromolecular architecture.