Professor Yang
Contact Information
Yang's LaboratoryRoom 532, Lujiaxi Building, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Ph: +86 (0) 592-218 7601New neutralizing agents against SARS-CoV-2 and associated mutant strains are urgently needed for the treatment and prophylaxis of COVID-19. Herein, we develop a spherical cocktail neutralizing aptamer-gold nanoparticle (SNAP) to block the interaction between the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 and host ACE2. With the multivalent aptamer assembly as well as the steric hindrance effect of the gold scaffold, SNAP exhibits exceptional binding affinity against the RBD with a dissociation constant of 3.90 pM and potent neutralization against authentic SARS-CoV-2 with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 142.80 fM, about two or three orders of magnitude lower than that of the reported neutralizing aptamers and antibodies. More importantly, the synergetic blocking strategy of multivalent multi-site binding and steric hindrance, ensures broad neutralizing activity of SNAP, almost completely blocking the infection of three mutant pseudoviruses. Overall, the SNAP strategy provides a new direction for the development of anti-virus agents against SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging coronaviruses.