CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

At present there are not any vaccines or therapeutic agents available to treat or prevent dengue disease, thus, the developing of effective antivirals is considered of high priority. Nanomedicine has emerged as an alternative therapy for cancer and autoimmune diseases as well as infectious diseases. The ability to control materials at the nanoscale has allowed the development of nanodevices, such as nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are widely employed due to their ease of synthesis, ease of functionalization and low toxicity. These characteristics turn GNPs into an excellent tool for drug delivery applications. We constructed four types of GNPs: GNPs loaded with ribavirin, mycophenolic acid, celgosivir and acridone derivative 3f. The interaction between GNPs and antiviral drugs was confirmed from their UV-visible spectra, as a shift in the surface plasmon resonance band of GNPs was detected after addition of drugs. Moreover, HPLC analysis confirmed the loading of drugs into GNPs. Drug loading percentage was estimated to be 33-40%. Transmission electron microscopy of GNPs showed a non-aggregated, monodispersed morphology. Their diameter was 65 nm in average. GNPs toxicity was evaluated by the Alamarblue assay in different cell cultures, and cell viability was not affected in the range of GNPs concentration tested (up to 1011 GNPs/mL). Finally, in vitro experiments demonstrated the antiviral efficiency of of GNPs. Dengue-infected cell cultures were treated with GNPs and we detected a viral yield reduction of 50-70% by plaque assay. Our results show that we were able to obtain antiviral drug loaded-GNPs. Their physical and chemical properties were characterized and the first In vitro assay showed their antiviral potency. More In vitro as well as in vivo assays are currently being performed to further characterize GNPs as carriers for antiviral drugs.