Anti-viral method
The invention provides a method of reducing viral infectivity in a sample comprising contacting the sample with a earner matrix wherein lipids are attached to the carrier matrix, and wherein at least one virus-specific agent is attached to the lipids The virus-specific agent is capable of binding to at least one viral component The virus specific agent may be a receptor The earner matrix may be a silica particle, which may be coated with a lipid bilayer The invention further provides a method of inactivating a virus comprising contacting the virus with a earner matrix wherein lipids are attached to the earner matrix, and wherein at least one receptor is attached to the lipids, binding the receptor to at least one viral receptor-binding protein, and activating at least one viral fusion protein, wherein activation inactivates the virus, and releases the virus from the earner matrix.
1. A method of inactivating a Henipavirus comprising the steps of:
contacting the virus with a carrier matrix at 37° C., wherein lipids are attached to the carrier matrix, wherein at least one virus-specific cellular receptor is attached to the lipids, and wherein the cellular receptor is EphrinB2 (EFNB2);
binding the virus-specific cellular receptor to at least one viral receptor-binding protein at 37° C. to activate a viral fusion protein of the virus, thereby inactivating the virus without completing a fusion between the virus and the carrier matrix, wherein the viral receptor-binding protein is Henipavirus G protein, and wherein the viral fusion protein is Henipavirus F protein; and
releasing the inactivated virus from the carrier matrix, wherein viral infectivity is reduced at least 50%.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lipids are selected from the group consisting of phospholipids, fatty acids, sterol lipids, glycerolipids, sphingolipids, prenol lipids, saccharolipids, polyketides and combinations thereof.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lipids comprise phosphatidylcholine.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the lipids form a lipid bilayer.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carrier matrix is a particle.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the particle is a silica particle.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the particle is a nickel, polystyrene or latex particle.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the particle has a diameter between about 1 nm and about 100 μm.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the particle has a diameter between about 10 nm and about 50 μm.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carrier matrix comprises pores from about 1 nm to about 100 nm in mean diameter.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one therapeutic agent is further attached to the carrier matrix.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the therapeutic agent is an antiviral agent selected from the group consisting of a neuraminidase inhibitor, a viral fusion inhibitor, a protease inhibitor, a DNA polymerase inhibitor, a signal transduction inhibitor, a reverse transcriptase inhibitor, an interferon, and a virus-specific siRNA.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carrier matrix is non-saturable.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the carrier matrix is re-usable.