# Development and Evaluation of Novel Aptamer-based Therapeutics Targeting SARS-CoV-2 in a Physiologically-Relevant Model of Human Airway Epithelium

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · 2022 · $193,125

## Abstract

The impact of SARS-CoV-2 on public health and the global economy cannot be overstated. As of September
28, 2020, 33,224,222 cases and 999,298 deaths worldwide have been linked to this emergent virus. This
staggering number continues to grow, with the United States baring disproportionately high rates of morbidity
and mortality. The virus targets the respiratory tract, leading to a wide range of clinical outcomes including mild
upper respiratory tract illness and severe viral pneumonia with respiratory failure. To date, four SARS-CoV-2
vaccine candidates have entered phase 3 clinical trials and a massive parallel effort has been undertaken to
repurpose already FDA-approved drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 or identify compounds with potential
therapeutic activity. Despite this effort, remdesivir remains the only approved (with emergency use authorization)
direct-acting antiviral for the treatment of COVID-19. Of critical importance: there is currently no vaccine or
SARS-CoV-2-specific therapy approved for the prevention or treatment of disease. Furthermore, multiple
antivirals may be required to avoid the rapid emergence of resistant SARS-CoV-2 strains. Thus, the development
of novel therapeutics targeting SARS-CoV-2 are urgently needed. Infection requires interaction between the viral
surface protein, spike (S), and a host protein, ACE2, that is expressed on type II alveolar cells and ciliated cells
in the human airway epithelium (HAE), making these cells potentially vulnerable to infection. Thus, our goal is to
develop a novel therapeutic that blocks this interaction between spike (on the virus) and ACE2 (on the host cell)
to prevent infection and ameliorate disease. Aptamers are short nucleic acid-based sequences that bind with
high affinity to their targets. Among other applications, aptamers have been shown to have potent antiviral activity
and low toxicity in cell culture. While aptamers were originally made with RNA and DNA, Xeno-Nucleic Acids
(XNA: nucleotide analogs with altered sugar, base, or phosphate backbones) have emerged as important new
substrates and XNA aptamers often demonstrate enhanced target binding and greater stability compared to RNA
and DNA aptamers. Thus, we hypothesize that aptamer technology, and specifically XNA aptamers, can be
leveraged to inhibit spike-ACE2 interaction and propose to establish an innovative, in vitro screening platform
that can serve to assess the efficacy of such aptamers, or other novel therapeutics, in blocking infection. This
platform will utilize SARS-CoV-2 pseudoparticles (allowing work under Biosafety Level 2 containment) and a
physiologically-relevant in vitro model of human airway epithelium that recapitulates the mucosal surface of the
airway in vivo. Aptamers will also be tested using live virus infections of culture cells (Biosafety Level 3). This
work is highly significant given the immediate need for novel therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2. Further, the
development of a high-throughp...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10449392
- **Project number:** 5R21AI163816-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- **Principal Investigator:** JEFFREY J DESTEFANO
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $193,125
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-07-12 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10449392

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10449392, Development and Evaluation of Novel Aptamer-based Therapeutics Targeting SARS-CoV-2 in a Physiologically-Relevant Model of Human Airway Epithelium (5R21AI163816-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10449392. Licensed CC0.

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