Engineering biomass derived lignin: a sustainable approach for development of antiviral hydrogels Sanjam Chandna , Chuanxiong Nie, Sumati Bhatia, Rainer Haag, Stephan Block Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin Takustr. 3, Berlin 14195, Germany Viral infections are a major public health concern, with seasonal (e.g., influenza virus), ubiquitous (e.g., norovirus), and pandemic (e.g., SARS-CoV-2) viral pathogens imposing a significant burden on the economy and general society. 1,2 Innovative strategies must be used to generate functional biomaterials in order to solve the growing worldwide urgency of developing viable treatment options for infectious diseases. In this research, we intend to use lignin as a sustainable raw material for developing effective viral inhibitors. Lignin comes up as an almost endless raw material produced through photosynthesis but is currently underutilized. 3 It is one of the main components of biomass which is thrown away in large quantities (70 Mio tons/year) as a by-product of paper and pulp industries. The complex organic structure of lignin provides this polymer with valuable properties, such as antioxidant, adhesiveness, UV-barrier and antimicrobial properties. Lignin is made up of a network of reactive functional groups that are randomly cross-linked, including methoxy groups and reductive phenolic hydroxyl groups. For the synthesis of hydrogels, natural polymers can be modified to offer a number of benefits over synthetic polymers, such as low toxicity, biodegradability, biocompatibility, eco-friendly characteristics, and susceptibility to enzyme breakdown. In this work, we have performed the functionalization of lignin with the primary virus attachment factors and can be used as a decoy to bind the respiratory viruses. The lignin-based inhibitors were characterized using various analytical techniques to determine the degree of functionalization. Moreover, the functionalized lignin was used to generate mucus-mimicking hydrogels, the interactions of which have being tested using several viruses, such as inactivated SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and Herpes Simplex virus. References 1. Wallert, M., Nie, C., Anilkumar, P., Abbina, S., Bhatia, S., Ludwig, K., ... & Haag, R., Block, S. Mucin-Inspired, High Molecular Weight Virus Binding Inhibitors Show Biphasic Binding Behavior to Influenza A Viruses. Small 2020, 16(47), 2004635. 2. C. Nie, P. Pouyan, D. Lauster, J. Trimpert, Y. Kerkhoff, G. P. Szekeres, M. Wallert, S. Block, A. K. Sahoo, J. Dernedde, K. Pagel, B. B. Kaufer, R. R. Netz, M. Ballauff, R. Haag. Polysulfates Block SARS-CoV-2 Uptake through Electrostatic Interactions. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 15870-15878. 3. Chandna, S.; Paul, S.; Kaur, R.; Gogde, K.; Bhaumik, J. Photodynamic Lignin Hydrogels: A Versatile Self-Healing Platform for Sustained Release of Photosensitizer Nanoconjugates. ACS Applied Polymer Materials 2022, 4 (12), 8962-8976. DOI: 10.1021/acsapm.2c01319.
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