Cellular Nanosponges for Biological Neutralization

<br/>Biological neutralization is to deploy therapeutic agents to bind with harmful molecules or infectious pathogens, block their bioactivity, and thus prevent them from causing the diseases. The cell membrane-coated nanoparticles (namely ‘cellular nanosponges’) offer a unique solution to address the challenges facing current biological neutralization technologies. Leveraging the fact that harmful agents need to interact with host cells for their bioactivity, the cellular nanosponges function as cell decoys to intercept these harmful agents and divert them away from the intended cellular targets without a need to know the molecular structure of the agents. A shift of focus from the causative agents to the host cells make function-driven and broad-spectrum neutralization solutions possible. Herein, I will report on the latest development and application of cellular nanosponges for neutralization against numerous pathological agents including bacterial toxins, inflammatory cytokines, and viruses.