Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences Department, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Tissue Engineering Department-School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran.
Drug Deliv Transl Res. 2022 Jul;12(7):1605-1615. doi: 10.1007/s13346-021-01067-5. Epub 2021 Sep 20.
COVID-19 pandemic situation has affected millions of people with tens of thousands of deaths worldwide. Despite all efforts for finding drugs or vaccines, the key role for the survival of patients is still related to the immune system. Therefore, improving the efficacy and the functionality of the immune system of COVID-19 patients is very crucial. The potential new, non-invasive, FDA-approved biophysical technology that could be considered in this regard is tumor treating fields (TTFields) based on an alternating electric field has great biological effects. TTFields have significant effects in improving the functionality of dendritic cell, and cytotoxic T-cells, and these cells have a major role in defense against viral infection. Hence, applying TTFields could help COVID-19 patients against infection. Additionally, TTFields can reduce viral genomic replication, by reducing the expressions of some of the vital members of DNA replication complex genes from the minichromosome maintenance family (MCMs). These genes not only are involved in DNA replication but it has also been proven that they have a crucial role in viral replication. Also, TTFields suppress the formation of the network of tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) which is knows as filamentous (F)-actin-rich tubular structures. TNTs have a critical role in promoting the spread of viruses through improving viral entry and acting as a protective agent for viral components from immune cells and even pharmaceuticals. Moreover, TTFields enhance autophagy which leads to apoptosis of virally infected cells. Thus, it can be speculated that using TTFields may prove to be a promising approach as a subsidiary treatment of COVID-19.
COVID-19 大流行情况已影响到全球数以百万计的人，并导致数万人死亡。尽管人们竭尽全力寻找药物或疫苗，但患者生存的关键仍然与免疫系统有关。因此，提高 COVID-19 患者的免疫力和功能非常关键。在这方面，可以考虑的一种新的、非侵入性的、获得 FDA 批准的潜在生物物理技术是基于交变电场的肿瘤治疗电场（TTFields）。TTFields 具有显著改善树突状细胞和细胞毒性 T 细胞功能的作用，这些细胞在防御病毒感染方面起着重要作用。因此，应用 TTFields 可以帮助 COVID-19 患者抵抗感染。此外，TTFields 可以减少病毒基因组的复制，方法是降低微小染色体维持家族（MCMs）中一些 DNA 复制复合物基因的表达。这些基因不仅参与 DNA 复制，而且已经证明它们在病毒复制中起着关键作用。此外，TTFields 抑制了丝状（F）肌动蛋白富含管状结构的隧道纳米管（TNTs）网络的形成。TNTs 在促进病毒传播方面起着至关重要的作用，它可以提高病毒进入细胞的效率，并充当病毒成分的保护剂，使其免受免疫细胞甚至药物的影响。此外，TTFields 增强了自噬作用，导致病毒感染细胞的凋亡。因此，可以推测，使用 TTFields 可能被证明是 COVID-19 的一种有前途的辅助治疗方法。
