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Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Ex Vivo Infection of Murine Epidermis with Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1
Published on: August 24, 2015
Polyethylene glycol-coated zinc oxide nanoparticle: an efficient nanoweapon to fight against herpes simplex virus
Ahmad Tavakoli1, Angila Ataei-Pirkooh1, Gity Mm Sadeghi2
1Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 449614535, Iran.
Aim:
We aimed to determine the possible inhibitory effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated ZnO-NPs (ZnO-PEG-NPs) on herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1).
Materials & Methods:
PEGylated ZnO-NPs were synthesized by the mechanical method. Antiviral activity was assessed by 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) and real-time PCR assays. To confirm the antiviral activity of ZnO-NPs on expression of HSV-1 antigens, indirect immunofluorescence assay was also conducted.
Results:
200 μg/ml ZnO-PEG-NPs could result in 2.5 log10 TCID50 reduction in virus titer, with inhibition rate of approximately 92% in copy number of HSV-1 genomic DNA.
Conclusion:
ZnO-PEG-NPs could be proposed as a new agent for efficient HSV-1 inhibition. Our results indicated that PEGylation is effective in reducing cytotoxicity and increasing antiviral activity of nanoparticles.
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