Crown ethers as artificial decoys: A supramolecular strategy to block SARS-CoV-2 entry via host-guest interactions

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) remains a major global health challenge, highlighting the need for antiviral strategies that act at the earliest stages of infection. Given that viral entry and spike-receptor interaction are critical steps in the coronavirus life cycle, targeting these processes represents a powerful strategy to block infection at its earliest stage. Inspired by the glycan-recognition and extracellular viral-trapping functions of pulmonary surfactant collectins (SP-A and SP-D), this work integrates supramolecular chemistry, pulmonary surfactant biology, and antiviral research to establish a biomimetic supramolecular molecular-decoy framework based on crown ethers, cyclodextrins, and related macrocyclic architectures. Through host-guest molecular recognition, these macrocyclic scaffolds can be engineered to mimic sialylated host receptors and multivalent glycan motifs, enabling competitive binding to viral spike proteins, virion capture, and sequestration away from epithelial surfaces. By redirecting viruses toward artificial host-mimetic structures, supramolecular decoys could intercept SARS-CoV-2 and other enveloped respiratory viruses before host-cell attachment, membrane fusion, or genome release. Acting upstream of intracellular replication, this strategy may prevent initiation of the viral replication cycle and subsequent hijacking of the host protein synthesis machinery, while potentially minimizing interference with host metabolic pathways and reducing the likelihood of resistance development. Furthermore, it can be translated into inhalation nanoformulations for pulmonary delivery and localized formulations targeting the upper respiratory tract. Overall, by integrating the biological principles of pulmonary surfactant immunity with supramolecular host-guest chemistry, this work provides a conceptual foundation for biomimetic molecular-decoy antivirals and highlights a promising direction for next-generation broad-spectrum antiviral design against emerging respiratory viruses.