Alireza Afshar - The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Masood Zare - The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Zohreh Farrar - The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Alireza Hashemi - The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Neda Baghban - The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Arezoo Khoradmehr - The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Hassan Habibi - Department of Animal Sciences, Agriculture and Natural Resources College, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran
Iraj Nabipour - The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Reza Shirazi - Department of Anatomy, School of Medical Sciences, Medicine & Health, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Mohammad Amin Behzadi - Department of Vaccine Discovery, Auro Vaccines LLC, Pearl River, New York, United State
Amin Tamadon - The Persian Gulf Marine Biotechnology Research Center, The Persian Gulf Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus ۲ (SARS-CoV-۲) emerged in December ۲۰۱۹ and rapidly spread worldwide. Since then, scientists have searched to find an effective treatment for coronavirus disease ۲۰۱۹ (COVID-۱۹). In this regard, several antiviral drugs are currently undergoing clinical trial studies to evaluate their safety and efficacy in the treatment of COVID-۱۹. Some of these drugs have been designed based on this fact that SARS-CoV-۲ is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus and previous studies showed the efficacy of anti-RNA virus, single strand RNA inhibiting antisense RNAs (asRNAs), for silencing virus replication, in vitro. Exosomes can be suggested as a promising candidate to transfer the anti-SARS-CoV-۲ asRNAs to human respiratory epithelium. Exosomes are secreted by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and can be loaded by asRNAs of an anti-RNA virus. MSCs-secreted exosomes as a nano-cargo of asRNAs of anti-SARS-CoV-۲ have other therapeutic potentials such as immunomodulatory effects of their cytokine contents, affinity to respiratory epithelial attachment, anti-fibrotic activity in lung, non-toxicity for normal cells, and not triggering an immune response. Moreover, inhalation of anti-SARS-CoV-۲ asRNAs may stop SARS-CoV-۲ replication. Producing specific anti-SARS-CoV-۲ asRNAs by targeting the genome of virus and their delivery by MSCs exosomes are suggested and discussed. This approach will potentially shed light on gene therapy of the other human lung diseases via inhalational delivery using exosomes in future.

SARS-CoV-۲, COVID-۱۹, antisense RNA, exosome, mesenchymal stem cells