Prama Ghosh, Amity University Kolkata
Researchers at the University of Bonn, Germany, have identified and developed novel antibody fragments against the SARS coronavirus-2. These antibody fragments are smaller than classic antibodies and hence are called nanobodies. These nanobodies are better at penetrating the tissues and also can be produced in large quantities. The nanobodies were also combined into potentially particularly effective molecules capable of attacking different parts of the virus simultaneously. Due to their simple structure, nanobodies can also be produced by yeast or bacteria which will be less expensive. Out of dozens of molecules obtained from the blood sample of animals, four of them proved to be effective against coronavirus. Analyses from X-ray structures and electron microscopy showed the interaction spike protein of the virus with these nanobodies.
The spike protein acts like a velcro fastener which not only helps in the attachment of the pathogen with the host cell but also mediates fusion of the virus envelope with the cell. It is seen that that nanobodies trigger structural changes in the protein before the virus encounters its target cell. This disables the virus from binding to host cells and infecting them. The simple structure of the nanobodies allows the researchers to combine them in various forms to form molecules that can target different parts of the spike protein of coronavirus. The variant demonstrated a high level of effectiveness in cell cultures convincing the researchers that this could be a novel and promising therapeutic option.
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Reference: Structure-guided multivalent nanobodies block SARS-CoV-2 infection and suppress mutational escape
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