https://www.futurity.org/covid-variants-antibodies-viruses-2950952/
"Researchers have discovered exceptionally potent antibodies that can
neutralize virtually all known variants of the COVID-19 virus—including
Omicron, a new study shows.
The antibodies can also neutralize other dangerous animal coronaviruses that
could potentially cause future outbreaks.
As reported in
Science Advances, the researchers isolated antibodies from the
blood of a recovered SARS patient who was thereafter vaccinated against
COVID-19. This unique combination of prior coronavirus infection and
vaccination generated an extremely broad and powerful antibody response capable
of stopping nearly all related coronaviruses tested.
“We sought to address the lack of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for
treatment and prophylaxis of high-risk COVID-19 patients, as all previously
approved monoclonal antibodies have lost efficacy against newly emerged
SARS-CoV-2 variants,” says senior author Wang Linfa, a world-renowned bat virus
expert with the Duke-NUS’ Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Programme.
“This work provides encouraging evidence that pan-coronavirus vaccines are
possible if they can ‘educate’ the human immune system in the right way.”
The study describes how the researchers obtained six antibodies that could
neutralize multiple coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, its variants Alpha,
Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron, the original SARS virus, and multiple other
animal coronaviruses transmitted from bats and pangolins.
“Three antibodies stood out as exceptionally broad and potent, capable of
neutralizing all tested SARS-related viruses at very low concentrations,” says
first author Chia Wan Ni, a former postdoctoral fellow in Wang’s lab who now
works with Singapore start-up CoV Biotechnology.
The most powerful antibody, named E7, neutralized both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2
sarbecoviruses, animal sarbecoviruses, and newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants,
such as Omicron XBB.1.16.
It was shown to neutralize via a unique mechanism of binding that bridges two
parts of the coronavirus’ spike protein that it uses to invade cells. This
appears to lock the spike in an inactive conformation and block the
shape-shifting process the virus requires to infect cells and cause illness."
Via Rixty Dixet.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
