Covid-19 is a respiratory infection that emerged in late 2019, becoming a pandemic the following year. Tiago Robles Meteored Brazil 06/09/2024 17:00 4 min
Covid -19 is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirushighly transmissible and globally distributed. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (OMS) characterized Covid-19 as a pandemic.
Since then Several variants of the virus have emergedeach with its specific characteristics, and Many have become more resilient to vaccines and other treatments.
Antibodies are glycoproteins, also called immunoglobulins, whose main function is to guarantee the body’s defenses, acting against invading agents in our body.
Now, hopeful news has emerged: scientists have discovered a New antibody that is capable of neutralizing all known variants of SARS-CoV-2 the Covid-19 virus.
A new antibody sheds light on the disease
The discovery was made by researchers at the University of Texas (UT) in Austin and recently published in a article in the magazine Cell Reports Medicine. Even They filed a patent application for the discovered antibody.
In addition to neutralizing all known variants of Covid-19, the antibody also fights SARS-type coronavirus distantly related that infect other animals (such as SARS-CoV).
The broadly neutralizing plasma antibody, called ‘SC27‘, was discovered in a single patient. And using technology developed over several years of research into antibody responses, the researchers They obtained the exact molecular sequence of the antibody. This brought the possibility of manufacturing it on a larger scale. for future treatments.
Antibodies attach to the protein ‘spike‘which acts as an anchoring point for the virus to attach to and infect the cells in our body. By blocking this protein, antibodies prevent this interaction and therefore also prevent infection.
“The discovery of SC27 and other similar antibodies in the future will help us better protect the population against current and future COVID variants,” said Jason Lavinder, a professor at the UT Cockrell School of Engineering and co-author of the study.
This way, SC27 identified the different characteristics of proteins peaked in the multiple variants of COVID-19The technology used to isolate the antibody, called Ig-Seq, gave researchers a a more detailed look at their response to infection and vaccination through a combination of single-cell DNA sequencing and proteomics.
In addition to this finding, the researchers also discovered that Hybrid immunity (a combination of infection and vaccination) offers greater antibody-based protection against future exposures compared to infection or vaccination alone.
William Voss, lead author of the study, commented that “one goal of this research, and of vaccinology in general, is work towards a universal vaccine that can generate antibodies and create an immune response with broad protection against a rapidly mutating virus.”
News reference:
Voss, W. N. et al. Hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2 arises from serological recall of IgG antibodies distinctly imprinted by infection or vaccination. Cell Reports Medicinev. 5, n. 8, 2024.
