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Medicalxpress,11月18日,Simple, synthetic structure that mimics surface of SARS-CoV-2 mounts robust immune response in mice

编译者:YUTING发布时间:2021-11-27点击量:253 来源栏目:最新研究

In a viral infection, what's the signal from the virus that alerts the immune system to produce protective neutralizing antibodies?

That's a big question that scientists seek to answer when trying to understand disease or develop drugs to treat or vaccinate against COVID-19 and other viruses.

"The answer to this question is not simple," said Wei Cheng, associate professor at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. "Most infectious viral agents identified to date are made of complex assemblies of proteins and nucleic acids, along with other constituents that are important for viral fitness and used by viruses to their advantage for replication and proliferation in the infected host."

To that end, Cheng's lab developed a simple, synthetic structure that mimics the surface of SARS-CoV-2, that when injected into mice, mounted a robust protective antibody response to SARS-CoV-2, without the need of any other disease fighting agents, called adjuvants. The findings appear in the journal Bioconjugate Chemistry and were featured as an ACS Editors' Choice. Co-authors are Wei-Yun Wholey, senior staff member, and doctoral student Sekou-Tidiane Yoda.

"This question of what signals an immune response is important for rational design of vaccines and also important for understanding the early events in a viral infection that could be targeted for therapeutic intervention," Cheng said. "What this result implies is that an ordered assembly of the viral entry protein is all that is needed to initiate an antiviral response. The detailed molecular mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain unclear, but this study made an interesting step forward in our understanding toward viral immunogenicity."

The mimetic of the viral surface made in Cheng's lab is unable to replicate or infect, so it is much safer than working with live viruses in the lab, Cheng said. The technology uses a small bit of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, called the receptor binding domain. This is the so-called "key" that when bound to receptors on our cells—the lock—starts a molecular cascade of events that allows the virus to infect the cell.

Wholey and Yoda purified the protein and then "decorated" the surface of a fat droplet with the material. They oriented the protein in a specific way designed to mimic the spike surface of SARS-CoV-2. Purifying the protein is important because eliminating unnecessary materials makes it easier for scientists to identify specifically what caused the immune response, Cheng said.

They then injected the protein-decorated fat droplet into mice. Even without the addition of other adjuvants, or disease-fighting agents, into the fat droplet, a robust protective antibody response was mounted.

"The efficacy was very surprising," Cheng said. "What made this result interesting is that Wholey and Yoda only included one protein from the virus. The fat droplet is actually a structure that is found almost everywhere in and outside our cells."

Unlike other work in the field, the Cheng team did not include other immunostimulatory molecules such as adjuvants in their experiments, the inclusion of which would make study of the causality more difficult. This also suggests that a simple ingredient could result in potent immune responses that are needed for vaccines.

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  2. 2 11月10日_研究人员分析宿主基因对COVID-19严重程度和易感性的影响
  3. 3 11月11日_新冠药物Remestemcel-L二期临床的中期分析结果积极
  4. 4 11月11日_CDC呼吁制定通用口罩规定以减少新冠传播
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  6. 6 SSRN,2月20日,Mental Health Problems and Social Media Exposure During COVID-19 Outbreak
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  9. 9 Nature,11月10日,Mobility network models of COVID-19 explain inequities and inform reopening
  10. 10 1月27日_Nature报道中国新型冠状病毒最新研究进展:病毒传播速度有多快?
  1. 1 Phys.org,2月21日,Why natural killer cells react to COVID-19
  2. 2 ScienceDaily,2月18日,T-cell responses may help predict protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in individuals with and without cancer
  3. 3 2月18日_研究发现伊维菌素对轻度至中度COVID-19无效
  4. 4 2月17日_抗磷脂自身抗体可使COVID-19患者出现血栓
  5. 5 2月21日_科学家合成SARS-CoV-2病毒颗粒并发现刺突蛋白的转换机制
  6. 6 2月16日_免疫细胞靶向的SARS-CoV-2蛋白会引发蝙蝠冠状病毒的反应
  7. 7 Sciencedaily,2月17日,Study strengthens case that vitamins cannot treat COVID-19
  8. 8 Medicalxpress,2月16日,Study suggests increased risk of mental health disorders after COVID-19 infection
  9. 9 2月17日_高水平雌激素和抗酸剂可降低COVID-19风险
  10. 10 2月17日_研究发现COVID-19疫苗可提供持久的保护以预防再感染

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