Scientists from Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered and tested an antibody that reduces the severity of infections caused by a range of coronaviruses, including those that cause COVID-19 and the original SARS disease.

A team at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) found the antibody, which was then evaluated in animal models at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The findings were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on November 2.

“This antibody has the potential to be a therapeutic for the current epidemic,” says co-senior author Barton Haynes, M.D., director of DHVI. “It could also be available for future outbreaks, if or when other coronaviruses jump from their natural animal hosts to humans.”

Haynes and colleagues at DHVI discovered the antibody by comparing blood samples from a patient who had been infected with the original SARS-CoV-1 virus, which triggered the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s, and a current COVID-19 patient.

They discovered over 1,700 antibodies produced by the immune system to attach to particular locations on viruses and prevent them from infecting cells. Many binding sites are altered or removed when viruses mutate, rendering antibodies ineffective. However, despite mutations, there are often places on the virus that remain unaffected. Antibodies that target these locations were chosen because they have the potential to be extremely effective across diverse viral lineages.

The Duke researchers discovered 50 antibodies that may bind to both the SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 viruses, which cause COVID-19, among the 1,700 antibodies collected from the two people.

Further research revealed that one of the cross-binding antibodies was particularly effective, binding to a variety of animal coronaviruses as well as the two human-infecting diseases.

“This antibody binds to the coronavirus at a location that is conserved across numerous mutations and variations,” Haynes said. “As a result, it can neutralize a wide range of coronaviruses.”

After isolating the antibody, the DHVI team turned to UNC experts who are specialized in animal coronaviruses. The UNC research, lead by co-senior author Ralph S. Baric, Ph.D., an epidemiology professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, tested it in mice to see if it might effectively prevent or reduce infections.

It did both, they discovered. The antibody protected mice against SARS, COVID-19 and its variations, such as Delta, and many animal coronaviruses that have the potential to trigger human pandemics when given before they were infected.

“The findings provide a template for the rational design of universal vaccine strategies that are variant-proof and provide broad protection from known and emerging coronaviruses,” Baric said.

In comparison to mice who were not treated with the antibody after infections, the antibody decreased severe lung symptoms.

“The therapeutic activity even after mice were infected suggests that this could be a treatment deployed in the current pandemic, but also stockpiled to prevent the spread of a future outbreak or epidemic with a SARS-related virus,” says David Martinez, Ph.D., a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Epidemiology at UNC’s Gillings School.

“This antibody could be harnessed to prevent maybe SARS-CoV-3 or SARS-CoV-4,” Martinez said.

The study was published in Science Translational Medicine, Nov. 2, 2021;

DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abj7125

Image Credit: Getty

You were reading: An antibody that protects against wide range of coronaviruses and its variants – study shows