It increases the efficiency of neutralizing the virus even up to 30,000-fold better than the single nanobodies and contributes to a longer therapeutic effect.
Scientists at the University of Göttingen in Germany have developed nanobodies that block the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and its dangerous new strains.
Nanobodies, also known as single-domain antibodies, are smaller and less complicated than traditional antibodies, but they have enormous potential. Because this potential is being explored by multiple research teams, it is difficult for any one team to stand out.
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Researchers from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry and the University Medical Center in Göttingen, however, claim to have created nanobodies that are truly unique.
These nanobodies can inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but that isn’t particularly noteworthy. Other researchers’ nanobodies can do the same thing. The Göttingen nanobodies are unique in that they can bind and neutralise the virus 1,000 times better than previously developed nanobodies, according to the Göttingen researchers. The Göttingen nanobodies can also tolerate the immune-escape mutations K417N/T, E484K, N501Y, and L452R found in the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Epsilon, Iota, and Delta/Kappa lineages, according to the researchers.
And there’s more. The Göttingen researchers claimed to have improved the stability and heat resistance of their nanobodies. These characteristics, combined with the ease with which nanobodies can be made, make the Göttingen nanobodies particularly appealing as a COVID-19 countermeasure. COVID-19 treatments are desperately needed in large quantities. Furthermore, these treatments must frequently withstand less-than-ideal transport and storage conditions.
Finally, the Göttingen team discovered that their antibodies force native folding of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein’s receptor-binding domain (RBD) in the cytosol of Escherichia coli, where RBD folding normally fails.
“Such fold-promoting nanobodies. may allow for simplified production of vaccines and their adaptation to viral escape-mutations,” the Göttingen researchers speculate.
All of these benefits were detailed in a paper published in the journal EMBO. 45 SARS-CoV-2-blocking nanobodies, or VHH antibodies, were isolated from alpaca immune libraries, according to the study. It also explains how these monomeric species were used to make tandems and trimers of nanobodies.
The researchers discovered that very small amounts of all nanobody variants—monomeric, double, and triple—are sufficient to stop the pathogen. If this were used as a drug, it would allow for a low dosage, resulting in fewer side effects and lower production costs.
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The nanobodies are currently being prepared for therapeutic use by the Göttingen team.
“We want to test the nanobodies as soon as possible for safe use as a drug so that they can be of benefit to those seriously ill with COVID-19 and those who have not been vaccinated or cannot build up an effective immunity,” said the study author.
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