New Nanobody to Combat COVID-19 Identified

A nanobody, which is a small neutralizing antibody, has been identified by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

According to the researchers, the nanobody has the ability to block the SARS-CoV-2 virus from entering human cells. The nanobody has the potential to be developed into an antiviral agent in the fight against COVID-19.

Coronavirus
Coronaviruses infect animals, humans, and birds. Human coronaviruses, such as SARS, MERS, and 2019-nCoV cause respiratory distress and even death. The S protein is the infectious agent of the virus.

‘The new nanobody named Ty1 neutralizes the COVID-19 virus effectively by attaching itself to the viral spike protein, which the virus uses to enter and infect the cells. The nanobody is an effective therapeutic candidate against the viral infection.’
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The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.

"We hope our findings can contribute to the amelioration of the COVID-19 pandemic by encouraging further examination of this nanobody as a therapeutic candidate against this viral infection," says Gerald McInerney, corresponding author and associate professor of virology at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology at Karolinska Institutet.

Nanobodies are fragments of antibodies naturally occurring in camelids. This can be adapted for humans. Back in February, researchers injected an alpaca with a new coronavirus spike protein, that is used to enter into cells

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After a period of 60 days, the blood samples showed a strong immune response against the spike protein.

In order to select the best nanobody, researchers cloned, enriched, and analyzed nanobody sequences from the alpaca's B cells, which is a type of white blood cell, and identified a nanobody named Ty1, which is named after the alpaca Tyson.

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Ty1 works by attaching itself to the spike protein of the virus, which the virus uses to bind with the ACE2 receptors on cells surfaces and enter into them. This blocks the entry of the virus into the cells, thus preventing infection.

"Using cryo-electron microscopy, we were able to see how the nanobody binds to the viral spike at an epitope which overlaps with the cellular receptor ACE2-binding site, providing a structural understanding for the potent neutralization activity," says Leo Hanke, a postdoc in the McInerney group and first author of the study.

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"Our results show that Ty1 can bind potently to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and neutralize the virus, with no detectable off-target activity" says Ben Murrell, assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology and co-senior author of the publication. "We are now embarking on preclinical animal studies to investigate the neutralizing activity and therapeutic potential of Ty1 in vivo".

Nanobodies are easier to produce compared to conventional antibodies and thus cost-effective. They span less than one-tenth the size of conventional antibodies and have a proven record of inhibiting viral respiratory infections. They can be adapted easily for humans.

Source-Medindia