Single Vaccine for Cold and COVID-19

A precise area of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein serves as a promising target for a pan-coronavirus vaccine that offers protection against new virus variants.

A precise area of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein serves as a promising target for a pan-coronavirus vaccine that offers protection against new virus variants, and common colds, and helps prepare for future pandemics, according to a team of scientists in the UK.

Developing a vaccine that protects a number of different coronaviruses is a challenge because this family of viruses has many key differences, frequently mutates, and generally induces incomplete protection against reinfection.

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‘Scientists found that after vaccinating mice with SARS-CoV-2 S2, the mice created antibodies that were able to neutralize several other animal and human coronaviruses, including the seasonal 'common cold' coronavirus HCoV-OC43, the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, the D614G mutant that dominated in the first wave, Alpha, Beta, Delta, the original Omicron, and two bat coronaviruses.’

This is why people can suffer repeatedly from common colds, and also be infected multiple times with different variants of SARS-CoV-2.

A pan-coronavirus vaccine would need to trigger antibodies that recognize and neutralize a range of coronaviruses, stopping the virus from entering host cells and replicating, said the team at the Francis Crick Institute.

SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein

In their study, published in Science Translational Medicine, they investigated whether antibodies that target the S2 subunit of SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein also neutralize other coronaviruses. This specific area of the spike protein tethers it to the virus membrane and allows the virus to fuse with the membrane of a host cell.

"The S2 area of the spike protein is a promising target for a potential pan-coronavirus vaccine because this area is much more similar across different coronaviruses than the S1 area. It is less subject to mutations, and so a vaccine targeted at this area should be more robust," Kevin Ng, a doctoral student in the Retroviral Immunology Laboratory Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.

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The S2 area of the spike protein has, until recently, been overlooked as providing a basis for vaccination. This is because certain critical targets in the S2 area are only revealed after the virus has bound to a cell, a process mediated by the S1 area.

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As a result, there may be a narrower window of opportunity for S2 antibodies to neutralize the virus than for antibodies that target the S1 area.

"There’s a lot of research still to do as we continue to test S2 antibodies against different coronaviruses and look for the most appropriate route to design and test a potential vaccine," said George Kassiotis, corresponding author and principal group leader at the Francis Crick Institute.

Source-IANS

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