New vaccine technology protects against wide range of coronaviruses

Research recently published in Nature Nanotechnology refers to a vaccine technology developed by members of the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and that protects against a wide range of coronaviruses.

It is based on the so-called proactive vaccinology; “that is, in vaccines whose design and manufacturing is carried out before a potentially pandemic virus emerges.” They have called her “Quartet Nanocage”, since it is based on “a structure called a nanoparticle, a ball of proteins linked by incredibly strong interactions.”

The publication details that it is a vaccine that trains the human immune system using a “protein superglue” to which chains of different viral antigens adhere and that allow it to recognize specific regions of eight coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-1, SARS- CoV-2 and others currently circulating among bats.

“By training the immune system to attack these regions, the vaccine has been found to also protect against other coronaviruses not represented in the vaccine, including some that have not yet been identified,” the researchers detail.

Mark Howarth, from the University of Cambridge and co-lead author of the study, said: “We don’t have to wait for new coronaviruses to emerge. We know enough about coronaviruses and their different immune responses to start building protective vaccines against unknown coronaviruses.”

The joint work of the University of Cambridge, the University of Oxford and the California Institute of Technology aims to create an “all-in-one” vaccine against the threats of coronaviruses and whose underlying technology helps in the case of other diseases.

M.Pino

Source: DW

(Reference image source: Unsplash+, in collaboration with Getty Images)

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