Naturally Strong Antibodies Effective Against 23 COVID Variants, Study Finds
The potency of neutralizing antibodies is important to know what properties may affect the COVID-19 virus
Recently, a team of international scientists identified very potent anti-COVID antibodies from convalescent donors
These antibodies can be critical in combating new variants now sweeping many nations
According to News-Medical.net, most therapeutic antibodies for COVID are based on the spike protein sequence of the original coronavirus
It means clean of mutations found in numerous variants today
So, those therapeutic antibodies are highly effective on the original strain, but less effective against variants, especially those with altered structures
This is because variants often have mutations that change their overall structures, limiting the binding ability of antibodies
In the study published in Science, 4 convalescent donors who had the Washington-1 strain of the coronavirus were involved
This strain showed a similar spike protein sequence to the original Wuhan strain
Scientists isolated antibodies from these donors, including the B cells
After the cells were sorted for identification, tests showed 4 powerful neutralizing antibodies that target the spike protein
Then, scientists tested if the antibodies could block the virus' ability to connect to the ACE2 receptor
Tests unveiled 4 antibodies capable of doing that
The 2 were bound to the receptor-binding domain in the "up position" while the other 2 in the "down position."
Of these 4, 3 directly blocked the interaction between ACE2 and RBD
After scientists tested and analyzed these antibodies, they discovered that all 4 showed great potency against the D614G mutation, which was a pioneer in spreading COVID-19
Moreover, 3 out of 4 antibodies could effectively combat 23 variants of SARS-CoV-2, including the Alpha (UK), Beta (South Africa), Epsilon (US), Gamma (Brazil), and Delta (India)
Of course, they applied pressure on these antibodies to mimic the resistance of variants
The WA-1 strain was engineered to have mutations to evade antibodies
Of the 2 strongest antibodies, 1 was affected by a single mutation while the other was impacted by 3 mutations
Though 1 of the mutations, Q493R, had no significant influence on the antibodies
However, if the antibodies were strategically combined as part of treatment, they could overcome each other's weaknesses
That lowered the chance of the coronavirus to avoid antibodies
While the study sheds light on naturally strong antibodies against COVID-19, their potential in clinical settings is still far
Scientists must develop efficient methods to manufacture these antibodies quickly, massively, and inexpensively