American and Belgian researchers working for several years on the effectiveness of llamas’ antibodies against coronaviruses seem to have found an interesting lead against Covid-19.
Could the therapeutic solution against covid-19 lie in llamas’ antibodies? This is what researchers from the University of Texas at Austin (United States), the National Institutes of Health and the University of Ghent (Belgium), who have been working on the subject for several years and have published the results of their research in the journal Cell.
Hope for a vaccine
The researchers isolated and fused two antibodies produced by llamas that have the ability to bind to a protein called Spike, used by coronaviruses to enter cells. The first tests showed that this “super hybrid antibody” prevented viruses with this protein from entering cells in culture.
“It is one of the first known antibodies capable of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2”points out Jason McLellan, associate professor of molecular biosciences at UT Austin and co-senior author, who had already obtained good results against the SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV coronaviruses.
“Vaccines should be given a month or two before infection to ensure immunityexplains Jason McLellan. With antibody therapies, you administer the protective antibodies directly to a person and they will receive immediate protection. They can also be used to treat someone who is already infected to reduce the severity of illness.”
What Makes Llama Antibodies Unique
Why are llamas’ antibodies of interest to researchers? When the immune system of these animals detects foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses, they produce two types of antibodies (one of which is similar to human antibodies) which can be nebulized and used in an inhaler.
“This makes them potentially very interesting as a medicine against a respiratory pathogen”, explains Daniel Wrapp, co-first author of the study. Trials are planned on animals, then if they are conclusive, will be carried out on humans.
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