A synthetic molecule to fight against Covid-19?

Researchers are scrambling to find an effective cure to fight Covid-19. Currently, many vaccines are in the testing phase and await validation. On the other hand, nanobodies could also help us cope with the Coronavirus.

As reported by the Vice website, a team of researchers from the University of San Francisco, in California, collaborated with a French laboratory to develop a synthetic molecule to fight Covid-19 using nanobodies , which are tiny antibodies, typically found in llamas, camels or alpacas. This synthetic molecule was named AeroNabs.

Photo by Juraj Varga. Credits Pixabay

Previous research has already proven the effectiveness of llama antibodies against Covid-19.

A molecule that will prevent Covid-19 virus from attacking human cells

This study has not yet been published in a scientific journal. However, the researchers deemed it necessary to publish it in view of the urgency of the current situation.

As Professor Aashish Manglik points out, AeroNabs is the result of four months of research carried out by fifty seasoned scientists.

In an article published on Biorxiv and Walter Lab, the researchers explained how this synthetic molecule works to fight Covid-19 . According to them, this is due in large part to nanobodies, for example from llamas, which prevent SARS-CoV-2, the Covid-19 virus, from attaching to cells in the human body.

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A nanobody that neutralizes SARS-CoV- 2

You should know that SARS-CoV-2 has a spine protein that allows it to attach to ACE2 receptors in human cells. Thanks to this protein, the virus of Covid-19 can forcibly enter and reproduce in cells.

However, a few months ago, researchers found that llamas had H11- nanobodies. H4 and H11-D4 which can neutralize SARS-CoV-2 by binding to the Spike protein, so scientists at the University of California came up with the idea of ​​exploiting this characteristic to create their synthetic molecule.

According to them, the disruption of the interaction between the spine protein and the ACE2 receptors makes it possible "to effectively neutralize the virus and prevent its penetration into cells. to the creation of AeroNabs, they tested the effectiveness of 2 billion synthetic nanobodies on SARS-CoV-2.

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