Just weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved a new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, the researchers published a study about the design and efficacy of their immunogens, which target the virus in a different way. “We identified areas of the spike protein that are least likely to mutate and used that information to engineer new proteins, which could be used to develop a vaccine that protects more broadly against not only future COVID-19 variants but potentially other related coronaviruses.” Thomas Passananti Professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Pharmacology. “Variants of concern continue to emerge due to the spike protein’s susceptibility to mutations,” said Nikolay Dokholyan, G. Existing vaccines target the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein, but the susceptibility of RBD to mutations provides escape routes for the virus from neutralizing antibodies. SARS-CoV-2’s surface spike protein - a major antibody target - allows the virus to enter host cells by engaging with a receptor called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. The scientists used areas of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that are less susceptible to mutation to engineer proteins called immunogens, which can elicit an immune response.
A vaccine design approach that could protect against new variants of SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes COVID-19 - but also potentially protects against other coronaviruses is one step closer to reality as a result of research at Penn State College of Medicine.
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