Scientists are developing vaccines to target the virus family that spawned Covid-19. Their efforts could thwart future variants, or even new related viruses.
Even though the researchers only used a RBD from one version of Covid, their vaccine generated a robust polyclonal response—meaning it created multiple antibody types, rather than just one. To Saunders, this is part of the approach’s charm: Creating many antibody types is beneficial, he says, because one that is extremely effective against a certain variant might not be as effective against another. Or vice versa: A previously weak antibody could better neutralize a newer variant.
Adjuvants can be made from lipids, salts, or other kinds of oils. One kind even contains oil from a shark. They are often used in vaccines; the first mRNA Covid vaccines, for example, used lipid nanoparticles as their adjuvant. In the January preprint with Saunders’ lab, the team tested their RBD nanoparticle vaccine with three different kinds of adjuvants. They found that in comparison to the standalone vaccine, those with any of the three adjuvants produced higher concentrations of antibodies.
One particular adjuvant, called 3M-052-AF, produced the highest number of antibodies that cross-neutralized different sarbecovirus strains. While its exact recipe is proprietary, the adjuvant contains something called a TLR7/8 agonist: small molecules that stimulate immune cells to activate an immune response. These types of molecules can “essentially talk to the immune system and hyperactivate the immune system to counteract whatever external insult it’s seeing,” Martinez says.
The idea could work on a variety of viruses, but bioengineer Jun Huang from the University of Chicago and his team created one that is specific to sarbecoviruses because it has a polymeric nanoparticle shell studded with ACE2 receptors, which are thethat the Covid virus binds to. Because of the high density of ACE2 receptors on the nanotrap’s surface, Covid viruses are attracted to it and get stuck.
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