The world witnessed the first case of the Covid-19 virus in late 2019 and from then it has continuously mutated and the newly developed strain has been stronger than the previous one. Scientists and researchers, across the globe, have developed vaccines against Covid-19, based on the initial virus strain. It is believed that these developed vaccines may not give the expected result against the new mutated strains of Covid-19.
Now, a team of US researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and other collaborators has created an “Atlas” which would keep an eye on how 152 antibodies attack a major piece of the SARS-CoV-2, evolved since 2020.
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The conducted study was published in the journal “The Cell.” The study highlights that how the antibodies neutralize the new strains of SARS-CoV-2 while identifying regions of the spike protein that have become more resistant to the attack.
The research showed that 19 patients who were tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 in March 2020 produced Memory B cells as antibodies. The study emphasized the reaction of antibodies on the bodies affected by the new mutants of Covid-19 – B.1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1351 (Beta) and P.1 (Gamma). These new strains of the virus were first found in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, respectively. The researchers have not given any statics on the Delta variant of the virus.
The studied antibodies have shown seven major “footprints” on the spike protein.
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Duance Wesemann, MD of the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and Division of Genetics at the Brigham and an associate said, “Emerging data show that vaccines still confer some protection from new SARS-CoV-2 variants, and our study shows how that works from an antibody standpoint. These data can help us think about what the best kind of booster vaccine might be by studying how the repertoire of human antibodies recognizes the spike protein.”
Through the research, it was found that some of the antibodies were able to compete against the newer strains on the virus and some lost their potency and some were extremely responsive neutralizers.
“Now that we can identify the antibodies that are more broadly reactive to all of the variants, we can think about how to elicit them more strongly in a vaccine,” Wesemann said.
The conducted study was supported by NIH grants T32 AI0072, T32 GM007753, AI1146779, AI007512, T32AI007306, AI121394, AI139538, and AI137940, and by MassCPR and Fast Grants for COVID Science.