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Coronavirus: Scientists successfully map part of virus that hijacks human cells, might help with vaccines

The good news is now we know what it looks like, it will be easier to find the most suitable weapon against the virus, say experts
PUBLISHED FEB 20, 2020
Jason S McLellan (L) and Daniel Wrapp (Vivian Abagiu/University of Texas at Austin)
Jason S McLellan (L) and Daniel Wrapp (Vivian Abagiu/University of Texas at Austin)

Scientists have developed the first 3D map of a part of the coronavirus responsible for hijacking human cells. This map could aid in the design of vaccines and antivirals against the disease or COVID-19 that has infected more than 76,000 people worldwide.

The researchers from the University of Austin at Texas, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are calling the map a "critical breakthrough".

"The good news is now we know what it looks like, it will be easier to find the most suitable weapon against the virus," Jianling Xie, Postdoctoral Scientist from South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute, who was not involved in the study, explained in The Conversation

What makes this part "spike protein" promising is that it could activate the immune system to launch an attack against the virus -- making it an ideal candidate for vaccines.

This protein is important to the coronavirus, without which they become incapable of entering human cells. Targeting this protein could prevent the virus from making copies of itself.

This image shows coronavirus (yellow) isolated from a patient in the US. (NIAID-RML)

The team behind this map took a little over less than two weeks to build it. But they had a headstart, given their expertise on coronaviruses, including the SARS and MERS viruses. 

“As soon as we knew this was a coronavirus, we felt we had to jump at it because we could be one of the first ones to get this structure," Jason McLellan, associate professor at UT Austin who led the research, said.

Why map the protein?

The spike protein attaches to human cells and gains entry. It does so by acting like a key that “unlocks the door” to enter human cells,  explains Xie.

3D map of the coronavirus. (Jason McLellan/Univ. of Texas at Austin)

So "If you can prevent attachment and fusion, you will prevent entry," Jason McLellan, associate professor at UT Austin who led the research, told Live Science. To do that, scientists need to figure out the shape of the spike protein. This will tell them how to target the virus.

To design vaccines, scientists use dead or weakened parts of a pathogen called antigens, in this case, spike proteins. These antigens, in turn, trigger the immune system to create antibodies, which fends off any future attacks by the virus.

The team hopes that when they inject this spike-protein-based vaccine into humans,  they should be able to make antibodies against the spike, and "then if they were ever exposed to the live virus," the body would be prepared, he added.

With this, McLellan and his team will try to design a vaccine based on the map. In the meantime, they will also test whether the protein can trigger the production of antibodies, according to LiveScience. However, the vaccine could take at least 18 months to see the light of day.

The study has been published in Science.

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