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(Paris) A team of Dutch researchers identified a monoclonal antibody capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID in the laboratory 19.
Agence France-Presse
This neutralizing antibody against coronavirus-19 responsible for COVID and also responsible for SARS in 2003 could be a form of “prevention and treatment” of these diseases, according to the researchers’ article, published Monday in the journal Nature.
The team at Utrecht University and Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, led by Berend-Jan Bosch and Frank Grosveld, have 51 cell lines that produce antibodies that target a remarkable protein on the surface of the two coronaviruses.
The same protein is involved in the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to the ACE2 receptor on the surface of human cells and plays a key role in the COVID-19 infection process.
A test was then developed to determine if the antibodies could neutralize the two coronaviruses. One of these antibodies showed “neutralizing activity” in both the COVID 19 virus and SARS.
Scientists have discovered that this antibody “attacks” the area where viruses bind to ACE2 receptors without severely affecting the virus’s coupling mechanism to ACE2, suggesting another mechanism of action that remains to be seen. decide
However, the Dutch team believes that this antibody, alone or in combination with other neutralizing antibodies, “could help develop therapeutic strategies in the future,” said Nature.
“There is still a long way to go before we know if this antibody can be useful for therapeutic purposes, but it is an important step forward,” said an independent expert from the University of Sussex in England, Pr Tony Carr.
“An interesting observation is that this antibody does not directly interfere with virus binding to the ACE2 receptor, making it possible to use it with other antibodies,” added this specialist in molecular genetics. in statements to the Science Media Center.
Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made copies of a specific type of antibody. They are a form of immunotherapy.
By targeting the same “epitope” (remarkable molecule) as a protein on the surface of a virus, these substances can neutralize the virus’s ability to infect human cells.
