Synthetic antibodies that researchers believe neutralize coronavirus have been created at UCSF and could be available for use in nasal sprays or inhalers within a few months if clinical trials go well. They hope the development will be a game-changer in the global effort to stop the pandemic.
The small, engineered protein molecules, developed in two UCSF laboratories by a team of 60 scientists, including doctors and graduates, are modeled after super-strength antibodies found in llamas and camels.
Named AeroNabs, the synthetic antibodies bind to and inactivate the infamous spike proteins that the coronavirus uses to penetrate and promote human cells, according to a study published as a preprint Monday on the open access site bioRxiv (pronounced “bio-archive”). “), but not yet peer reviewed.
‘It’s like a mousetrap. It binds the spike protein so tightly that it basically never comes loose, ”said Peter Walter, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF and co-inventor of the AeroNab molecules. “It’s a whole thing for us.”
The molecules are smaller but stronger than the antibodies that humans naturally produce in response to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. In this case, researchers said, they prevent the spike protein from opening like a flower before it attaches to cells, stopping the virus’ ability to bind to the ACE2 receptors on human cells.
However, he warned not to overdo it until the new drug is validated by randomized controlled clinical trials, and until potential side effects are ruled out.
Many scientists have also been critical of preprint publications, insisting that the information is so preliminary that it should not be taken seriously as a definitive study.
Walter, the co-inventor of AeroNabs, said: ‘We have put these molecules to a stage that we think is as good as it can be. Our hope, our dream, is to bring the world back to a state of normalcy. ”
Peter Fimrite is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @pfimrite
