A Chinese team recently published a paper online in the journal Science saying that they have identified two human monoclonal antibodies that can effectively block novel coronavirus infections, which could be used in the development of anti-neo-crown drugs and vaccines.
China Capital Medical University, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Shenzhen Third People's Hospital participated in this study.
Researchers isolated four human-derived monoclonal antibodies from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a newly crowned rehabilitation patient. All four antibodies were shown to be neutralizing against the novel coronavirus.
Two antibodies, called B38 and H4, respectively, block the binding of the receptor-binding domain of a novel coronavirus staple protein to its receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).
Previous studies revealing the mechanism of infection by a novel coronavirus have shown that the virus binds to ACE2 on human cells primarily through its surface staple protein receptor binding domain.
Experiments showed that B38 and H4 recognize different epitopes of the receptor binding domain, respectively, and mice experimentally confirmed that these two antibodies reduce the amount of virus in the lungs of infected mice, exhibiting a therapeutic effect.
The two antibodies can also be used in combination to more effectively suppress viral infection.
The team further resolved the structure of the complex formed with B38 in the receptor-binding region of the novel coronavirus staple protein, thereby revealing the molecular mechanism by which B38 blocks viral infection.
The latest study shows that the two antibodies screened have the potential to be further developed into drugs to treat novel coronavirus infections and provide a basis for vaccine design, the researchers describe.
The two antibodies are currently undergoing product transformation at the companies concerned and are expected to be used in the future for the clinical treatment of new crown patients.
Special Report: Fighting The New Coronavirus
