Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the United States have developed a new method for obtaining powerful fragments of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus from the body of llamas. These molecules could form the basis for the development of inhaled drugs that prevent and treat COVID-19. The article was published in the journal Science.
The researchers immunized the llama with a fragment of the spike protein (S-protein) SARS-CoV-2, so that after two months the animal's immune system produced mature nanobodies against the virus. Using mass spectrometry, scientists have identified nanobodies that bind most strongly to SARS-CoV-2. During testing, it was found that only a fraction of a nanogram of antibodies can save millions of cells from infection with coronavirus.
The new nanobodies are the most effective among candidate therapeutic antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and are hundreds and thousands of times more potent than other nanobodies detected using the phage display method.
Nanobodies can stay at room temperature for six weeks and undergo aerosolization to deliver the drug directly to the lungs. Since SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory virus, nanobodies can bind to it in the respiratory system before the pathogen can harm it.
