Researchers have discovered an antibody able to neutralize all known variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as distantly related SARS-like coronaviruses that infect other animals.
As part of a new study on hybrid immunity to the virus, the large, multi-institution research team led by The University of Texas at Austin discovered and isolated a broadly neutralizing plasma antibody, called SC27, from a single patient. Using technology developed over several years of research into antibody response, the team led by UT engineers and scientists obtained the exact molecular sequence of the antibody, opening the possibility of manufacturing it on a larger scale for future treatments.
“The discovery of SC27, and other antibodies like it in the future, will help us better protect the population against current and future COVID variants,” said Jason Lavinder, a research assistant professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering and one of the leaders of the new research, which was recently published in Cell Reports Medicine.
During the more than four years since the discovery of COVID-19, the virus that causes it has rapidly evolved. Each new variant has displayed different characteristics, many of which made them more resistant to vaccines and other treatments.
Protective antibodies bind to a part of the virus called the spike protein that acts as an anchor point for the virus to attach to and infect cells in the body. By blocking this spike protein interaction, antibodies prevent infection.
SC27 recognized different characteristics of spike proteins in various COVID variants. Fellow UT researchers verified SC27’s capabilities. These researchers were also among those who first decoded the structure of the original spike protein and paved the way for vaccines and other treatments.
The technology used to isolate SC27 is termed Ig-Seq. It gives researchers a closer look at antibody responses using single-cell DNA sequencing combined with proteomics.
“One goal of this research, and vaccinology in general," said Will Voss, a recent Ph.D. graduate in cell and molecular biology at UT's College of Natural Sciences who co-led this study "is to work toward a universal vaccine that can generate antibodies and create an immune response with broad protection against a rapidly mutating virus.”
In addition to discovering this antibody, researchers found that hybrid immunity — combining infection and vaccination — offers increased protection against future exposure compared with either method alone.
This work comes amid another summer COVID spike. This trend shows that while much progress has been made against COVID-19, there remains a need for innovative solutions to prevent and treat infections.
The researchers have filed a patent application for SC27. Other members from UT include Jason McLellan; Patrick O. Byrne; Sean A. Knudson; Douglas R. Townsend; Jessica Kain; Yimin Huang from Molecular Biosciences; George Georgiou; Ed Satterwhite; Allison Seeger from Chemical Engineering; Jeffrey M. Marchioni from Biomedical Engineering; Chelsea Paresi from Chemistry. Team members from other institutions include Greg Ippolito (Texas Biomedical Research Institute); Ralph S. Baric; Michael A. Mallory; John M. Powers; Sarah R. Leist; Jennifer E. Munt; Trevor Scobey (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Epidemiology); Izabella N. Castillo; Melissa Mattocks; Premkumar Lakshmanane (UNC Microbiology & Immunology); Bernadeta Dadonaite; Jesse D Bloom (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center). Funding was received from NIH and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.