Antibodies found to provide protection against broad forms of COVID-19

Researchers have discovered an antibody that provides extreme protection against a wide variety of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The findings of the study, published in the journal Immunity, may help develop new antibody-based treatment methods, whose efficacy does not diminish after exposure to different forms of the virus. “The existing antibodies are effective against some forms, but not all of them,” said lead researcher Michael S. Diamond, a professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in the US. Diamond said, “This virus will continue to change shape over time and space. He said that creating new combinations by combining effective antibodies that work individually could help fight a wide variety of forms. To detect antibodies acting on a broad range of motifs, the researchers immunized mice with a significant portion of the spike protein known as the ‘receptor-binding domain’ (RBD). They then extracted antibody-forming cells and obtained 43 antibodies that recognized RBD.

They selected the two antibodies that were most effective in protecting the mice from infection and tested them against a panel of infection patterns. The researchers found that one antibody, SARS2-38, readily neutralized all forms.