Antibody-like proteins found in a shark’s immune system could be a natural COVID killer that not only prevents the virus that causes it, but also different variants – such as Omicron that is currently spreading across the globe.
The proteins, known as VNARs, are one-tenth the size of human antibodies, making them small enough to ‘get into nooks and crannies that human antibodies cannot access,’ Aaron LeBeau, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of pathology who helped lead the study, said in a statement.
LeBeau and his team identified three candidate VNARs from a pool of billions that effectively stopped the virus from infecting human cells.
However, the researchers note that the new VNARs will not be available as a preventative during the current coronavirus pandemic, but the team is preparing the shark proteins to combat future outbreaks.
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Antibody-like proteins found in a shark’s immune system could be a natural COVID killer that not only prevents the virus that causes it, but also different variants – such as Omicron that is currently spreading across the globe
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2, a pandemic.
From then, the virus took hold of the world – shuttering businesses and forcing people into their homes for months.
Although lockdowns have since eased worldwide, the coronavirus is still running rampant and is mutating into new variants that are harder to stop from spreading.
The Chief Medical Advisor to the President of United States, Dr Anthony Fauci, announced Thursday that the new omicron variant’s ‘extraordinary’ ability to spread will double cases every three days.
LeBeau and his team identified three candidate VNARs from a pool of billions that effectively stopped the virus from infecting human cells
Confirmed US Omicron cases jumped by a third overnight, from 241 on Wednesday to 319 on Thursday.
With all of this in mind, LeBeau and his team have been working double time to help stop a similar outbreak from occurring in the past.
‘The big issue is there are a number of coronaviruses that are poised for emergence in humans,’ said Aaron LeBeau.
‘What we’re doing is preparing an arsenal of shark VNAR therapeutics that could be used down the road for future SARS outbreaks. It’s a kind of insurance against the future.’
The researchers tested the shark VNARs against both infectious SARS-CoV-2 and a ‘pseudotype,’ a version of the virus that can’t replicate in cells.
And this allowed them to narrow down three VNARs candidates that could be used as treatments.
One VNAR, named 3B4, attached strongly to a groove on the viral spike protein near where the virus binds to human cells and appears to block this attachment process.
‘This groove is very similar among genetically diverse coronaviruses, which even allows 3B4 to effectively neutralize the MERS virus, a distant cousin of the SARS viruses,’ the researchers shared in the press release.
‘The ability to bind such conserved regions across diverse coronaviruses makes 3B4 an attractive candidate to fight viruses that have yet to infect people.’
The 3B4 binding site is also not changed in prominent variations of SARS-CoV-2, such as the delta variant.
Although this work was completed before Omicron was identified, LeBeau says his initial models this VNAR will still be effective at combating the new variant.
the researchers note that the new VNARs will not be available as a preventative during the current coronavirus pandemic, but the team is preparing the shark proteins to combat future outbreaks. Pictured is a map showing coronavirus cases by state in the US
The second-most-powerful shark VNAR, 2C02, seems to lock the spike protein into an inactive form, but its binding site is was observed to change in some SARS-CoV-2 variants – this means its potency will likely decrease overtime.
The treatments will likely be designed with a cocktail of multiple shark VNARs to maximize their effectiveness against diverse and mutating viruses.
LeBeau is also studying the ability of shark VNARs to help in the treatment and diagnosis of cancers.
Using sharks as a COVID-19 treatment has been on scientists’ radars for at least a years.
A natural oil in the predator’s liver, known as squalene, is used in other medicines, but was also determined to be an effective ingredient in coronavirus vaccines and was used in some potential jabs.
The ingredient is used as an adjuvant to increase the effectiveness of a vaccine by creating a stronger immune response.
However, extracting it from sharks has become a controversial topic among animal activists, as the predator has to be killed in order to harvest the oil.