London, March 26 (IANS) A team of researchers has developed a novel strategy for identifying potent miniature antibodies, so-called nanobodies, against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.The approach, published in the journal Science Advances, led to the discovery of multiple nanobodies that in cell cultures and mice effectively blocked infection with different SARS-CoV-2 variants."With the help of advanced laboratory techniques, we were able to identify a panel of nanobodies that very effectively neutralized several variants of SARS-CoV-2," said researcher Gerald McInerney from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.Despite the roll-out of vaccines and antivirals, the need for effective therapeutics against severe Covid-19 infection remains high.Nanobodies -- which are fragments of antibodies that occur naturally in camelids and can be adapted for humans -- are promising therapeutic candidates as they offer several advantages over conventional antibodies.For example, they have favourable biochemical properties and are easy to produce cost-effectively at scale.In the now published studies, the labs of a few researchers identify several potent nanobodies derived from an alpaca immunised with SARS-CoV-2 antigens.The results revealed additional nanobodies that in cell cultures and mice effectively cross-neutralized both the founder and beta variant of SARS-CoV-2 and even neutralized the more distantly related SARS-CoV-1.
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