How will our immune defenses react in case of new variants?
A study by researchers from the CNR of Avellino and the University of Salerno can explain the high transmissibility of Omicron and predict the effects of possible new Covid variants on the immune defenses already developed. All the details
The researchers of the Institute of Food Sciences (Isa) of the Cnr of Avellino and of the University of Salerno have created – thanks to food for thought that emerged following meetings with the Joint Research Center of the European Commission – an innovative bioinformatics procedure to simulate the interactions of the spike protein in the Omicron variant with the antibodies developed by our body as a result of vaccinations or previous infections.
The procedure, in addition to being able to explain the high transmissibility of this variant, will be able to predict the effects of possible new variants on the immune defenses already developed. The study was published in the academic journal Molecules .
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The researchers deepened the study of the spike protein of the Omicron variant with the aim of investigating two aspects: on the one hand, to understand how it interacts with the ACE2 receptor – that is the pathway of entry into our cells – on the other hand to verify whether the antibodies developed from the human organism against the spike protein of the previous variants manage to somehow recognize it.
THE BIOINFORMATICS PROCEDURE
The study, the authors of the article report, required the implementation of an automated bioinformatics procedure with which it was possible to simulate the variations of the amino acids of the spike protein present in the Omicron variant.
Once the models of the interaction of the new spike protein with antibodies have been obtained based on more than 150 molecular models of spike-antibody complexes already known for the previous variants of the virus, it is possible to analyze the characteristics of the interaction and observe how the new protein spike may or may not be recognized by the antibodies developed against the old variants.
THE RESULTS
"The work carried out has shown that many antibodies already present in our organism can also recognize the spike protein of the Omicron variant, although with some differences in the molecular interactions that can be formed", explained Angelo Facchiano of Cnr-Isa, responsible for the study together. to Anna Marabotti for the University of Salerno.
"Furthermore, by also studying the mechanism of interaction with the ACE2 receptor – continues Facchiano -, we have highlighted some differences with respect to the spike protein of the previous variants, offering a possible interpretation of the greater ease of transmission of the Omicron variant".
ANTIBODY FORECASTS IN CASE OF NEW VARIANTS
This research, say the researchers, could have important implications also in view of the appearance of new variants: the bioinformatics procedure developed, in fact, can be used to simulate the substitutions of amino acids present in new variants and quickly provide a prediction of the effects in terms of the ability of the immune defenses offered by the antibodies already present in our organism – developed as a result of vaccinations or previous infections – to counteract a possible new variant.
USEFUL FOR THE FUTURE
"With this procedure – the researchers report – it took only a few weeks from the discovery of the Omicron variant and from the declaration of 'Variant Of Concern' by the World Health Organization to obtain the results regarding the interactions of antibodies".
For the authors of the research it is therefore "a tool that can be effectively made available to the scientific community in the event of new variants of the virus".
Interest in this sense for the procedure developed was also expressed by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/come-reagiranno-le-nostre-difese-immunitarie-in-caso-di-nuove-varianti/ on Sat, 27 Aug 2022 05:44:04 +0000.