Scientists are developing decoy proteins that bind and trap the coronavirus to stop it infecting cells, it has been announced.
Researchers at the University of Leicester, UK, are using pioneering techniques in molecular evolution to create a new soluble protein that binds to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Cryo-Electron Microscopy (Cryo-EM) enables the scientists to image whole virus or parts of the virus in a native environment. The biological sample is frozen rapidly and then imaged by targeting electrons.
The Covid-19 virus normally infects lungs and tissues by binding to the ACE2 receptor on the surface of our cells, but the decoy aims to mimic these receptors and is engineered to be more attractive to the virus, so it will bind to the decoy and not ACE2.
Nick Brindle, Professor of Cell Signalling at the University of Leicester’s Departments of Molecular & Cell Biology and Cardiovascular Sciences, who is working with Dr Julian Sale at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), said he hoped to have the first set of results within three months.
“This is an innovative approach in the ongoing fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” he said. “By ‘hijacking’ the receptors on cells in our lungs and other tissues the virus can grow and spread throughout the body and lead to disease.
“By creating an attractive decoy protein for the virus to bind to, we are aiming to block the ability of this virus to infect cells and protect the function of the cell surface receptors.
“If this approach is successful, it could have the potential to prevent new cases of this deadly disease across the globe.”
The University of Leicester has been working on other research projects, including the development of a diagnostic mask that could potentially detect the presence of coronavirus before symptoms appear.
* NHS Blood and Transplant is to oversee a trial of convalescent plasma therapy against the virus, it was announced yesterday.
Chinese doctors have reported successful use of the therapy and trials are under way around the world – with several UK groups wanting to test it.
The organisation said it is now approaching recovered patients to see if they can donate plasma.
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