The findings<\/a>, published in Cell Systems, explain why variants like Omicron can evade immune defenses and suggest new strategies for building longer-lasting antibody therapies and vaccines.<\/p>\nThe team analyzed more than a thousand three-dimensional structures of antibodies bound to the virus\u2019s spike protein, the main target for immune recognition, and compiled them into a structural atlas of COVID-19 antibodies. By studying these structures together for the first time, the researchers revealed a detailed picture of how the immune system targets the virus and how the virus evolves to evade it.<\/p>\n
\u201cScientists around the world have solved thousands of individual antibody-virus structures, but until now, no one had looked at them together,\u201d says senior author\u00a0Yi Shi, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacological Sciences, and Director of the Center for Protein Engineering and Therapeutics, at the Icahn School of Medicine. \u201cBy uniting all these data, we were able to see the bigger picture\u2014how fully antibodies cover the virus\u2019s surface and how mutations in newer variants like Omicron can undermine that protection. It gives us a clearer view of both the strengths and limits of our immune system.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers found that antibodies, including many used in clinical treatments, recognize nearly every exposed region of the spike protein\u2019s receptor-binding domain, a critical region of the virus. Despite this broad coverage, mutations in newer variants have weakened the binding of almost all antibodies to some degree. Many antibodies, though different in sequence, bind to the virus in strikingly similar ways, suggesting that there are only a few effective structural ways to neutralize it. That convergence, say the investigators, helps explain why the virus can mutate around immunity so efficiently.<\/p>\n
The study also highlights the potential of nanobodies\u2014tiny, highly stable antibody fragments that can reach parts of the virus that standard antibodies often miss. Because they can recognize deeply buried regions of the spike protein that tend to remain unchanged as the virus evolves, nanobodies could serve as powerful starting points for developing next-generation antiviral drugs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur findings highlight the limits of the antibodies we currently rely on,\u201d Dr. Shi says. \u201cWhile these antibodies have been remarkably effective, the virus keeps finding ways to escape them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo stay ahead, we\u2019ll need to design next-generation antibodies that can recognize and latch onto\u00a0multiple regions of the virus\u00a0at once, making it much harder for the virus to evade our defenses as it continues to evolve,\u201d adds Frank (Zirui) Feng, the study\u2019s first author and a master\u2019s student in the Biomedical Data Science and AI program at Mount Sinai.<\/p>\n
Although the study focused on one key part of the spike\u2014the receptor-binding domain\u2014the researchers note that similar patterns of immune escape are likely occurring elsewhere in the virus. They emphasize that the results do not mean the immune system or vaccines no longer work. Vaccination and natural immunity still provide vital protection through a wide range of immune responses, even when certain antibodies lose potency.<\/p>\n
Next, the team plans to apply this large-scale structural approach to other viruses to uncover shared principles of antibody recognition. Ultimately, they hope these insights will guide the development of durable antibody treatments capable of withstanding viral evolution and improving preparedness for future pandemics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe immune system is remarkably adaptable, but the virus is clever,\u201d says co-author\u00a0Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, PhD, Irene and Dr. Arthur M. Fishberg Professor of Medicine, and Director of the Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine. \u201cBy analyzing how antibodies attach to the virus and where they fall short, we gain a detailed map of the virus\u2019s vulnerabilities. This insight not only helps us understand why some antibodies stop working as the virus evolves but also guides the design of next-generation therapies that can stay one step ahead, potentially improving how we prevent and treat COVID-19 and other viral infections.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a part of this research, the team has created an open-access data set and interactive web tool that allows scientists to explore antibody structures in detail, providing a powerful resource to collectively accelerate research on COVID-19 and other viruses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers explain why COVID-19 variants like Omicron can evade immune defenses and suggest new strategies for building longer-lasting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[110711,18,135,19,4381,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-200180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-covid-19-and-sars-cov-2","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-infectious-diseases","13":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115612904834949463","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}