Researchers say they have discovered an antibody that prevents infection with the Corona virus. The antibody targets the "spike protein" of the deadly virus, which the latter uses to rob cells and introduce its genetic material.
Tests in rat cells showed that the antibody known as 47D11 binds to this protein and prevents it from stabilizing, thereby effectively neutralizing it. This achievement provides hope for a cure for the disease that has killed more than 235,000 people so far.
The researchers said that the antibody, if injected into humans, could alter the "course of infection" or protect an uninfected person who contacts with a person infected with the virus.
The European research team identified the antibody from 51 cell lines, from mice modified to carry human genes.
"This research builds on the work that our groups have done in the past on antibodies that targeted SARS, which appeared in 2002/2003," continuing, "said using this group of antibodies to HIV. SARS, we identified an antibody that also prevents Covid 19 infection in cultured cells. ”
This antibody, which neutralizes the virus, has the ability to alter the course of infection in the affected body, support removal of the virus or protecting an uninfected person exposed to the virus.
Dr. Bush added that the ability of the antibody to neutralize two coronavirus strains indicates that it may have the ability to alleviate diseases caused by coronaviruses arising in the future. Covid 19 is transmitted through small drops, when sneezing or coughing, to the respiratory system.
The virus attaches to human cells to introduce its genetic material, produces duplicate copies of it and spreads throughout the body.
In the laboratory, the researchers injected mouse cells with a variety of different "proteins" of different coronaviruses, including SARS and MERS, and then the team isolated 51 antibodies, which are produced by mouse cells, one of them 47D11, that could prevent SARS cells from being infected.
The successful antibody binds to an enzyme called ACE2 and is also present in "Covid 19" and acts as the "entrance" of the virus into human cells.
"In this study, researchers developed an antibody that is linked to the mutation and prevents the virus from entering the cells," said Dr. Simon Clark, a professor of cellular microbiology at Reading University, who was not involved in the study.