Assessment of Anti-Carbohydrate Immunity Against SARS-CoV-2
Abstract
The human body encounters many microorganisms, such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Some may cause severe illness and can be transmitted from person to person or even from animals to humans. Scientists in public health warn that infectious diseases are emerging at unprecedented rates. This may be a result of the rapid growth of the global economy in the modern world. People now travel much more frequently and far greater distances than in the past, and they live in densely populated urban areas; these factors aid the transmission of disease. The outbreaks of disease caused by bat-derived coronaviruses (CoVs) in this decade and the present pandemic of COVID-19 pneumonia highlight the urgent need for effective antiviral strategies. Due to the genetic diversity and hyper-mutating potential of CoVs, there has been no success in generating broadly effective agents against these viruses. We have a long-term interest in studying the antibody responses of the human immune system. Our team and other researchers have discovered that CoV virions are decorated with carbohydrate or sugar chain components made by and normally hidden in cells. Many viruses utilize these ingredients to build themselves a protective sugar coat. Interestingly, some plant proteins (called lectins) specifically bind to these virus coatings and are highly active in neutralizing them. Thus, we can use these virus coatings as targets and develop antibody treatments to kill these infectious agents. The goal of this project is to critically evaluate the potential of anti-sugar coat strategies that could protect humans from a broad range of CoV infections. We will use a new method that enables us to simultaneously detect and analyze antibody responses to these virus coatings, and this information will help us produce human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that can bind to the CoVs’ surface coatings to block infection and prevent COVID-19 disease. This is a new idea and quite different than the approach of widely used viral protein-specific therapeutic antibodies. With this new class of anti-sugar coat antibodies, we will be much more prepared to defeat the unpredictable variant of concern (VOC) clinical isolates that may break through current vaccines and therapies and continuously emerge to challenge our biodefense capacity. Our application targets the FY21 PRMRP Topic Area of Emerging Viral Diseases, and the results of our research will enable us to leap ahead to develop versatile, cutting-edge virus-neutralizing agents for human use. This will benefit both general populations and military personnel—especially the Service Members actively working in high-risk areas.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 28, 2022
- Source ID
- W81XWH2210978
Entities
People
- Denong Wang
Organizations
- SRI International
- United States Army