Antibodies found to neutralize omicron
A team of researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Washington has identified antibodies that neutralize omicron and other covid-2 variants. The scientists hypothesize that Omikron’s high mutation rate partly explains why the variants spread so rapidly, infecting vaccinated people and re-infecting those already infected.
The researchers therefore investigated how well different antibodies work against earlier variants of SARS-CoV-2. These antibodies target so-called “conserved sites” of the viral spike protein, which remain essentially unchanged when the viruses mutate.
Through their tests with different antibodies, the research team identified four classes of antibodies that retained their ability to neutralize omicron (as well as other variants) by targeting the conserved sites.
That antibodies are able to neutralize the virus by recognizing conserved sites in many different variants is, the researchers believe, the basis for developing new vaccines and antibody treatments that could also be effective against a wide range of mutant variants.
Source: Medizindoc.de, Nature, Dezember 2021
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