May 09, 2024 21:00:00

A coronavirus vaccine that could potentially be used against undiscovered, unknown coronaviruses will be developed

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which spread from 2002 to 2003, and COVID-19, which has spread worldwide since 2020, are caused by coronaviruses that mutate from hosts such as bats and infect humans. There are multiple types of coronaviruses, but a research team from Cambridge University and other institutions has developed a vaccine that can be used against previously unknown coronaviruses.

Proactive vaccination using multiviral quartet nanocages to elicit broad anti-coronavirus responses | Nature Nanotechnology
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-024-01655-9

Our new vaccine could protect against coronaviruses that haven't even emerged yet – new study

https://theconversation.com/our-new-vaccine-could-protect-against-coronaviruses-that-havent-even-emerged-yet-new-study-229165

Scientists create vaccine with potential to protect against future coronaviruses | Vaccines and immunisation | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/06/scientists-create-vaccine-potential-protect-against-future-coronaviruses

Since the spread of COVID-19 infections began in 2020, COVID-19 vaccines have been rapidly developed to provide humans with acquired immunity against the causative virus, SARS-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), making it possible to reduce the risk of death and severe illness after COVID-19 infection.

Like the causative viruses of SARS and MERS , SARS-CoV-2 was not discovered until cases were confirmed. This resulted in a delayed response, which led to a devastating pandemic. In addition, it has been confirmed that some coronaviruses that live in bats can infect humans, raising concerns that they may cause future pandemics.

Researchers are therefore studying how to protect humans from the threat of future pandemics caused by unknown coronaviruses. Conventional vaccines usually use a single antigen that protects against a particular virus by administering a weakened version of that virus. This has the problem that the vaccine may not be effective against other viruses that were not administered or against unknown viruses.

A research team from Cambridge University, Oxford University and other institutions has developed a 'nanocage vaccine' that attaches harmless proteins derived from four types of coronaviruses to tiny nanoparticles and injects them to increase the body's defenses in the event of a virus intrusion. According to the research team, the nanocage vaccine trains the body's immune system to target proteins common to many different types of coronaviruses, thus broadening the scope of defense against coronaviruses and making it effective against known and unknown coronaviruses of the same type.

The team administered the nanocage vaccine to mice and infected them with SARS-CoV-1,

the coronavirus that caused the SARS outbreak. They found that the vaccine induced a broad immune response to SARS-CoV-1, even though the vaccine nanoparticles did not contain any SARS-CoV-1-derived proteins.

'We have shown that even a relatively simple vaccine like the nanocage vaccine can produce sporadic responses to a range of viruses,' said Rory Hills of the University of Cambridge. 'The development of the nanocage vaccine is a step towards our larger goal of developing a vaccine before a pandemic starts.'

According to Hills, the nanocage vaccine can be produced in existing facilities that can cultivate microorganisms, and they are working with industrial partners to expand the development process. The research team also revealed that the next step will be to test the nanocage vaccine in humans. If the test results prove that the nanocage vaccine is safe, it could be used as a booster vaccination against COVID-19. 'If the nanocage vaccine is approved for vaccination and production is expanded, countries will have vaccine stockpiles and will be able to respond quickly if future unknown coronaviruses or other pathogens begin to infect,' Hills said.

Mark Howarth, a member of the research team, said, 'Scientists have done a great job of rapidly producing a highly effective COVID-19 vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are still many deaths around the world. So in the future, we need to come up with better ways to deliver COVID-19 vaccines, and one of those ways is to pre-produce the vaccine.'