Researchers from the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine claimed that a newly developed "nanoparticle" coronavirus vaccine can fight future mutated strains more effectively than other vaccines. They also explained that it can make your immune system ten times stronger than the immune responses seen in COVID-19 survivors.
Bruno Cassaro de Andrade, a chemical engineering student, works with a test during the method of separating specific proteins to be applied in the production of vaccines on March 24, 2020 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The Ministry of Health convened The Technological Vaccine Center of the Federal University of Minas Gerais laboratory to conduct research on the coronavirus (COVID-19) in order to diagnose, test and develop a vaccine. According to the Ministry of Health, as of Tuesday, March 24, Brazil has 1.891 confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and at least 34 recorded deceases.
According to Sci-Tech Daily's latest report, the scientists used UW Medicine's structure-based vaccine design to develop the new COVID-19 drug. It can display 60 copies of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein's receptor-binding domain in a highly immunogenic array.
The self-assembling protein nanoparticle can also provoke a strong memory cell response, helping the body remember the invading viral particles and produce antibodies faster.
The new COVID-19 vaccine produces more antibodies
What's great about this innovation is that it no longer needs freezer storage, as reported by the Daily Mail UK. This makes the drug easier to produce and transfer across the globe, just like other vaccines.
Clinical support technician Douglas Condie extracts viruses from swab samples so that the genetic structure of a virus can be analysed and identified in the coronavirus testing laboratory at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, on February 19, 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Aside from its storage ability, the vaccine can also produce more neutralizing antibodies.
"We hope that our nanoparticle platform may help fight this pandemic that is causing so much damage to our world," said Dr. Neil King, one of the UW School of Medicine's biochemistry assistant professor.
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"The potency, stability, and manufacturability of this vaccine candidate differentiate it from many others under investigation," he added.
How it enhances immune response
Scientists explained that synthetic or natural nanoparticles can mimic structural features of viral diseases. They can do this since the viruses mostly have the same size as nanoparticles.
Because the new vaccine also has the same ability, allowing it to mold to the shape and size of virus receptors effortlessly. The nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine can train the body to recognize the virus receptors.
Once the body cells are familiar with the viral particles, it can fight them by building more antibodies than usual. They can also prevent future infections before they even start.
The researchers first tested the innovation on mice and published the results in the journal Cell.
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Written by: Giuliano de Leon.
