A transmission electron micrograph of a virus. The NIAID Integrated Research Facility is located in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID.
The scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found a way to block the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the blood of COVID-19 patients. Nature Communications published the study today.
The evACE2 act as decoys in the body and can serve as a therapeutic to be developed for prevention and treatment of current and future strains of the coronaviruses. evACE2 has the potential to benefit humans as a biological treatment with minimal toxicities.
The study is the first to show that evACE2 are capable of fighting the new strain with equal or better efficacy than blocking the original strain. evACE2 are found in human blood. The higher the evACE2 levels are in the patient's blood, the more severe it is.
The original vaccine and therapeutic antibodies may lose power if a new strain of the disease is introduced. The beauty of evACE2 is that it is able to block broad strains of coronaviruses, including the current SARS-CoV-2 and even future SARS coronaviruses. Our studies show that evACE2 can be used to prevent or block the spread of the disease when it is delivered to the airway via droplets.
The evACE2 are small bubbles in a nanoparticle that express the ACE2 protein. These vesicles act as decoys to lure the SARS-CoV-2 virus away from the ACE2protein on cells, which is how the virus infections cells. evACE2 is prevented from entering the cell by the spike protein. The virus will either float around or be cleared by a macrophage immune cell once captured. It can no longer cause infections.
The study shows that naturally occurring extracellular vesicles in the body are part of the normal adaptive defense against COVID-19-causing viruses. "We've found a way to harness this natural defense as a new potential therapy against this devastating virus."
The COVID-19 epidemic has been challenged by a constantly changing virus. One of the biggest challenges is the moving target of the coronaviruses that constantly evolve into new strains. The new viral strains have different changes in the viral spike with high infection rates and increased breakthrough due to vaccine inefficiencies and resistance to therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.
"Our studies show that the ability of extracellular vesicles to act as a defense against other types of infections could be exploited therapeutically," said co-lead author Kathleen McAndrews, PhD.
There is a pending patent on evACE2. The goal is to collaborate with industry partners and develop evACE2 as a biological therapeutic product for prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The co-senior authors of the patent have formed a startup company to take the patent and develop evACE2 as a therapeutic.
"It is urgent to identify novel therapies," he said. evACE2 can meet the challenges and fight against broad strains of the coronaviruses to protect the immune system.
More than 30 authors collaborated on this work. They include four co-first authors, all from the same lab at the same hospital.
There is more information about the blocking of broad strains of the SARS-CoV-2. www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27893-2
Nature Communications is a journal.
There is a news story about a novel way to prevent and treat infections from current and future strains of SARS-CoV-2.
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