Cailianshe (Shanghai, editor Huang Junzhi) reported that It is reported that British researchers discovered the new antigen target of the next generation of COVID-19 vaccine when investigating a group of medical staff who are pre-resistant to SARS-CoV-2 infection. They speculate that the next-generation vaccine using this antigen may prevent all the coronaviruses that are spreading, including those known to cause the common cold . The
vaccine works by providing the body with a molecule designed to help the immune system understand how to recognize certain pathogens. These molecules are called antigen , and the large antigen targeted by the first generation of COVID-19 vaccines is the "notorious" spike protein of the new coronavirus.
For the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines, researchers are looking for something beyond the spike protein to study alternative SARS-CoV-2 antigens. The new study first studied a group of healthcare workers in the UK, and strangely, despite their exposure to high levels of viral environments, they tested SARS-CoV-2 repeatedly negative.
It is reported that this group of healthcare workers was always negative in both common antibodies and PCR tests for . However, the researchers did detect some blood markers that suggest SARS-CoV-2 infection, such as the detection of an increase in immune T cells specifically targeting SARS-CoV-2, which suggests that healthcare workers may have experienced low levels of infection but managed to resist in some way in advance.
, lead author of the new study, explained Leo Swadling, "We know that some people are not infected despite possible exposure to the virus. What we don't know is whether these people really managed to avoid the virus altogether, or whether they naturally cleared the virus before routine tests detected it. By intensively monitoring signs of infection and immune responses in health care workers, we found that a few have this particular SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response."
, the T cells detected in this study, were trained to target non-structural proteins that function in the early stages of the virus's life cycle. These proteins are part of the viral replication transcription complex, commonly known as replication proteins.
Most interestingly, these special replica proteins are universal for all coronaviruses. Therefore, the researchers hypothesized that those who have a strong T-cell response to these proteins may have recently been exposed to a coronavirus that causes a cold. The new research results were published in the famous scientific journal Nature. "The viral regions identified by these T cells are highly conservative among other members of the coronavirus family, such as those that cause common colds every year. Previous common cold exposure may have given these people the first to fight the virus, allowing their immune systems to wipe out the virus before it begins to replicate."
It is understood that these findings are based on the hypothesis that there is a cross-reacting immune response between SARS-CoV-2 and the common coronavirus. Stanford A recent study speculated that previous exposure to coronaviruses that cause the common cold may explain why some people suffer from very mild or even asymptomatic COVID-19.
But the most promising significance of this study is that these replicate proteins may be incorporated into future COVID-19 vaccines as antigens. Mali Maini, senior author of the new study, said vaccines that induce T cells to target these replicated proteins may provide protection against all current coronaviruses, including those that cause the common cold.
"T cells that recognize the mechanism of viral replication will provide an additional layer of protection for existing vaccines. This dual-action vaccine will provide greater flexibility to fight mutations, and because of the long lifespan of T cells, it can also provide longer immunity. By expanding existing T cells, such vaccines can help stop the spread of the virus at very early stages," he added.
