Study of scientists from the Institute of Biophysics Max Planck in Germany made it possible to determine potentially vulnerable places in the Coronavirus SARS-COV-2 particles. This find will help in developing the most effective vaccines from COVID-19.
The key feature of SARS-COV-2 is its spike, or honeycomb protein. It “towers” on the surface of the virus and allows it to identify and infect human cells. Scientists have developed many detailed models of this protein, but not all of them take into account its flexibility, as well as the mobility of the protective glycans, write Vesti.Ru.
Considering these features, the researchers have developed a movable model of a spike protein of coronavirus to find out how it will behave in real conditions.
The simulation created by scientists made it possible to determine that the glycans serve as a shield that protects the virus from the cells of the immune system. Glycans, which are carbohydrate chains, cover virtually the entire surface of the spike squirrel. With its movements, they reminded scientists the wipers on the windshield of the car.
Using a new model, the researchers were able to determine which areas of the sieknogo protein are the least protected by moving glycans. Some of them were already known, but some turned out to be completely new. Subsequent experiments confirmed the vulnerability of many of these sites.
“We are now at the stage of a pandemic, due to the emergence of new SARS-COV-2 options, and new mutations are mainly concentrated in a spike protein. Our approach will help in the development of vaccines and therapeutic antibodies, especially when other methods are no longer Cool “, – noted the lead author of the study of Mateush Sikora.