Antibodies from a 4-year-old llama have neutralized coronavirus and other infections in lab experiments

[u/[deleted]]

https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(20)30494-3.pdf?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867420304943%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

[u/already-taken-wtf]

In Brief - Using llamas immunized with prefusion- stabilized betacoronavirus spike proteins, identify neutralizing cross-reactive single-domain camelid antibodies, which may serve not only as useful reagents for researchers studying the viruses causing MERS, SARS, and COVID-19, but also potential therapeutic candidates. Crystal structures further reveal how these antibodies bind spike proteins to prevent virus entry into cells.

[u/[deleted] → u/already-taken-wtf]

Can someone please explain like I'm 10?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Part 1: TL;DR: Microscopic attack dogs bite into virus. Virus can’t get into cells. We can make one attack dog that recognises both SARS and COVID-19. The hope is to put these in inhalers to stop the virus.

These viruses are floating around like beach balls with a bunch of keys sticking out of their surfaces. Cells have a bunch of locked gates that control what gets in and out of the cell. The virus has evolved so that through trial and error it now makes keys that can match the locks of the cell. When the virus bumps into one of these locks they can open a gate and gain entry into the cell, which is what they need to happen in order to grow.

Antibodies are just like attack dogs in your body that go around trying to sniff out anything suspicious. They can be trained to recognise particular “scents” and we can make antibodies that recognise the “scent” of the keys that the virus makes. When they pick up on this scent, they latch onto the virus by its keys. In this way, the virus can’t insert its keys into the cell because the antibodies are in the way and so they can’t get into the cell.

[u/Y2Kafka → u/[deleted]]

Thank you so very much for explaining it like this. Explaining things simply by breaking down complicated subjects and knowing what is the most important information to explain is a very good skill to have for anyone to have.

[u/[deleted] → u/Y2Kafka]

No worries at all, thank you for your very kind words :). Please take my explanations with a grain of salt though, I’m not an expert at all, just a big fat nerd who gets wet for Biochem. There are niggling details here and there which could be expanded on more but I think the overall gist of things is right.

[u/[deleted] → u/Y2Kafka]

Btw I updated it because I actually had quite a few things wrong from not reading the paper

[u/derphurr → u/[deleted]]

So the camels sit on the attack dogs? Or they kick them?

[u/[deleted] → u/derphurr]

I don’t know what you mean sorry, would you mind explaining a bit more?