Japanese scientists have developed a vaccination strategy that could protect against a range of coronaviruses, and not only the one known to cause COVID-19.

The new strategy could be used to provide protection even against new pandemics caused by different coronaviruses. The strategy involved genetically engineering proteins from SARS-CoV-2 virus. The focus of the research was the virus’ spike protein, which includes the receptor-binding domain that attaches to a receptor on ACE2. While the head region of the receptor-binding domain is highly specialized, the core region is similar in several coronaviruses. Researchers genetically engineered the receptor-binding domain to have sugar molecules attached to the head region. Mice, when exposed to the engineered proteins, had a higher proportion of antibodies against the core region rather than the head region. These were neutralizing antibodies and were found to neutralize not only SARS-CoV-2, but SARS-CoV-1 as well. 

The findings are published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine... (The National News, October 10, 2021)