On Tuesday, a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) invented an artificial protein shell to combat COVID-19. During the first wave of COVID, every day, researchers from IISc were sequencing thousands of samples to check for SARS-CoV-2 variants to check for possible mutations as part of INSACOG, the government of Indias genome surveillance initiative. The researchers were racing against time to predict whether one of these mutations was going to be dangerous from a public health perspective and they needed an assay system.

To address this problem, Dr. Saumitra Das, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology (MCB), and his team have developed and tested a novel virus-like particle (VLP), a non-infectious nanoscale molecule that resembles and behaves like the virus but does not contain its native genetic material.

In a study published in Microbiology Spectrum, the team chose a baculovirus, a virus that affects insects but not humans, as the suitable vector (carrier) to synthesize the VLPs, since it can produce and assemble all these proteins and replicate quickly. This virus was selected to recreate the multiplication mechanism of SARS-CoV-2. The virus replicates by producing each structural protein separately and then assembling them into a shell containing the genetic material inside to form an active virus particle. Further, the research team analyzed the VLPs under a transmission electron microscope and found that they were just as stable as the native SARS-CoV-2. At 4 degrees Celsius, the VLP could attach itself to the host cell surface, and at 37 degrees Celsius (normal human body temperature), it was able to enter the cell.

To test the immune response created by VLP, they gave one primary shot and two booster shots to mouse models with a gap of 15 days, after which they found a large number of antibodies generated in the blood serum of the mice. They also found that a high dose of VLP, when injected into mice, did not affect the liver, lung, or kidney tissues. 

(Source: https://weather.com/en-IN/india/coronavirus/news/2022-08-31-iisc-researchers-develop-virus-like-particle-to-study-covid19 )