Thread by @sailorrooscout

THIS IS HUGE! Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered and isolated a broadly neutralizing plasma antibody, known as SC27, which has been shown to neutralize ALL known variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Let’s talk about that! 🧵⬇️

The study has been published in Cell Reports Medicine.
• doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm…

Researchers say a newly discovered antibody could pave the way for vaccines or treatments that provide universal protection against all SARS-CoV-2 variants, along with other related viruses.

Researchers at UT Austin and several other universities collaborated on this new study

focusing on how the antibody, called SC27, functions. The study is the latest in a mounting body of research on COVID-19 from UT Austin researchers, who have contributed to several milestone advancements in the fight against the virus, including the development of mRNA

COVID vaccines.

For this study, researchers collected the blood of infected individuals and analyzed the antibodies they produced. SC27 was isolated from a single patient, but researchers were able to identify the molecular sequence of the antibody. This paves the way for it to

be replicated, opening the possibility of manufacturing it on a larger scale for future use in COVID-19 treatments.

The technology used to isolate the antibody, termed Ig-Seq, gives researchers a closer look at the antibody response to infection and vaccination using a

combination of single-cell DNA sequencing and proteomics.

One goal of this research is to work toward a universal vaccine that can generate antibodies and create an immune response with broad protection to a rapidly mutating virus.

Like other protective antibodies, SC27 works by binding to a part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus called the spike protein. The spike protein allows the virus to attach to cells within the human body. It also has mutated between different variants, helping the virus to evade efforts by

vaccines and other treatments to protect cells.

Researchers say SC27, however, has the ability to recognize differences IN the spike protein from variant to variant. As SARS-CoV-2 has evolved into new variants, some treatments for the illness have lost their effectiveness, such

as monoclonal antibody treatments. Due to its remarkable ability to potently neutralize even the most recent variants, SC27 could fill this void.

The research team HAS filed a patent application for the antibody.

You can read all this and more here:
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•kxan.com/news/texas/ut-…
news.utexas.edu/2024/09/03/new…
news.utexas.edu/2021/05/04/our…