"Vaccine Preventing Everything from Common Cold to COVID Variants" UK Researchers Find Clue

UK Francis Crick Institute Featured in 'Science Translational Medicine'
Focus on Subproteins Penetrating Cells

British researchers have found a clue to developing a vaccine that can simultaneously prevent COVID-19 and its variants. The photo shows medical staff aliquoting vaccines at a medical institution in Seoul.
*The photo is not related to the specific content of the article [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Woo-seok] British researchers have found a clue to developing a vaccine that can prevent not only COVID-19 but also the common cold and other variants caused by COVID-19 all at once.

According to a report by the British daily The Guardian on the 27th (local time), researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in the UK recently published a study in the medical journal Science Translational Medicine stating that a specific part of the spike protein used by the COVID-19 virus to invade human cells can be used to develop a "pan-coronavirus vaccine."

Both the COVID-19 virus and the common cold virus (common-cold virus) belong to the coronavirus family.

The COVID-19 virus has distinct characteristics but frequently mutates, making it difficult to completely avoid reinfection. Therefore, to defend against all coronaviruses, antibodies capable of recognizing and neutralizing multiple viruses must be produced.

Accordingly, the researchers focused on the 'S2' subunit of the spike protein of the causative virus of COVID-19, 'SARS-CoV-2.' When infecting humans, SARS-CoV-2 uses both subunits S1 and S2; S1 attaches to the cell surface, while S2 plays a role in penetrating the cell.

The researchers created antibodies against S2 and injected them into experimental mice, reporting meaningful results.

Antibodies were formed that could defend not only against seasonal human coronaviruses (HCoVs), which cause the common cold, and the original COVID-19 virus but also against variant viruses such as Alpha, Beta, Delta, Omicron, and two bat coronaviruses.

George Kassiotis, the lead author of the paper, said, "This study gives hope that vaccines targeting S2 can block not only the currently prevalent viruses but also future coronaviruses," adding, "Vaccines targeting S1 are effective against the variants they target but are less effective against other variants or a broader range of viruses."