Hum Vaccin Immunother . An immunotherapeutic method for COVID-19 patients: a soluble ACE2-Anti-CD16 VHH to block SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein

[tetano]

Hum Vaccin Immunother


. 2020 Jul 14;1-6.
doi: 10.1080/21645515.2020.1787066. Online ahead of print.
An immunotherapeutic method for COVID-19 patients: a soluble ACE2-Anti-CD16 VHH to block SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein


Abdolkarim Sheikhi ¹ , Mohammad Hojjat-Farsangi ^{2 3}



Affiliations

• PMID: 32663051
• DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2020.1787066

Abstract

The third outbreak of coronavirus (CoV) infection (after SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV) caused by a novel CoV (SARS-CoV-2) of the genus Beta-coronavirus has become a global pandemic. CoVs are enveloped viruses whose proteins include spike (S), membrane (M), and envelope (E) which are embedded in the viral envelope. The glycosylated S protein, which forms homo-trimeric spikes on the surface of the viral particle, mediates viral entry into host cells. SARS-CoV-2, like SARS-CoV, uses the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) cell surface protein for cellular entry. An attractive anti-viral approach is targeting virus entry into cells, for which three strategies are suggested: 1) direct targeting of the viral glycoprotein; 2) targeting the viral receptor on the cell surface; and 3) using soluble (s) ACE2 that binds to S protein thereby neutralizing the virus. In this article, the advantages and disadvantages of these strategies are explained. Moreover, we propose that fusion of the sACE2 to anti-CD16 to produce a bi-specific molecule could be a promising anti-viral strategy.

Keywords: COVID-19; cd16; sACE2; sACE2-Anti-CD16; sars-CoV-2.