Flu Antibody?s 'One-Handed Grab' May Boost Effort Toward Universal Vaccine, New Therapies

[tetano]

ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2012) ? Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and Sea Lane Biotechnologies have solved the co-crystal structure of a human antibody that can neutralize influenza viruses in a unique way. The antibody recognizes the crucial structure that flu viruses use to attach to host cells, even though previously this structure had been thought too small for an antibody to grab effectively. The immune protein manages to hit this precise spot by using just a small part of its target-grabbing apparatus. In so doing, it can neutralize a broad range of dangerous flu viruses.

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/release...encedaily (ScienceDaily: Latest Science News)

 

[tetano]

Re: Flu Antibody?s 'One-Handed Grab' May Boost Effort Toward Universal Vaccine, New Therapies

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[tetano]

Re: Flu Antibody?s 'One-Handed Grab' May Boost Effort Toward Universal Vaccine, New Therapies

...An antibody binds targets using two arm-like structures, each of which has six protein fingers or loops. To get a good grip on the flu RBS with some or all these loops, a typical antibody has to grab not only the RBS, but also some of the surrounding structures in the head, which vary from one flu strain to another. Thus, an antibody that does get a firm grip on this region for one flu strain generally will lose that grip once the strain mutates.


Using these methods, his team found that C05 effectively avoids grabbing the hypervariable regions around the flu RBS. Instead it uses a single elongated protein loop to reach in and make a "one-handed" -- or "one-fingered" -- grab of the RBS itself. The antibody apparently works best when two of these active loops, one on each arm, grab two viral RBSs on separate hemagglutinins. "It looks like these antibodies need to cross-link two hemagglutinins to have maximum effect," said Wilson.