The alpaca: The investigation that can neutralize COVID-19 and save humanity
After months of arduous research, scientists from the Medical Biotechnology Laboratory of the Austral University of Chile came up with a powerful “super antibody” created by the alpaca, capable of neutralizing the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 disease.
The scientists determined that the ruminant mammal — similar to the llama — is capable of generating a “super antibody” W25. It can “completely neutralize” the coronavirus, even in its most infectious variants.
According to various publications released this week, the academics obtained the finding under the coordination of Dr. Alejandro Rojas. After “intense months of work”, they found a cure provided by the mammal known for its wool, its meat and its habit of spitting as a method of defense.
The scientists turned to advanced molecular biology tools to obtain this result published on the scientific portal Biorxiv.
The goal is to develop a treatment that can be used in the form of a nasal inhaler, to directly block the replication of the virus in the respiratory tract. The latter causes the virus to ‘hit’ harder COVID-19 patients.
The animal, that was part of the scientific breakthrough, is an alpaca called “Buddha”, which developed the antibodies in its immune system so the Laboratory team could extract it from its body.
A low-cost treatment
Alpacas are animals with very long and fine curly hair, usually white or gray, and they live in the Andes, where they are raised in herds. The hair that covers its body is used as a textile material and is in the form of yellowish strands that are softer, brighter and more flexible than those of the wool of other herbivorous mammals.
According to the Biorxiv article, the result sought by those responsible for the project is to create a low-cost and highly effective therapy.
The treatment would be applied using an inhaler device that directly administers the antibody capable of stopping the advance of the virus, as well as its aggravation and transmission.
The project started in February with the promising reaction of the alpaca Buddha to the inoculation of coronavirus proteins. The camelid generated high-quality antibodies that guaranteed it a consistent immunity against the virus.
From that moment, a complex genetic research work began at the Chilean university to reproduce the antibodies in the laboratory. To do this, they reviewed more than six million ‘nano antibodies’ to find W25, which the research considers “a gift of nature”.
The nano antibody W25 currently has the highest reported efficacy against ‘spike’, one of the four structural proteins of the coronavirus.
Alpaca: a unique immune system
Known as the ‘S’ protein, the W25 nano antibody binds the virus particle to the receptor on the cell it infects. For this reason, it is the determining element of the tropism of the virus, of its basic mechanism of advancement and propagation.
W25 is responsible for the fusion activity between the viral and cell membranes, the process that will release the virus genome within the infected cell.
Scientists from the University of Queensland (Australia), under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Watterson, recently demonstrated — together with Alejandro Rojas — that W25 is an excellent virus neutralizer. It is an antiviral capable of blocking the entry of the coronavirus into the cells.
“These animals have a unique immune system (…) Part of their antibodies are very simple, they are generated from a single gene. From a blood sample we obtain the genes that produce the antibodies. Then, we isolate them and separate the groups that can recognize the pattern of the coronavirus”, outlined Rojas.
Also, Rojas explained that to produce the antibody they use “procedures similar to those used to produce proteins such as insulin”.
“Today we have the possibility of producing these antibodies on a global scale”, said Rojas. This is even advantageous due to the “extraordinary properties in terms of stability and expression” that this nano antibody presents.
The researchers say that by developing a treatment that can be administered in the form of a nasal inhaler, they could decrease the amount of virus in the lungs of patients, reducing its danger, and limit, in considerable terms, the chances of contagion.
