Australian researchers have found a hidden protein within the SARS-CoV-2 virus that could lead to a more effective COVID-19 vaccine.
La Trobe University lead researcher Distinguished Professor Stephanie Gras said scientists from the Melbourne university and Kumamoto University, in Japan, discovered that the body’s immune system strongly reacted to the internal protein, which mutated less frequently than the protein currently targeted by vaccines.
Professor Gras said the discovery could open the way for the development of new vaccines and treatments that offered protection across multiple strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
“Currently, vaccines target the spike proteins that decorate the surface of the virus – but they mutate frequently as they are constantly under pressure by our immune cells, which means we might need a new vaccine for each new variant,” she said.
“We found that the killer T cells, which also fight infection, can be activated by a protein that forms a part of the shell that protects the virus’s genetic material, like the yolk of an egg.
“Because this protein is inside the virus, it mutates much less frequently – knowledge which could guide the development of vaccines and therapeutics that are still effective as the virus evolves.”
Professor Gras said the development of a longer-lasting vaccine could mean that people would need fewer booster vaccines to fight COVID and help protect against the development of Long COVID.
Read the full study: Molecular basis of potent antiviral HLA-C-restricted CD8+ T cell response to an immunodominant SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid epitope.
