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Peptide derived nanobody inhibits entry of SARS-CoV-2 variants

Mendon, N.; Ganie, R. A.; Kesarwani, S.; Dileep, D.; Sasi, S.; Lama, P.; Chandra, A.; Sirajuddin, M.

2022-04-21 cell biology
10.1101/2022.04.21.489021 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Emergence of the new escape mutants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has escalated its penetration among the human population and has reinstated its status as a global pandemic. Therefore, developing effective antiviral therapy against emerging SARS variants and other viruses in a short period of time becomes essential. Blocking the SARS-CoV-2 entry into human host cells by disrupting the spike glycoprotein-ACE2 interaction has been already exploited for vaccine development and monoclonal antibody therapy. Unlike the previous reports, our study used a 9 amino acid peptide from the receptor-binding motif (RBM) of Spike (S) protein as an epitope. We report the identification of an efficacious nanobody N1.2 that blocks the entry of pseudovirus containing SARS-CoV-2 spike as the surface glycoprotein. Moreover, we observe a more potent neutralizing effect against both the hCoV19 (Wuhan/WIV04/2019) and the Omicron (BA.1) pseudotyped spike virus with a bivalent version of the nanobody. In summary, our study presents a faster and efficient methodology to use peptide sequences from a protein-receptor interaction interface as epitopes for screening nanobodies against potential pathogenic targets. This approach can also be widely extended to target other viruses and pathogens in the future.

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