They design protein-based nanoparticles that neutralize the COVID virus

Amyloid protein-inspired nanomaterials are gaining interest in nanotechnology, due to their modularity, controlled self-assembly, and stability. A key advantage of these materials is the possibility of incorporating protein molecules with the desired functionality through genetic engineering. But many are not suitable for biomedical applications, since they are insoluble and cannot be administered in body fluids.

Researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) have developed a new type of nanoparticles inspired by the structure of amyloids, capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV2 virus. The nanostructures, which they have called OligoBinders, are soluble, biocompatible and stable in plasma and have great binding power with viral particles. This binding blocks the interaction between the spike protein of the virus and the ACE2 receptor located on the cell membrane that causes COVID-19.

The research was directed by Salvador Ventura and Susanna Navarro, researchers from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Institute of Biotechnology and Biomedicine (IBB) of the UAB.

To develop the nanoparticles, the researchers have exploited the self-assembling ability of a small yeast peptide called Sup35, to which they have fused two mini-proteins, LCB1 and LCB3. These miniproteins are made up of three helices, are very stable and establish multiple contacts with the viral protein.

The modular approach they have used has allowed them to design two spherical nanoparticles that each display more than 20 copies of LCB1 or LCB3 on their surface. “This gives them a great avidity for the virus and makes them bind to several Spike proteins simultaneously,” explains Susanna Navarro.

The researchers, who have carried out their study on particles similar to the SARS-CoV2 virus (SC2-VLP), highlight the great inhibitory power of these new nanoparticles and their potential as an efficient alternative to the use of monoclonal antibodies for the capture or neutralization of the virus. virus.

The researchers from the IBB of the UAB who have developed the OligoBinders: Molood Behbahanipour (left), Salvador Ventura and Susanna Navarro. (Photo: UAB)

The developed nanospheres can be applied both in biomedicine, for example in self-administered nasal treatments, and in biotechnology, for the production of diagnostic kits, or as a potential prophylactic agent. Its large-scale production would be easy and cheap, since its assembly occurs spontaneously after the incubation of the molecules.

«The modular strategy that we propose could be adapted for other viruses of interest, incorporating the inhibitory region corresponding to the nanoparticle. In addition, it offers the possibility of building nanoparticles that combine two or more functional regions, which simultaneously target different targets of the same virus, in order to create molecules with enhanced antiviral activities in the future,” says Salvador Ventura.

Molood Behbahanipour, from the IBB research group, and Roger Benoit, from the Nanoscale Biology Laboratory at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, have also participated in the research.

The study is titled “Bioengineered Soluble Amyloid-like Nanoparticles to Bind and Neutralize SARS-CoV-2”. And it has been published in the academic journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. (Source: UAB. CC BY NC 4.0)