Monday, May 29, 2023
English News
  • Hyderabad
  • Telangana
  • Andhra Pradesh
  • India
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Science and Tech
  • Sport
  • Business
  • ...
    • NRI
    • View Point
    • cartoon
    • Columns
    • Reviews
    • Education Today
    • Property
    • Videos
    • Lifestyle
    • Rewind
E-Paper
  • NRI
  • View Point
  • cartoon
  • Columns
  • Reviews
  • Education Today
  • Property
  • Videos
  • Lifestyle
  • Rewind
Home | World | Study Finds Longer Lasting Covid Vaccine

Study finds longer lasting COVID vaccine

California: Researchers have found rare naturally occurring T cells that are capable of targeting a protein found in SARS-CoV-2 and a range of other coronaviruses.The study has been published in the ‘Cell Reports Journal’. The findings suggested that a component of this protein, called viral polymerase, could potentially be added to COVID-19 vaccines to create […]

By ANI
Updated On - 04:28 PM, Wed - 15 December 21
Study finds longer lasting COVID vaccine
whatsapp facebook twitter telegram

California: Researchers have found rare naturally occurring T cells that are capable of targeting a protein found in SARS-CoV-2 and a range of other coronaviruses.
The study has been published in the ‘Cell Reports Journal’.

The findings suggested that a component of this protein, called viral polymerase, could potentially be added to COVID-19 vaccines to create a longer-lasting immune response and increase protection against new variants of the virus.

Most COVID-19 vaccines use a part of the spike protein found on the surface of the virus to prompt the immune system to produce antibodies. However, newer variants — such as delta and omicron — carry mutations to the spike protein, which can make them less recognizable to the immune cells and antibodies stimulated by vaccination. Researchers said that a new generation of vaccines will likely be needed to create a more robust and wide-ranging immune response capable of beating back current variants and those that may arise in the future.

One way to accomplish this was by adding a fragment of a different viral protein to vaccines — one that is less prone to mutations than the spike protein and that will activate the immune system’s T cells. T cells are equipped with molecular receptors on their surfaces that recognize foreign protein fragments called antigens. When a T cell encountered an antigen its receptor recognized, it self-replicated and produced additional immune cells, some of which target and kill infected cells immediately and others which remain in the body for decades to fight that same infection should it ever return.

The researchers focused on the viral polymerase protein, which is found not only in SARS-CoV-2 but in other coronaviruses, including those that cause SARS, MERS and the common cold. Viral polymerases serve as engines that coronaviruses use to make copies of themselves, enabling infection to spread. Unlike the spike protein, viral polymerases are unlikely to change or mutate, even as viruses evolve.

To determine whether or not the human immune system has T cell receptors capable of recognizing viral polymerase, the researchers exposed blood samples from healthy human donors (collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic) to the viral polymerase antigen. They found that certain T cell receptors did, in fact, recognize the polymerase.

They then used a method they developed called CLInt-Seq to genetically sequence these receptors. Next, the researchers engineered T cells to carry these polymerase-targeting receptors, which enabled them to study the receptors’ ability to recognize and kill SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses.

More than 5 million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide. Current vaccines provide significant protection against severe disease, but as new, potentially more contagious variants emerge, researchers recognized that vaccines may need to be updated — and the new UCLA findings point toward a strategy that may help increase protection and long-term immunity. The researchers are now conducting further studies to evaluate viral polymerase as a potential new vaccine component.

Pavlo Nesterenko, a UCLA graduate student, is the study’s first author; the corresponding author is Dr Owen Witte, who holds the presidential chair in developmental immunology in the UCLA Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics and is founding director emeritus of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center.

The research was supported by the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, a Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health and the UCLA W.M. Keck Foundation COVID-19 Research Award Program.

  • Follow Us :
  • Tags
  • Covid vaccine
  • polymerase protein

Related News

  • India records 2,961 new Covid infections, active cases dip to 30,041

    India records 2,961 new Covid infections, active cases dip to 30,041

  • T-cell Covid vaccine may last longer than current jabs: Indian-American researcher

    T-cell Covid vaccine may last longer than current jabs: Indian-American researcher

  • Amid rise in cases, Jharkhand seeks 50,000 Covid vaccines from Centre

    Amid rise in cases, Jharkhand seeks 50,000 Covid vaccines from Centre

  • Centre asks States to directly procure Covid vaccines and booster shots

    Centre asks States to directly procure Covid vaccines and booster shots

  • Active Covid cases in country rise to 6,559

    Active Covid cases in country rise to 6,559

  • Bharat Biotech’s intranasal Covid-19 vaccine to cost Rs 800 for private, 325 for govt hospitals

    Bharat Biotech’s intranasal Covid-19 vaccine to cost Rs 800 for private, 325 for govt hospitals

Latest News

  • Mahabubnagar: Govt Polytechnic College gets NBA accreditation

    46 mins ago
  • Telangana: Digital Excellence Centres to come up in public libraries

    1 hour ago
  • Hyderabadi shaadi goes to Bengaluru without a bride or a groom

    1 hour ago
  • Niti Aayog rendered useless: Harish Rao

    2 hours ago
  • Telangana: 25 govt polytechnic colleges get NBA tag

    2 hours ago
  • Spend a cool evening with your squad by playing board games at these cafes in Hyderabad

    2 hours ago
  • Wrestlers protest: Over 700 detained, FIR registered against organisers

    7 hours ago
  • CBI lodges FIR against Bollywood producer Bunty Walia in loan fraud case

    7 hours ago

company

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

business

  • Subscribe

telangana today

  • Telangana
  • Hyderabad
  • Latest News
  • Entertainment
  • World
  • Andhra Pradesh
  • Science & Tech
  • Sport

follow us

© Copyrights 2022 TELANGANA PUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD. All rights reserved. Powered by Veegam