Publications by authors named "Brendan Rackley"
Adv Funct Mater
December 2022
Article Synopsis
- The spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 is essential for the virus to enter human cells by binding to the ACE2 receptor, making it a key target for vaccines and therapies.
- Despite progress with current vaccines that focus on the receptor binding domain (RBD), mutations in this area allow the virus to evade neutralizing antibodies.
- This study presents a new approach using 'epitope grafting' to create stable immunogens that target conserved regions of the spike protein, showing potential for effective vaccine design and diagnostic applications.
Article Synopsis
- The SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein is key for virus entry and a major target for antibodies, but mutations in its receptor binding domain (RBD) allow the virus to evade immune responses.
- To address this, researchers created stable immunogens that mimic conserved regions of the spike protein using a method called 'epitope grafting,' presenting these regions on various scaffolds.
- The engineered designs showed strong immune responses in mice and potential for use in diagnostics, highlighting a promising approach to developing vaccines targeting more stable parts of the spike protein.
