American and German researchers raised An original idea for the development of a vaccine for the corona virus - introducing the "spikes" protein of the corona virus into a weakened measles virus and turning the vaccine into a double * In the meantime it has been successfully tried on mice and rats
On the day Moderna reported that it Turns to the FDA and requests quick approval for the vaccine she developed, another group announced an original idea - inserting the "spikes" protein of the corona virus into a weakened measles virus and making the vaccine a double. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the German Center for Infectious Diseases report on a candidate for a COVID-19 vaccine based on an attenuated measles virus. The research findings were published tonight in a preliminary version on the website of the journal PNAS.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has killed more than a million people worldwide, highlighting the urgent need for an effective vaccine. As we know, dozens if not hundreds of laboratories around the world have started the race to find a vaccine for Corona, as we reported separately, two companies - modern וPfizer-Biontech reached advanced stages and even requested emergency approval from the FDA to provide the population with their mRNA-based vaccines. However, it turns out that there is progress in various stages of research, also in other vaccine ideas.
Michael Molbach and his colleagues explored the possibility of using an attenuated measles virus as a vector for a COVID-19 vaccine. The authors inserted the gene that creates the "spike" protein of the corona virus into the genome of a measles virus strain that is already used for measles vaccines.
The mice were vaccinated against both diseases
In a study conducted on mice and rats, the researchers were able to prove that the engineered virus protects against both measles and SARS-CoV-2. Cytotoxic T cells from vaccinated mice expressed the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and stimulated the immune system.
Antibody and cytokine levels in vaccinated mice were as expected from an immune response indicating a low risk of immunopathologies causing respiratory diseases. Vaccinated animals exhibited lower viral loads and less severe pathology following SARS-CoV-2 infection than unvaccinated animals.
According to the researchers, the results suggest that a COVID-19 vaccine based on an attenuated measles virus may be able to prevent both COVID-19 and measles, and it could be given as part of routine measles vaccination schedules, according to the authors.
Furthermore, it is noted that because the vaccine candidate still induces immunity against measles, the second most powerful potential pandemic, as countries are forced to stop routine vaccinations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, an attenuated measles virus-based COVID-19 vaccine could be a solution to two significant threats to public health at once.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- "The higher the response rate to routine vaccinations, the lower the mortality rate from corona"
- Israeli scientists have identified 23 new protein sequences in Corona
- Pfizer and Biontech announce success in a clinical trial of a corona vaccine - 90 percent effective
- When will there be a vaccine for the corona virus? Four scenarios
- How to deal with corona deniers - and why it (usually) doesn't work
