A new study, published in Nature Communications, has found that COVID-19 patients could have several different variants hidden away from the immune system in different parts of the body, according to Science Daily.
Researchers said these findings might make complete clearance of the coronavirus from the body of an infected person, by their own antibodies or by antibody therapies, much more difficult.
Some variants of concern (VoC) have replaced the original virus from Wuhan, China, and they are increasingly escaping immune protection offered by natural infection, antibody treatments, or vaccination.
Lead authors Dr. Imre Berger and Dr. Joachim Spatz have shown how the virus can evolve distinctly in different cell types, and adapt its immunity, in the same infected host.
Dr. Berger said, “An incessant series of variants have completely replaced the original virus by now, with Omicron and Omicron 2 dominating worldwide. We analyzed an early variant discovered in Bristol, BrisDelta. It had changed its shape from the original virus, but the pocket we had discovered was there, unaltered.”
Dr. Kapil Gupta, lead author of the BrisDelta study, said, “Our results showed that one can have several different virus variants in one’s body. Some of these variants may use kidney or spleen cells as their niche to hide, while the body is busy defending against the dominant virus type. This could make it difficult for the infected patients to get rid of SARS-CoV-2 entirely.”
Dr. Oskar Staufer, another lead author of the study, explained, “By ‘ducking down’ of the spike protein upon binding of inflammatory fatty acids, the virus becomes less visible to the immune system. This could be a mechanism to avoid detection by the host and a strong immune response for a longer period of time and increase total infection efficiency.”
Dr. Berger explained, “It appears that this pocket, specifically built to recognize these fatty acids, gives SARS-CoV-2 an advantage inside the body of infected people, allowing it to multiply so fast. This could explain why it is there, in all variants, including Omicron.”
“Intriguingly, the same feature also provides us with a unique opportunity to defeat the virus, exactly because it is so conserved — with a tailormade antiviral molecule that blocks the pocket,” he added.
Bristol-based biotech start-up Halo Therapeutics is pursuing exactly this approach to develop pan-coronavirus antivirals and anti-inflammatory therapies for COVID infection. The authors announced the formation of Halo Therapeutics to develop groundbreaking and newly patented potential COVID treatments.
