Scientists have discovered a unique class of small antibodies that are strongly protective against a wide range of SARS coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-1 and numerous early and recent SARS-CoV-2 variants. The unique antibodies target an essential highly conserved site at the base of the virus’s spike protein, effectively clamping it shut and preventing the virus from infecting cells. The findings, published in Nature Communications, offer a promising route to developing broad-spectrum antiviral treatments that could remain effective against future viral variants.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19, continues to be a potential threat as it evolves into newer variants that are resistant to currently approved antibody therapies. Resistance largely emerges because antibodies typically target virus regions, such as the receptor binding domain of the spike protein, that also frequently mutate, enabling escape from antibody recognition.
To address this, a research team led by Prof. Xavier Saelens and Dr. Bert Schepens at the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology explored a different strategy by focusing on one of the more stable subunits of the spike protein. The so-called S2 subunit is critical for the virus’s ability to fuse with host cells, a process essential for infection, and it is more conserved across different coronaviruses.
A molecular clamp on the virus
The team turned to llamas (more specifically a llama called Winter). Llamas generate so-called single-domain antibodies, also known as VHHs or nanobodies, that are much smaller than the antibodies generated by most animals, including humans. The researchers identified several llama antibodies that strongly neutralize a broad panel of SARS coronaviruses.
What makes these antibodies particularly promising is their unique mode of action: they act like a molecular clamp. They latch onto the poorly exposed, highly conserved region (a coiled coil of 3 alpha helices) at the base of the virus’s spike protein. In doing so, they lock the spike protein in its original shape, physically preventing it from unfolding into the form the virus needs to infect cells.
The antibodies showed strong protection against infection in lab animals, even at low doses. And when researchers attempted to force the virus to evolve resistance, the virus struggled, producing only rare escape variants that were much less infectious. This points to a powerful, hard-to-evade treatment option.
This region is so crucial to the virus that it can’t easily mutate without weakening the virus itself. That gives us a rare advantage: a target that’s both essential and stable across variants.”
Prof. Xavier Saelens, senior author of the study
Better treatments
This discovery marks a significant advancement in the quest for durable and broadly effective antiviral therapies, offering hope for treatments that can keep pace with viral evolution.
“The combination of high potency, broad activity against numerous viral variants, and a high barrier to resistance is incredibly promising,” adds Saelens. “This work provides a strong foundation for developing next-generation antibodies that could be vital in combating not only current but also future coronavirus threats.”
De Cae, S., et al. (2025). Ultrapotent SARS coronavirus-neutralizing single-domain antibodies that clamp the spike at its base. Nature Communications. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60250-1
News
Human Bodies Are Producing Two Billion Tons of CO2 a Year
A new study reveals that the amount of carbon dioxide produced by human metabolism has increased dramatically over three decades. The carbon dioxide produced by human bodies as they convert food into energy increased [...]
A Hidden DNA Mechanism Could Explain How 20% of Human Cancers Develop
Researchers have identified an unexpected molecular vulnerability in cancers carrying BAF mutations. Mutations found in roughly 20% of human cancers may promote tumor growth by changing how DNA is organized inside cells. Researchers have [...]
Ebola kills over 5,300 in fastest-growing outbreak on record
Africa’s latest Ebola outbreak has killed nearly 5,400 people, the vast majority of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to the continent’s top health agency. Africa Centres for Disease Control and [...]
China makes early progress in using sound waves to stimulate damaged brains
Chinese researchers are testing whether focused ultrasound can help restore consciousness in patients with severe brain injuries, adding to a growing international effort to use sound waves to stimulate deep brain structures without surgery. [...]
Micro-drones fly through the body thanks to ultrasound
At the EPFL, micro-drones have been developed that can be moved without a motor or battery.No motors, no batteries, no electronics on board, just small cavities that convert sound waves into thrust: this is [...]
A Single Enzyme Could Hold the Key to Treating a Devastating Brain Disorder
Blocking an enzyme’s production restored brain growth and healthy behaviors in mice engineered to develop Angelman syndrome, pointing to a possible treatment target. Children with Angelman syndrome begin to show difficulties with thinking and [...]
Scientists Develop a Clever New Way To Kill Cancer Cells From the Inside
Scientists have developed an experimental strategy that exploits a chemical byproduct of cancer cells to produce anticancer drugs directly inside them. Scientists in Japan have developed an experimental method that uses a chemical produced [...]
Our books are available worldwide!
Online Sellers other than Amazon, Routledge, and IOPP Indigo Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artifcial Intelligence Global Health Care Equivalency In The Age Of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine And Artificial [...]
After only a short training, people in a coma managed to send targeted signals
Researchers have succeeded in communicating with brain-injured patients who are unconscious. They see enormous potential in this for future treatments. Patients who lie motionless in bed after a severe brain injury and do not [...]
MIT Scientists Reprogram Immune Cells Inside the Body To Destroy Cancer
Natural killer cells reprogrammed inside mice eliminated lymphoma tumors and helped damaged livers heal, though whether this approach could help people with cancer or autoimmune disease remains unknown. To make a cancer treatment from [...]
Melanoma mRNA Vaccine Shows Promise in Preventing Disease Recurrence
Key takeaways: Phase 3 trial finds personalized intismeran plus pembrolizumab may better prevent high-risk melanoma recurrence after surgery The trial enrolled 1,137 patients and builds on phase 2 results showing about half the recurrence [...]
Scientists Discover a Powerful New Weapon Against a Dangerous Gut Infection
The promise of an experimental treatment for C. difficile gut infections lies partly in the bacteria it leaves alive, according to early laboratory and mouse research. Broad-spectrum antibiotics can disrupt the gut’s microbial community, [...]
Your Bones May Hold a Hidden Clue to Blood Cancer Survival
For people with blood cancers called myelodysplastic syndromes, osteoporosis may hold an overlooked clue to survival, a three-year observational study suggests. In blood cancers that develop in the bone marrow, an important clue to [...]
Researchers Discover What Reading for Pleasure May Be Doing to Your Brain
Reading for pleasure may offer surprising benefits for the brain, with research linking the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive abilities, and a lower risk of dementia. Reading for pleasure may do far [...]
Scientists Discover a Hidden Trigger That Keeps Inflammation Alive
Inflammation persists after proteins detach from immune receptors, revealing a potential target for autoimmune treatments. Since a Nobel Prize-winning discovery in the 1990s identified molecules called Toll-like Receptors as the guardians of the human [...]
A Virus Gives Itself Away the Moment It Attacks
Researchers have found the trigger behind a powerful bacterial defense against viruses. Viruses that prey on bacteria could become an increasingly important tool for treating bacterial infections, particularly as antibiotic resistance makes some infections [...]
