Coronavirus targets cells' energy engines; 'Nanobody' combos block coronavirus, even when it mutates

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Coronavirus targets cells' energy engines

Researchers have discovered an important line of attack used by the novel coronavirus: it targets an infected cell's mitochondria.

These tiny organelles not only generate the energy that powers a cell's biochemical reactions, but they also play important roles in immune function.

"We knew that when the virus attacks cells, bad things happen - but we didn't know why," said Dr. Pinchas Cohen of the University of Southern California, whose team published its findings this month in the journal Scientific Reports.

"Now we can say, when the virus attacks cells, it damages the mitochondria." In test tube experiments, the researchers found that the virus caused "dramatic changes and impairment" in the genes that regulate mitochondrial function, Cohen told Reuters.

The implication, Cohen said, is that energy production in the cells and so-called innate immunity - the body's first line of defense against germs - are then impaired.

Another implication is that having healthy mitochondria would help people combat the virus if they do become infected.

"We know that a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle promote mitochondrial health," Cohen said, whereas mitochondrial function deteriorates with age and with many chronic conditions including diabetes and heart disease.

In the future, Cohen added, researchers may develop COVID-19 interventions to help improve mitochondrial health.

'Nanobody' combos block coronavirus, even when it mutates

Combining small antibodies called nanobodies into single molecules to fight the novel coronavirus may be more effective than targeting it with conventional antibodies or single nanobodies, according to a new study.

These "multivalent" nanobodies - containing multiple nanobody building blocks - "are substantially better in neutralizing viruses" and preventing them from breaking into cells, study leaders Florian Schmidt and Paul-Albert König of the University of Bonn told Reuters.

The fused nanobodies "help each other so that the outcome is better than just the sum of the two responses."

The nanobody constructs can target multiple sites on the coronavirus, making it harder for the pathogen to develop mutations that render treatment ineffective, according to a report published on Tuesday in the journal Science.

While the researchers saw plenty of mutations that allowed the coronavirus to "escape" the effect of a single nanobody, "we did not find any escape mutants that were able to replicate in the presence of those nanobodies that target two different surfaces at the same time," Schmidt and König said.

A spin-off company of the University of Bonn, called DiosCURE, expects to start testing the combined nanobody molecules in people later this year. -- Reuters