Cause of common cold could create immunity against COVID-19

Scientists search for universal vaccine

CUCS researcher José Ángel Regla Nava emphasizes the need for a new biologic to improve efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 mutations

Since 2020, researchers have been working to find aspects of COVID-19 that could help reduce mortality and factors that could help create a universal vaccine.

In this study, Dr. José Ángel Regla Nava, together with more than 20 researchers from various universities, found that one of the four coronaviruses (OC43) that causes the common cold can confer immunity when infected with SARS and rule out severe symptom. -2.

In 2020, Regla Nava’s multidisciplinary team began designing genetically modified mice to produce the same T cells (lymphocytes) as humans; from this, they began to look for similarities within different types of coronaviruses and discovered the genes and genes of COVID-19. The four common colds share similar structures, primarily OC43, whose proteins may provide immunity, leading to reduced symptoms and mortality from the disease.

To conclude that the common cold coronavirus could provide protection against SARS-CoV-2, the team infected genetically modified mice with the virus and then conducted a second test, but with the common cold virus COVID-19.

“We infected genetically modified mice with OC43; during the first infection, they develop immunity that protects the mice when they are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus (…).” The results showed less damage to the respiratory tract and therefore a lower likelihood of pneumonia or lung damage, which is very important in the COVID-19 disease,” explains Regla Nava.

This finding may partially explain why some people develop mild or asymptomatic clinical manifestations, as their exposure to OC43 coronavirus helps them develop stronger immunity to the new coronavirus.

Beyond that, finding the specific segments of the protein that confer immunity could support the scientific community in designing more precise recipes for a vaccine that can attack various types of existing coronaviruses, and perhaps even new ones. of coronavirus. Strain occurs.

“Our findings will help scientists design and improve existing vaccines, which we call ‘universal’. The vaccine is not only designed to protect against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but also against other viruses in the same coronavirus family,” the researchers added.

The idea of ​​having a so-called “universal” vaccine stems from the need to increase effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 mutations, improve protection of the population and reduce the risk of serious respiratory complications such as pneumonia.

The outlook for coronaviruses, not just those that affect humans but also those that affect the health of animals like dogs and pigs, is still a huge area of ​​research, said Regla Nava, who participated in the study published in the journal Nature Communications. Nava) in it (can be read here, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45043-2), which was carried out in parallel with his work at the Department of Microbiology and Pathology of CUCS at UdeG, in There he contributed to the search for coronavirus proteins.