Use your computer to make an RSV vaccine

Sesterhenn F, Yang C, Bonet J, Cramer JT, Wen X, Wang Y, Chiang CI, Abriata LA, Kucharska I, Castoro G, Vollers SS, Galloux M, Dheilly E, Rosset S, Corthésy P, Georgeon S, Villard M, Richard CA, Descamps D, Delgado T, Oricchio E,
Rameix-Welti MA, Más V, Ervin S, Eléouët JF, Riffault S, Bates JT, Julien JP, Li Y, Jardetzky T, Krey T, Correia BE

You can make your own computationally designed protein-based vaccine using TopoBuilder, a protein design algorithm. Sesterhenn and colleagues made a stable RSV F protein in prefusion conformation. They showed that this engineered protein was immunogenic in mice and induced neutralizing antibodies in non-human primates using prime-boost schemes. Neutralizing antibody levels was at least as high as palivizumab concentrations known to be protective. The vaccine may now be further developed. Obviously, this technology which allows generating vaccines against other pathogens has a promising future.
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Download paper of the month | July 2020