[ad_1]
The innovation of this study lies in the application of bacterial supergomes to the creation of nano-granuperpos complexes. The use of supergomes in vaccine development has already been reported; However, not yet in the therapy generation. Photo: Karla Richmond.
San José, November 28 (ODI / UCR) .- At only 29 years old, Dr. Erick Bermúdez Méndez, pharmacist at the University of Costa Rica (UCR), excelled in Holland at the award ceremony "Virology Goldbach MSc 2018 Dissertation Prize", which is only granted to those who carry out outstanding research in the scientific field.
The young Costa Rican has developed complexes of nano-antibodies with the help of bacterial supergomes, able to neutralize extremely harmful viruses. This method is a new alternative that promises to significantly reduce the time needed to generate new treatment in life-threatening epidemic situations.
The recognition granted the prestigious Wageningen University, one of the best institutions in the world.
In this academic entity, thanks to a grant from the UCR and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (Micitt), the specialist did his master's degree. In the pre-last semester, and with the help of two tutors, Dr. Jeroen Kortekaas and Dr. Paul Wichgers Schreur, the young man realized the creation of the innovative method.
According to Dr. Kortekaas, the award is synonymous with great honor for the person who receives it. In the case of Dr. Bermúdez Méndez, his academic excellence earned him to be selected from a group of six outstanding finalist students of Dutch nationality. All also completed their masters at Wageningen and got high marks in their theses, but only the Costa Rican has been rewarded.
"I was very pleased that Erick received this recognition.He is an extremely talented scientist, who possesses not only great laboratory skills, but also a great ability to communicate the results of his work." orally and in writing, "said Dr. Kortekaas.
The young pharmacist's project is to propose a series of steps or a platform so that when a new virus appears, faster treatments can be developed. Currently, the discovery of a drug takes an average of four years. This, according to the article "Changing R & D Models in Pharmaceutical Research Firms" of the journal Journal of Translational Medicine published in 2016.
Although the four-year period may vary depending on the complexity of the study, The procedure proposed by the tico represents an option to accelerate the discovery of a treatment in less time.
"The result of the study serves as a proof of concept to demonstrate that the platform based on nanoantibody complexes, with the use of bacterial supergomes, is achievable.Normally, while studying and developing a vaccine or therapy against a new infectious agent takes a lot of time, so one of the main goals was to establish a new pathway for drug production, "said Dr Bermúdez Méndez.
Revolutionary advance
There are different ways to develop antiviral treatment and nano-antibodies are now part of the potential solutions. These proteins, which are found naturally only in camelids such as camelids, camels and llamas, have the same characteristics as human antibodies in terms of binding specificity and affinity, but with some additional benefits, mainly because of their small size. .
One of these virtues is that nano-antibodies can be used in complexes; that is, joining two molecules that together increase the ability to neutralize against the virus. The formation of the complexes was possible thanks to another great ally recently discovered in 2012: the bacterial supergomes.
"Bacterial supergomes have been designed from proteins found in certain bacteria and, as their name suggests, they have the property of uniting molecules in a very stable manner. Basically, what was done was to bind two nanobodies to a supergome binding protein. As a result, we obtain a complex whose potential for neutralizing the virus is much better than if only nano-antibodies were used individually, "said Dr Bermúdez Méndez.
Dr. Bermúdez Méndez started from the thesis of a Dutch student, Amy Clarijs, who discovered the specific nano-antibodies against the Schmallenberg virus. Subsequently, he used them with bacterial gums to create the innovative solution. The entire thesis was developed as part of a European project entitled "Proyecto ZAPI". Photo: Karla Richmond.
The use of bacterial supergomes also facilitates the synthesis work necessary for the production of new antidotes. "For example, if I have 100 candidate molecules, I have to synthesize each of them, purify them, and then evaluate them, doing this with 100 molecules is a lot of work." With supergomes, we do not have had to synthesize all the complexes, but only a group of nano-antibodies that allowed us to make all possible combinations, "said the expert.
With this contribution, complexes of nano-antibodies against viruses of the genus could be developed in the near future. Orthobunyavirus (family Peribunyaviridae), associated with more than 100 viruses distributed in Africa, America, Europe and Oceania. Some of them are capable of causing disease in animals and humans. In addition, many can be transmitted by mosquitoes, as some species of the genus Aedes, as well as crawling insects.
Know in the following interactivity the facts that made it possible to establish the method
From animals to humans
To achieve this goal, Dr. Bermúdez Méndez focused his research on newly discovered viruses characterized by the generation of serious diseases. In your case, the researcher worked with the virus Schmallenberg (SBV), discovered in 2011. This agent causes birth defects and death of the fetus in farm animals such as goats, sheep and cows.
The expert clarified that although the virus Schmallenberg it is harmful only for animals, the study with this agent was necessary to prove the effectiveness of the nanoantibody method and thus to promote the general objective: encourage the discovery of molecules that can be used in therapies for humans.
"In the specific case of my research, I have experimented with a virus that is only pathogenic for animals because of a safety problem. When you work with the virus in a lab and that an accident occurs, the researcher does not risk anything because he can not get it, so we took this model virus and demonstrated that, following the steps of the proposed method, the nano-antibody complexes were functioning ", explained Dr. Bermúdez Méndez.
Theo previous had been able to check a little later with a virus that threatened human health. In another survey developed in parallel with the Costa Rica thesis and at the same University of Wageningen, studies have been conducted on a viral disease called "Rift Valley Fever" (RVF). . English), which can cause death in infected persons. In this research, the strategy proposed by Dr. Bermúdez Méndez has been applied and quite effective neutralizing complexes have been obtained.
"The neutralization capacity reached is in the nanomolar range – very low concentrations – this is very good – the lower the dose required to counteract the virus, the stronger the molecule," said the expert.
The Costa Rican scientist will return to the Netherlands in early 2019 to begin his doctoral studies., with the same group and in the same virology laboratory of the Biovascular Research Institute of the University of Wageningen. However, there will be another line of investigation about to materialize.
(*) Jenniffer Jiménez Córdoba, Office of the Journalist for Disclosure and Information.
[ad_2]
Source link
