Membrane receptor-mimicking hybrid biopolymers for binding tolerance of viral variants
발표자
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초록
내용
stronger binding to host cell receptors, variants escape the vaccines and neutralizing agents more easily. In this work, we focus on enhanced receptor binding of viral variants and demonstrate generation of receptor-mimicking synthetic biopolymers, capable of strongly interacting with viruses and even their variants. In developing the receptor mimic, a receptor-derived hotspot peptide is synergistically integrated with soluble nucleic acids that serve as a binding cooperator. From a myriad of peptide-coupled random nucleic acids (~1014), the receptor-mimicking synthetic biopolymers are readily isolated to maximize hotspot interaction of the embedded peptide. The de novo selected receptor mimic exhibited a great binding tolerance to all the coronavirus VOCs: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron, along with efficient neutralization. Surprisingly, compared to the wild-type, it boosted the binding affinity by ~500% to the Omicron, the most mutated, transmissible, and dominant VOC.