PNAS:病人中分离得到一株高效抗MERS冠状病毒全人抗体

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一个国际研究小组发现了一种MERS中和抗体，该发现可能会对MERS病毒感染者的治疗有帮助。他们的文章发表在《美国国家科学院学报》上，该研究小组描述了他们进行的研究结果以及为什么他们认为他们所发现的可能会对这种致命的疾病能够预防和治疗。

中东呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒(MERS-CoV)是一种疾病，它会导致严重的呼吸道疾病感染并且死亡率很高。它被认为中东地区的人类从骆驼(骆驼的病毒来自蝙蝠)身上感染的病毒，但随后被发现在许多其他地方也有这样的病人。该病毒不会很轻易的在人与人之间传播，因此大多数人感染的来源还不清楚。自从2012年该病被首次鉴定以来，迄今为止已在26个国家发病，造成500多人死亡。最近的疫情爆发发生在韩国。

研究人员努力寻找一种使人们免受病毒侵袭或抵抗病毒的方法，迄今为止还没有找到。在这次新的研究中，研究人员研究了一名受病毒感染的49岁男性病人的免疫应答过程，发现其免疫系统最终战胜了病毒。如此，他们便能找到特定的抗体，他们相信这种抗体--LCA60可以拯救人类的生命，当病毒进入人体时该抗体也一同进入，该抗体会阻止病毒吸附到CD26受体细胞上。

研究人员在小鼠体内检测了该抗体(通过注射和吸入的方法)，发现这样做会引起小鼠肺细胞中病毒数量急剧减少。值得注意的是，他们发现当小鼠在感染病毒前后被注射该抗体后得到几乎相同的结果。这表明人们或许可以注入抗体到高危人群中以帮助他们抵御疾病感染的风险，也可使用它来治疗那些已经感染的人群。

来源：生物谷Bioon.com

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Prophylactic and postexposure efficacy of a potent human monoclonal antibody against MERS coronavirus

Davide Cortia,b,1, Jincun Zhaoc,d,1, Mattia Pedottia, Luca Simonellia, Sudhakar Agnihothrame, Craig Fette, Blanca Fernandez-Rodrigueza, Mathilde Foglierinia, Gloria Agaticb, Fabrizia Vanzettab, Robin Gopalf, Christopher J. Langrishg, Nicholas A Barrettg,h, Federica Sallustoa, Ralph S. Barice,i, Luca Varania, Maria Zambonf, Stanley Perlmanc, and Antonio Lanzavecchiaa,j,2

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a highly lethal pulmonary infection caused by a previously unidentified coronavirus (CoV), likely transmitted to humans by infected camels. There is no licensed vaccine or antiviral for MERS, therefore new prophylactic and therapeutic strategies to combat human infections are needed. In this study, we describe, for the first time, to our knowledge, the isolation of a potent MERS-CoV–neutralizing antibody from memory B cells of an infected individual. The antibody, named LCA60, binds to a novel site on the spike protein and potently neutralizes infection of multiple MERS-CoV isolates by interfering with the binding to the cellular receptor CD26. Importantly, using mice transduced with adenovirus expressing human CD26 and infected with MERS-CoV, we show that LCA60 can effectively protect in both prophylactic and postexposure settings. This antibody can be used for prophylaxis, for postexposure prophylaxis of individuals at risk, or for the treatment of human cases of MERS-CoV infection. The fact that it took only 4 mo from the initial screening of B cells derived from a convalescent patient for the development of a stable chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line producing neutralizing antibodies at more than 5 g/L provides an example of a rapid pathway toward the generation of effective antiviral therapies against emerging viruses.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/07/21/1510199112

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