Team:PYMS GZ China/index2
The world is experiencing a pandemic due to the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes a respiratory illness called COVID-19. Unfortunately, there is no current vaccine or treatment for COVID-19, resulting in a high mortality rate and overwhelming hospital capacity. It has been discovered that spike protein is one of the four main components of coronavirus, and it is composed of S1 and S2. S1 contains the receptor-binding domain (RBD spike protein) that recognizes and binds to host receptors. The binding of SRBD with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) allows the pseudovirus to enter the host cell and then cause the virus infection. Therefore, we hypothesize that if the binding of RBD spike protein and ACE2 could be interfered with or prevented, then the pseudovirus will not be able to enter the host cell to initiate the infection. In this study, we aim to create a universal vaccine for current COVID-19 and future outbreaks by utilizing the properly-functioned antibodies to deactivate the RBD spike protein on the S protein of coronavirus. In order to test this hypothesis, we designed a recombinant protein vaccine that can deactivate the RBD spike protein by binding to it. As the RBD spike protein is inactive, it is not able to bind with ACE2. Therefore, the pseudovirus can no longer enter the cell.
