‘First line of defense': UMass Medical School finds new method of COVID-19 prevention; Here’s how it works

While the world awaits a vaccine for COVID-19, researchers at UMass Medical School might have found another preventive measure to treat patients.

Based on research dating back to in 2004, Dr. Yang Wang and her colleagues identified antibodies that may provide immunity to COVID-19.

Dr. Wang spoke with MassLive on Friday about how these findings could help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

What did researchers find?

Wang, the deputy director for product discovery at MassBiologics and associate professor of medicine at UMass Medical School, led researchers who retrieved frozen hybridoma cells from studies in 2004, specifically looking at SARS - another type of coronavirus. Hybridomas are immortalized cells that produce antibodies.

Sixteen years ago, MassBiologics was prepared to start clinical trials, but SARS disappeared. Looking back at the files, researchers determined the two coronaviruses, SARS and COVID-19, are about 90% similar. Initial tests, though, showed the antibody developed 16 years ago wasn’t effective.

Wang and her colleagues built on that research and found that other antibodies coat mucosal surfaces like the respiratory tract, preventing pathogens- such as COVID-19 - from binding to host cells.

How does it work?

The human body can produce five categories of antibodies.The COVID-19 vaccine studies that are in the late stages of development focus on IgG antibodies, which exist primarily in blood serum and are normally injected, Wang said. Those antibodies can attack a virus while its in the bloodstream.

The antibodies UMass Medical School identified are IgA antibodies, Wang said. Those are found in people’s respiratory tracts — like the mucosal surfaces Wang and her colleagues analyzed — and can be used to block pathogens from binding to host cells.

“It’s the first line of defense when you’re encountering pathogens,” Wang said.

Instead of being injected, the IgA antibodies would be best deployed through a nebulizer or inhaler, Wang said.

Is it a vaccine?

No. Antibody treatment is considered a more passive response to a virus compared to a vaccine, Wang said.

A vaccine is often a weak strain of a virus injected into a person, which prompts the body to produce antibodies to attack the virus. With antibody treatment, the blood proteins enter the body to attack the virus or prevent infection — in this case, through an inhaler or nebulizer — but doesn’t teach the body to develop its own antibodies.

Think of the old adage, “Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.”

In forcing the body to produce antibodies, a vaccine is expected to prevent a virus from infecting a human body for long periods of time. Antibodies don’t provide permanent protection, Wang said. Eventually, they disappear.

That’s why some people can catch the same strand of flu twice in one season, she added.

How can it be helpful even after a vaccine is released?

Often a vaccine can take some time to build up its antibody army, Wang said. Those who have the highest risk of experiencing a severe case of the coronavirus, like older adults or those who are immunocompromised, will likely need the most time for a vaccine to respond in their body, Wang said.

The IgA antibodies can supplement the vaccine in the mean time, providing the body with the protection to create immunity, Wang said.

The antibodies can also help patients who weren’t able to receive a vaccine but were infected by the coronavirus.

What’s next?

Wang said her studies show IgA antibodies were much more successful at neutralizing the coronavirus than IgG antibodies.

Her work has sparked interest from abroad. Wang said she has received calls worldwide from scientists looking for more information on IgA antibodies. Much, if not all, of the research geared toward a COVID-19 vaccine, involves IgG antibodies, she added.

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