(649.6) Na”Nobody” likes COVID-19!: The Role of Nanobodies in Fighting COVID-19
Monday, April 4, 2022
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
Location: Exhibit/Poster Hall A-B - Pennsylvania Convention Center
Poster Board Number: A96
Fatimah Bah (Mahtomedi High School), Aradhna Chandra (Mahtomedi High School), Luke Krier (Mahtomedi High School), Anna Wisniewski (Mahtomedi High School), Jim Lane (Mahtomedi High School)
Presenting Author Mahtomedi High School Maplewood, Minnesota
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has placed increased stress and importance on the development of new and effective treatments for COVID-19. According to Huo et. al, nanobodies are a new and promising treatment that may be the future of preventing COVID-19 and other pathogens. Nanobodies are a monomeric protein consisting solely of heavy chain amino acids with only one chain in its Receptor Binding Domain(RBD), in contrast to the antibody that consists of two heavy and two light chains in its RBD. The structural difference affects antibodies’ and nanobodies’ function in reference to the binding to the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike, and their structural difference allows for a comprehensive treatment against COVID-19 by providing unique opportunities in their application. Our research and 3-D modeling using jMol suggests that while nanobodies are much smaller in size, they have more ridges and bends which creates more overall surface area for hydrogen bonds. These hydrogen bonds take place mainly on alanine and arginine side chains. This means nanobodies satisfy more hydrogen bonds with the spike protein, and therefore have a stronger and more consistent binding affinity to COVID-19. In comparison, antibodies have a smoother surface, with less bends and folds, that allows for less space for hydrogen bonds, creating, while still effective, a less consistent and weaker binding affinity to the COVID-19 spike. In addition to nanobodies binding ability and simple structure, they can also be produced synthetically granting immediate care. The Mahtomedi MSOE Center for BioMolecular Modeling MAPS Team used 3-D modeling and printing technology to compare the structural and functional properties of nanobodies and antibodies in fighting SARS-CoV-2 virus.
