Anti-Spike

Anti-Spike is led by Dr Miguel Soler from the Italian Institute of Technology, Italy. The main goal of the project is to exploit the available experimental knowledge to perform in silico (computer simulations) design of antibody fragments with high binding affinity to stop viral entry in the host cell. The target is the anti-ACE2 epitope of 2019-nCoV (SARS-Cov-2) RBD. ACE2 is a human membrane protein, and RBD (receptor binding site) is located on the spike of the virus that binds to ACE2. This connection is crucial for infection and scientists plan to apply the recently developed evolutionary algorithm of binder design. It has proven successful for antibody fragments and peptides as binders of protein and drug targets. In silico maturation of the antibodies has the unique advantage that the affinity optimisation can be precisely controlled at molecular level. This technique leads to a selective binding - only for desired regions. The group thinks that antibodies, hindering the binding between the virus and ACE2, will reduce the infection and give the immune system time to react. The researchers will optimise m396 - an antibody which is an ideal candidate for affinity maturation towards the coronavirus. In this respect, ongoing collaboration with the ICGEB of Trieste for experimental testing of the predicted antibodies will be very useful. PRACE awarded the project 10 000 000 core hours on ARCHER, hosted by EPCC, United Kingdom.