The science team is also working on a viable vaccine candidate derived from the study.
Jason McLellan, associate professor at UT Austin, head of research and his colleagues have spent many years researching other coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. They developed methods to manipulate the coronavirus spike proteins into a shape that makes them easier to analyze and can effectively turn them into vaccine candidates. This experience has given them an advantage over other research groups working on new viruses.
As soon as we knew this was a coronavirus, we felt we had to learn about it, said Cameron McLellan, as we could be one of the first to have this structure. We know exactly what mutations are included here, because we have shown these mutations to be active against a wide range of other coronaviruses.
The majority of the research was done by the first study co-author, Ph.D. student Daniel Wrapp and research collaborator Nianshuang Wang, both at UT Austin.
Just two weeks after receiving the viral genome sequences from Chinese researchers, the team designed and produced samples of their steady spike proteins. It takes about 12 more days to reconstruct the 3D atomic ratio map, called molecular structure, the protein spike and submit the manuscript to Sciences, which conducts its peer review. Many of the steps involved in this process will usually take several months to complete.

Critical to its success is the cutting-edge technology called the cryo-EM microscope in UT Austin's new Sauer Laboratory. Cryo-EM allows researchers to create atom-scale 3D models of cellular, molecular and viral structures. We ended up being the first in part thanks to the infrastructure at Sauer Laboratories, says Martin McLellan. Software emphasizes the importance of funding basic research institutions. The molecule the team created and they had the structure that represented only the extracellular portion of the spike protein, but it was enough to induce an immune response in humans, and thus act as a vaccine. .
Next, McLellan's team plans to use the molecule to chase another line of attack against the virus that causes COVID-19, using the molecule as a user probe to isolate the produced antibodies. spontaneously from patients newly infected with coronavirus and with successful recovery. In sufficiently large amounts, these antibodies can help treat coronavirus infections soon after exposure. For example, antibodies that could protect military or health care workers are sent to an area with a high infection rate in too short a message for the vaccine immunity to take effect.