ACE2-Bite: A Novel Approach to Targeting SARS-CoV-2

This is my favorite recombinant protein. This is how it works: ACE2-Bite both neutralizes viruses before they infect cells and bridges infected cells with T cells to mediate their elimination. This elimination naturally occurs in our bodies after 7-10 days, but triggering it earlier results in less inflammation. As a result, this recombinant protein functions as both a preventive and therapeutic agent. Unlike antibody-based approaches, ACE2-Bite uses ACE2 to bind to the Spike protein on the virus and infected cells. This provides a significant advantage: when the virus mutates, instead of losing affinity, ACE2 often binds to the Spike protein even better, making this tool essentially mutation-proof. In our paper, we demonstrated that ACE2-Bite binds to the Omicron variant more effectively than to the wild type virus Spike protein.