Mice that received a vaccine made from a hybrid spike protein resisted infection from several coronaviruses, researchers report.
研究人員們報告，接受從一種混合棘突蛋白製成之疫苗的小鼠，抵抗了來自幾種冠狀病毒的感染。
HHMI scientists are joining many of their colleagues worldwide in working to combat the new coronavirus. They’re developing diagnostic testing, understanding the virus’s basic biology, modeling the epidemiology, and developing potential therapies or vaccines.
美國霍華德休斯醫學研究所(HHMI：Howard Hughes Medical Institute)的科學家們，正與其全球的諸多同僚們，一起致力於搏鬥新型的冠狀病毒。他們正進行開發診斷測試法、瞭解這種病毒的基本生物學、製作此流行病學模型及開發潛在的療法或疫苗。
Mixing and matching viral protein pieces into a single vaccine could offer wider protection against coronaviruses.
將病毒的蛋白片段混合並調和成一種單一疫苗，可能提供更廣泛對抗冠狀病毒的防護。
Like connecting LEGO bricks, scientists can link together different parts of the “spike protein” – the molecule that protrudes from coronaviruses like a pointy crown.
如同連結樂高積木般，科學家們能將“棘突蛋白”(這是從如同有尖頭皇冠之冠狀病毒突出的分子)的不同部分連結在一起。
A vaccine that contains spike components from four coronaviruses, including SARS-COV-2, protected mice from the four viruses, and other, related coronaviruses, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Hanna Gray Fellow David Martinez and colleagues reported June 22, 2021, in the journal Science.
霍華德休斯醫學研究所漢娜格雷計劃研究員，David Martinez及同僚們，於2021年6月22日《科學》期刊中，記述了一種具有，來自包括第二型嚴重急性呼吸系統徵候群-冠狀病毒(SARS-CoV-2：Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2)等，四種冠狀病毒棘突成分的疫苗，保護了小鼠免於這四種病毒，及其他相關冠狀病毒的侵害。
The success of the vaccine in mice suggests that a similar strategy in humans could potentially offer protection from future outbreaks, says Martinez, an immunologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Coronaviruses circulate in animals from bats to livestock, though scientists haven’t yet determined the extent of their genetic diversity.
美國北卡羅萊納大學教堂山分校的免疫學家，Martinez表示，這種疫苗於小鼠中的好結果暗示，於人類中的類似策略，潛在上可能為未來的爆發提供防護。冠狀病毒在從蝙蝠到家畜的動物中傳播，雖然科學家們尚未確認，其遺傳多樣性的程度。
They do know the viruses can sometimes make the jump to people. In 2003, a coronavirus outbreak caused the SARS epidemic; a related coronavirus sparked the ongoing pandemic. Both these viruses closely resemble those that infect bats.
他們的確知曉，病毒有時會躍進到人類。於2003年，突然出現的一種冠狀病毒，導致了SARS流行病。 一種相關的冠狀病毒引發了，當前持續中的大流行病。這兩種病毒非常類似，感染蝙蝠的那些病毒。
“The fact that we’ve had two coronavirus epidemics in the last two decades tells us this is something that can keep happening,” Martinez says. “We need to find ways to devise vaccines that can mitigate the threat from these viruses.”
Martinez宣稱：「在過去二十年間，人類已經有兩次冠狀病毒流行病的事實，告知了人們，這是會繼續發生的事。我們必需找到設計出，能減輕來自這些病毒威脅之疫苗的方法。」
Martinez’s team’s findings “are an important step towards a pan-coronavirus vaccine,” says Melanie Ott, a virologist at the Gladstone Institute of Virology who was not involved with the work. She points out that the researchers’ “mix-and-match” approach appears to be broadly protective against multiple coronaviruses in mice, offering a level of protection that current vaccines cannot provide.
美國格萊斯頓病毒學研究所，未參與該項研究的病毒學家，Melanie Ott表示，Martinez團隊的研究發現“是邁向一種泛冠狀病毒疫苗的重要一步”。她指出，此些研究人員的“混合及調和”方法，似乎於小鼠中，對多種冠狀病毒具廣泛保護作用，提供了當前疫苗無法產生的保護水平。
The crown-like halo surrounding SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (shown) is made of molecules called spike proteins. Researchers mixed and matched components of spike proteins from different coronaviruses to make a vaccine that is broadly protective in mice.
圍繞SARS-CoV-2病毒顆粒的冠狀環(如圖所示)是由，被稱為棘突蛋白的分子組成。研究人員們混合並調和，來自不同冠狀病毒的棘突蛋白成分，來製造一種於小鼠中，具廣泛保護作用的疫苗。
As COVID-19 began to spread worldwide in the early months of 2020, the world awaited a vaccine that could protect against the coronavirus that caused the disease. Even when safe and effective vaccines became available and vaccinations ticked up, however, scientists warned that new variants might break through the vaccine’s protection.
隨著2019冠狀病毒症(COVID-19：Coronavirus Disease-19)於2020年頭幾個月開始蔓延全球，全世界都在等待一種，能防禦導致該疾病的冠狀病毒疫苗。不過，即使安全且有效的疫苗可資使用，且疫苗接種起作用時。科學家們發出了，新變種可能突破疫苗保護的警告。
So far, current coronavirus vaccines seem to be holding up against the variants. But researchers around the globe are working to make vaccines that could protect against yet undiscovered coronaviruses.
迄今，當前的冠狀病毒疫苗，對這些變種似乎承受得住。不過，全球的研究人員們正在致力於，製造能防禦尚未發現之冠狀病毒的疫苗。
The vaccines created by Moderna and Pfizer and BioNTech work by giving people’s cells a strand of messenger RNA. This mRNA serves as a template that cells use to manufacture the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
由Moderna、輝瑞及BioNTech開發的疫苗，藉由為人們的細胞提供一股信使RNA，來起作用。這種mRNA充當一種，細胞用來製造SARS-CoV-2棘突蛋白的模板。
On its own, the spike protein is harmless, but it can rev up the immune system, which starts making antibodies against it. Later, if a vaccinated person encounters SARS-CoV-2, their body will be primed to fight, because their antibodies are already lying in wait for the virus.
就棘突蛋白本身，其是無害的。不過，它會刺激開始對其產生抗體的免疫系統。之後，倘若接種疫苗的人遭遇到SARS-CoV-2，他們的身體會是做好了搏鬥準備。因為，他們的抗體已經處於等待此種病毒的狀態。
To explore the idea that a single vaccine could inoculate against multiple coronaviruses, Martinez and his colleagues created a new spike protein – one that’s not found in any virus.
為了探索一種單一疫苗接種，可能對多種冠狀病毒起作用的構想。Martinez及其同僚們創造了一種，於任何病毒中，沒被發現過的新棘突蛋白。
“We’ve taken advantage of the fact that the spike protein of coronavirus is modular,” Martinez says. Instead of making an mRNA strand that encodes an entire spike protein, they created four different mRNAs, each with segments from three different coronavirus spikes.
Martinez 宣稱：「他們已經利用，冠狀病毒之棘突蛋白是模組式的事實。」他們創造了四種不同的mRNA，每一種具有來自三個不同冠狀病毒棘突的片段。而不是製造一種，為整個棘突蛋白編碼的mRNA股。
They chose segments from the 2003 SARS virus, the 2019 virus (SARS-CoV-2), and two bat coronaviruses that can infect human cells but haven’t yet caused epidemics. The team first published their results on the preprint server bioRxiv in May.
他們選擇了，來自2003年SARS病毒、2019年病毒(SARS-CoV-2)及兩種會感染人類細胞，不過尚未引發流行病之蝙蝠冠狀病毒的片段。該團隊於 2021年5月，首度在由美國冷泉港實驗室託管運營的bioRxiv預印本伺服器上，發表了他們的研究結果。
Like a LEGO minifigure with the legs of a cowboy, the torso of Spider-Man, and the helmet of an astronaut, each hybrid spike protein contained three protein parts from different coronaviruses.
如同具有牛仔腿、蜘蛛人軀幹及宇航員頭盔的樂高小人仔般，每一混合的棘突蛋白皆具有，來自不同之冠狀病毒的三個蛋白質部分。
Despite the mismatch, the mouse immune system still recognized these reshuffled proteins. After inoculating mice with the hybrid spike vaccine, the animals produced antibodies effective against each of the component spike proteins.
儘管這種不恰當的組合，小鼠免疫系統仍然識別了，此些重組的蛋白質。 在使用該種混合的棘突疫苗接種小鼠後，此些動物產生了，對每種棘突蛋白成分有效的抗體。
Inoculated mice were protected from the coronaviruses whose spike protein subunits were in the vaccine – and they also resisted two other viruses, including B.1.351 (now known as the “beta” variant).
接種疫苗的小鼠防禦了，棘突蛋白次單元存在這種疫苗中的冠狀病毒。牠們也抵抗了其他兩種病毒，包括B.1.351(目前被稱為“β”的變異體）。
That finding inspires optimism for the team’s strategy, Martinez says, because it suggests that antibodies generated by hybrid spike vaccines could protect against a broad assortment of potential coronaviruses.
Martinez表示，上述研究發現激發了，有關該團隊策略的樂觀性。因為這暗示，由混合之棘突疫苗產生的抗體，可能防禦廣泛的各種潛在冠狀病毒。
Martinez’s team’s vaccine used the same mRNA technology that made the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines so successful. Because mRNA is easy to manufacture, once scientists figure out an optimal spike protein combo, mass production should be straight-forward.
Martinez團隊的疫苗使用了，使Moderna及Pfizer-BioNTech疫苗如此成功的相同mRNA技術。由於mRNA易於製造，一旦科學家們找到一種，最佳的棘突蛋白組合，大量生產應該不困難。
Before the vaccine moves to human testing, though, Martinez’s team will conduct studies in larger animals to verify safety and efficacy. These animal studies are still in the planning stages, so trials in humans could still be months away.
不過，在這種疫苗進入人體試驗之前，Martinez的團隊將在更大的動物中進行研究，以驗證安全性及有效性。這些動物研究仍然處於規劃階段，因此人體試驗可能還需幾個月的時間。
Though inoculated mice weren’t protected against every kind of coronavirus, the vaccine was highly effective against “Sarbecoviruses,” the subgroup that includes SARS and SARS-CoV-2. The mice also produced antibodies against more distantly related coronaviruses, including the MERS virus.
雖然接種了疫苗的小鼠，並非免於所有類型的冠狀病毒。不過，該種疫苗對包括SARS及SARS-CoV-2的亞群，“薩貝科病毒”非常有效。此些小鼠也對親緣關係更遠的冠狀病毒產生了，包括中東呼吸系統徵候群(MERS：Middle East Respiratory Syndrome)病毒的抗體。
“We’re trying to find a way to generate a vaccine that can protect against this subgroup that we know is high-risk,” Martinez says. “And we’ve showed that, preclinically, this approach can work.”
Martinez宣稱：「他們正試圖尋找一種，生產能防禦上述，他們知曉是高風險亞群之疫苗的方法。不過，他們已經證實，在臨床前，這種方法能起作用。」
網址：https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-coronavirus-is-mutating-but-what-determines-how-quickly
翻譯: 許東榮
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