Stories|Using X-rays in the Fight against the Coronavirus
Using X-rays in the Fight against the Coronavirus
Life Science and healthcare
Containing pandemics through narrowly targeted drug development
The coronavirus pandemic posed enormous challenges for medicine and pharmacology. In order to contain it, the structure and function of the virus needed to be determined as quickly as possible, while establishing which chemical compounds could fight it most effectively, and how.Accelerator technologies played a major role in this search.
Observing viruses and pharmaceutical compounds in action, and establishing with nanometre and nanosecond precision how they interact with the proteins inside our bodies – this is one of the great strengths of using accelerator technologies in medicine. In the case of Covid-19, one of the first effective vaccines was the one developed using mRNA technology by the German biotech company BioNTech together with the US pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer. In this new approach, mRNA molecules containing blueprints for producing a key protein of the pathogen are injected into the human body. These molecules are absorbed by its cells. They begin to produce the pathogen’s protein, transport it to their surface and thereby activate the immune system. As a result, the organism arms itself against the attack of the actual virus.
However, if pure mRNA were injected, the body would break it down before it could reach the cells. The mRNA therefore needs to be packaged in special nanoparticles which delay this breakdown. But which nanoparticles are the most suitable?
To answer this question, BioNTech carried out scattering experiments at DESY’s PETRA III synchrotron, together with the University of Mainz and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). They used small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to investigate the internal structure of various lipid nanoparticles at different pH values, so as to identify the ideal composition for different cell types and hence optimise the mRNA transport system – not only for coronavirus vaccines, but also for other vaccines and personalised medicines. Using accelerators to establish the structure of tiny biomolecules and the collaboration between industry and research is therefore helping to realise the tremendous potential of new active compounds in the fight against dangerous diseases.
Partners involved
- DESY (use of PETRA III)
- BioNTech (industrial partner)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
- EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory), operator of the beamline P12
