Two international studies have shed light on why the virus that causes COVID-19  is so infectious compared to other SARS viruses.

University of Queensland researchers collaborated with colleagues in the United Kingdom and Europe on the studies, which also showed a way to potentially prevent the virus from infecting cells.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus uses a protein called Spike to enter host cells by binding to a receptor on human cells, called ACE2, and using it like a doorway to get in.

In a new study published in Science, Dr Giuseppe Balistreri of the University of Helsinki in Finland and Professor Mikael Simons of the Technical University of Munich in Germany collaborated with UQ researchers to show that the virus can also enter cells using another receptor, called neuropilin.

Working with Professor Frederic Meunier from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, they discovered that the neuropilin receptor, NRP1, is found on a variety of human cells, including those in the upper airways, which could explain why SARS-CoV-2 is more infectious and more extensively invasive than similar viruses.

Dr Balistreri said the fact that antibodies blocking NRP1 are able to block infection by 40 per cent strongly suggested that this pathway is key for the virus’ infectivity.

Professor Meunier said there was very little doubt that SARS-CoV-2 affects our brain cells and the long-term consequences are not yet known.

“The discovery that NRP1 binds to Spike opens the door to in-depth research into the virus’ neurotropism – its ability to infect nerve tissue — as well as new therapeutic avenues.”

Meanwhile, on another study published in the same issue of Science, Dr Yohei Yamauchi and Professor Peter Cullen from the University of Bristol worked with other UQ researchers to investigate the interaction between the virus and this receptor.

Dr Kai-En (Kevin) Chen and Professor Brett Collins from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience were able to show exactly how the virus binds to a host cell by modelling the site where they interact.

“We now know that in addition to the already known ACE2 receptor, the Spike binds to a second receptor on the host cells called neuropilin,” Professor Collins said.

“We used X-ray crystallography to see the structure of proteins at the atomic level and visualise the binding sites at a spectacular level of detail.”

The University of Bristol team looked at the effect of disrupting the binding between the virus and cells.

“We discovered that by blocking the virus protein from attaching to cells, it was possible to reduce the infection rate of the virus,” Dr Yamauchi said.

“If we can make a drug that blocks the virus from binding to cells, this has potential as a new therapy for treating COVID-19.”

The sequence in the COVID-19-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus that binds to the receptor is found in other pathogenic human viruses such as Ebola and HIV-1, but not in SARS-CoV.

Media: Professor Brett Collins, b.collins@imb.uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 431 905 206; Professor Fred Meunier, f.meunier@uq.edu.au; Dr Giuseppe Balistreri, g.balistreri@uq.edu.au; IMB & QBI Communications, communications@imb.uq.edu.au, +61 (0) 405 661 856.

Federal funding will help a team of researchers determine how long immunity lasts in people who’ve recovered from COVID-19, critical information as the world waits for a vaccine.

The Commonwealth Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) has granted almost a million dollars to the two year project, run by The University of Queensland, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Monash University, Mater Research and Queensland Health.

UQ’s Dr Kirsty Short said it was a unique opportunity to understand how long people have immunity to the virus, what kind of immunity they have and whether it’s different for different patients.

“This is important to know because in the advent that it takes a while to get a vaccine, we need to know who is at risk of re-infection, and when there is a vaccine we need to know who is likely to need boosters,” Dr Short said.

Associate Professor Stephanie Gras from Monash University’s Biomedicine Discovery Institute said the funding would allow the researchers to provide a deep understanding of the different components of the immune response to infection.

“We will focus our effort in understanding what parts of the virus are the most important to target for a protective and long-lived immune response that will be critical in a vaccine,” she said.

Lead investigator, QIMR Berghofer’s Associate Professor Corey Smith, said the project involved examining immune cells from recovered patients.

“Our next step will be to correlate these responses with antibody responses and start to investigate the impact age and co-morbidities have on the quality of the response and how well they are maintained over time,” Dr Smith said.

“We hope this insight will be important for our understanding of what goes wrong in patients who develop severe complications and to determine which groups of people could remain at risk of infection despite previous exposure.”

Dr Short said it was an unbelievable feeling to be able to continue the collaborative research.

“We have been working non-stop since the pandemic began to try and answer some of these important questions and now we have the financial support to do so, so it’s great to see our hard work can now be translated into improved health outcomes for Australians,” she said.

“We hope to be able to feed some valuable information into public health responses and vaccine design and roll-out as soon as possible.”

Please email the Brisbane study if you have recovered from COVID-19 and you are interested in participating: Covid.DiabetesStudy@mater.org.au.

Media: Dr Kirsty Short, k.short@uq.edu.au; UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au; +61 7 3365 3439; QIMR Berghofer, media@qimrberghofer.edu.au, +61 7 3362 0280.

Technology that helps to quickly extract and analyse genetic material could be used for cheap, accurate and mobile COVID-19 testing, including at airports and remote testing centres.

‘Dipstick’ technology, developed by the University of Queensland’s Professor Jimmy Botella and Dr Michael Mason, allows genetic material to be extracted in as little as 30 seconds, with a full molecular diagnosis in 40 minutes.

“That process is currently achieved using large and expensive commercial set-ups that require multistep procedures and specialised laboratory equipment,” Professor Botella said.

“In contrast, our dipstick tech is incredibly cheap and can be used virtually anywhere, without the need for specialised equipment or a laboratory.

“Our tech enables the purification of DNA and RNA nucleic acids from patient samples – a critical step in COVID-19 diagnosis.

“Combined with a portable diagnostic machine we’ve developed – which fits in your hand and can be powered by a car’s cigarette lighter connection – we could enable faster identification and isolation of positive patients, helping to reduce the spread of the disease.

“We’re hoping it will be used to expand COVID-19 diagnostic testing to non-laboratory environments such as airports, remote testing centres and GP clinics.”

The process can be used to extract genetic material from most living organisms, including people, livestock, bacteria and viruses.

Dr Michael Mason said the team had already applied the technology in other areas, primarily to fight plant pathogens.

“We’ve successfully used the dipsticks to identify diseases associated with fresh produce and important crops that are critical for feeding some of the world’s poorest people,” Dr Mason said.

“Even in remote locations, such as isolated plantations in Papua New Guinea, we’ve successfully used the technology to identify a pathogen killing coconut trees.”

“Really, this technology could be used to detect almost any disease, anywhere.”

The researchers said their dipsticks can be produced quickly, cheaply and in bulk using a household pasta maker.

“It was quite a surprise, in a year full of surprises,” Professor Botella said.

“Using a low-cost pasta maker, wax and filter paper, we are able to rapidly make hundreds of dipsticks, ready to be used, in only a few minutes.

“The simplicity of the manufacturing process and the low-cost and accessibility of the required materials is a significant advantage of this technology.

“It means it can benefit users in modern research laboratories as well as low-resource facilities in developing countries, high schools and small university teaching labs.

“It’s faster, cheaper and mobile, so let’s put it to work.”

The research has been published in Nature Protocols (DOI: 10.1038/s41596-020-0392-7).

Video of the process available via Dropbox.

Media: Professor Jimmy Botella, j.botella@uq.edu.au, +61 7 336 51128; Dominic Jarvis, dominic.jarvis@uq.edu.au, +61 413 334 924.

A startup company developing treatments for inflammatory diseases based on a research partnership between The University of Queensland and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) has been acquired in a landmark deal – one of the largest in Australian and Irish biotech history.

Inflazome has been acquired by Roche for an upfront cash payment of €380 million (about $A617 million), plus additional payments based on the achievement of certain milestones.

The company was founded in 2016 following a research collaboration between UQ and TCD, with UQ’s technology transfer company UniQuest leading the commercialisation of the resulting intellectual property (IP).

Headquartered in Dublin, the company is developing drugs to address clinical unmet needs in inflammatory diseases by targeting inflammasomes, which are understood to drive many chronic inflammatory conditions.

The acquisition gives Roche full rights to Inflazome’s portfolio of inflammasome inhibitors.

UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Deborah Terry AO welcomed the acquisition and congratulated those involved.

“This is an outstanding outcome for the company, both universities, the researchers and the investors,” Professor Terry said.

“Now more than ever, the value of research translation to support the recovery of our economies cannot be understated.

“This deal reinforces the importance of research collaboration and shows what can be achieved through commercialisation.”

Trinity College Dublin Provost Dr Patrick Prendergast added his congratulations.

“This is wonderful news, first and foremost for the many people across the world with diseases like Parkinson’s who stand to benefit from these discoveries,” Dr Prendergast said.

“It is also a boost for the Irish scientific community and for Trinity College Dublin, where the ideas originated that led to the collaboration with UQ and the subsequent foundation of Inflazome.

“Investigator-led research drives the innovation economy and this news offers tangible evidence of its importance and also what can be achieved through partnership.

“We congratulate all of the researchers involved for their tireless commitment to discovery and innovation and for making a real difference in society.”

In a joint statement UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss and Trinity Research and Innovation Director Leonard Hobbs said the deal echoed global market confidence in the quality of research at Trinity and UQ.

“This is one of the largest Australian and Irish biotech deals and follows the company’s Series B capital raise of A$63 million in 2018,” Dr Moss said.

“It’s wonderful to see it eventuate, bringing much-needed treatment options a step closer to reality.”

Two of the company’s drug candidates are in clinical trials for the treatment of debilitating conditions such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and motor neuron disease.

The IP behind Inflazome’s drug candidates is based on a research partnership between Professor Matt Cooper, Professor Kate Schroder, Dr Rebecca Coll and Professor Avril Robertson from UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience  and Professor Luke O’Neill from Trinity College Dublin.

Inflazome is supported by a syndicate of investors, including Novartis Venture Fund and Fountain Healthcare Partners, Longitude Capital and Forbion.

Image: courtesy of Professor Kate Schroder, University of Queensland.

Media: UniQuest, Nicole Cowan, n.cowan@uniquest.com.au, +61 439 305 018; Trinity College Dublin, Catherine O’Mahony, Omahonc7@tcd.ie, + 353 086 8263837

Global biotech company CSL Limited will supply the Australian Government with 51 million doses of The University of Queensland’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate if it proves successful, under a heads of agreement announced today.

CSL expects the first tranche of doses to be available by mid-2021, with additional doses following in late 2021 and early 2022, if late stage clinical trials are successful.

The total number of vaccines ordered by the Government is based on a two dose per person regime.

CSL CEO and Managing Director Paul Perreault said CSL had invested significant resources in the rapid development and large-scale manufacture of the vaccine candidate – UQ-CSL V451.

“Together with partners including UQ and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), our development and manufacturing teams have been working extremely hard to advance this program to ensure the availability of a safe and effective vaccine should clinical studies prove successful,” Mr Perreault said.

The University is currently undertaking a Phase 1 clinical study to assess safety and the immune response generated in healthy volunteers.

UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the announcement recognises the vaccine as one of the leading candidates currently in clinical trials.

“We are enormously proud of the contributions that UQ researchers have been making in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and nowhere is this clearer than in the vaccine program,” Professor Terry said.

“UQ has a reputation for transitioning its innovations and discoveries to delivering solutions for the world’s challenges. Now more than ever Australians are aware of the importance of investment in research.”

“Federal and Queensland governments, philanthropists and donors, a multitude of research collaborations and particularly our remarkable partnership with CEPI and CSL have made our accelerated timeline possible

“And we are incredibly grateful to the Queenslanders who have stepped up for our Phase I trials, with an overwhelming response to last week’s call for volunteers aged 56 and over.”

Should the Phase 1 results prove successful, CSL will take full responsibility for subsequent clinical trials, with the required production underway at CSL’s biotech manufacturing facilities in Melbourne.

Mr Perreault said while pre-clinical and early clinical studies for UQ-CSL V451 were promising, it was impossible to predict the level of success the candidate will have in late stage clinical trials.

“CSL’s focus is to produce a safe and effective vaccine,” Mr Perreault said.

“It is important that on completion of clinical trials, the public has confidence in UQ-CSL V451, which makes use of the well-established recombinant protein technology platform, and Seqirus’ proprietary adjuvant MF59^®, which has an extensive safety track record in humans.”

Media: UQ Communications, communications@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3365 1130.