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University of Leicester scientists are developing a cutting edge "decoy protein injection" which they hope can prevent Covid-19 infections.

The method would, in theory, work by binding and trapping the coronavirus to stop it infecting healthy cells in people's bodies.

It is currently being developed by a research team led by Professor Nick Brindle, in Leicester, and Dr Julian Sale at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB), in Cambridge.

It would be a treatment as opposed to a vaccine.

A spokeswoman for the university said the team was using "pioneering techniques in molecular evolution" and protein engineering to develop a protein that works.

"The team is working on the creation of a new soluble protein that binds to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, thereby preventing it from being able to bind to and infect our cells," she said.

Prof Brindle, Professor of Cell Signalling at the University of Leicester’s Departments of Molecular and Cell Biology and Cardiovascular Sciences, explained how the protein would work.

"The Covid-19 virus normally infects lungs and tissues by binding to a receptor called ACE2 on the surface of our cells," he said.

"The decoy mimics these receptors, but it is engineered to be more attractive to the virus, so it will bind to the decoy and not ACE2, preventing the virus from ‘hijacking’ and reproducing within our cells.

“This is an innovative approach in the ongoing fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

"By ‘hijacking’ the receptors on cells in our lungs and other tissues the virus can grow and spread throughout the body and lead to disease."

Prof Brindle added: "By creating an attractive decoy protein for the virus to bind to, we are aiming to block the ability of this virus to infect cells and protect the function of the cell surface receptors.

“If this approach is successful, it could have the potential to prevent new cases of this deadly disease across the globe.”

The university, which is one of only a handful of research centres across the world looking into the decoy protein technique to tackle Covid-19, said that the initial set of results will be available in "two to three months".

Prof Brindle said the treatment, if successful, could be administered by injection, or using a nebuliser similar to an asthma inhaler .

"The nebuliser could be given to emergency services personnel going into an environment where there is coronavirus infections," he added.

"An injection would be used for patients who have already contracted the virus.

"It would help reduce the viral load and prevent the virus from spreading and causing further damage."

To help the research, Prof Brindle’s team is using a technique called Cryo-Electron Microscopy (Cryo-EM), which allows scientists to create a three-dimensional image the whole virus, or parts of the virus.

"The biological sample is frozen rapidly and then imaged by targeting a beam of high energy particles called electrons, which have a wavelength much smaller than the biological molecules being imaged," he explained.

As part of its work to support research into Covid-19 and diagnostic testing, the University of Leicester has also been working on a number of other, related projects.

These include the development of a diagnostic mask that could potentially detect the presence of coronavirus before symptoms appear.

As reported by LeicestershireLive, last month, the university has also donated thousands of items of PPE (personal protection equipment) from its laboratories, and lent diagnostic machinery, to both the the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and the national diagnostic hub in Milton Keynes.

