Respiratory viruses which have various strains and mutate quickly, comparable to influenza and COVID-19, are troublesome to block completely with vaccines alone. To resolve this drawback, KAIST’s analysis staff has efficiently developed a nasal (intranasal) antiviral platform using AI technology to overcome the prevailing limitations of interferon-lambda remedies—specifically, being “weak against heat and disappearing quickly from the nasal mucosa.”
KAIST introduced on December fifteenth {that a} joint analysis staff—consisting of Professor Ho Min Kim and Professor Hyun Jung Chung from the Department of Biological Sciences, and Professor Ji Eun Oh from the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering used AI to stably redesign the interferon-lambda protein and mixed it with a supply technology that ensures efficient diffusion and long-term retention within the nasal mucosa, thereby implementing a common prevention technology for varied respiratory viruses.
Interferon-lambda is an innate immune protein produced by the physique to block viral infections, taking part in an important function in stopping respiratory viruses just like the frequent chilly, flu, and COVID-19. However, when formulated as a therapy for nasal administration, its precise efficacy was restricted by its vulnerability to warmth, degrading enzymes, mucus, and ciliary movement.
The analysis staff used AI protein design technology to exactly reinforce the structural weaknesses of interferon-lambda.
First, they considerably elevated stability by altering the unfastened “loop” constructions of the protein—which have been susceptible to instability—into inflexible “helix” constructions that lock in place like a agency spring.
Additionally, to forestall “aggregation” (proteins sticking collectively to type lumps), they utilized “surface engineering” to make the floor extra water-compatible. They additionally launched “glycoengineering,” including sugar chain (glycan) constructions to the protein floor to make it much more strong and steady.
As a consequence, the newly produced interferon-lambda confirmed an enormous enchancment in stability, surviving for 2 weeks 50℃ and demonstrated the flexibility to diffuse quickly even via thick nasal mucus.
The analysis staff additional protected the protein by encapsulating it in microscopic “nanoliposomes” and coated the floor with “low-molecular-weight chitosan.” This considerably enhanced “mucoadhesion,” permitting the therapy to stick to the nasal lining for an prolonged interval.
When this supply platform was utilized to animal fashions contaminated with influenza, a strong inhibitory impact was confirmed, with the virus stage within the nasal cavity lowering by greater than 85%.
This technology is a mucosal immune platform that may block viral infections of their early phases just by spraying it into the nostril. It is anticipated to be a brand new therapeutic technique that may reply shortly not solely to seasonal flu but additionally to sudden new or mutant viruses.
Through AI-based protein design and mucosal supply technology, we now have concurrently overcome the soundness and retention time limitations of present interferon-lambda remedies. This platform, which is steady at excessive temperatures and stays within the mucosa for a very long time, is an modern technology that can be utilized even in growing international locations missing strict cold-chain infrastructure. It additionally has nice scalability for growing varied remedies and vaccines. This is a significant achievement ensuing from multidisciplinary convergence analysis, protecting every part from AI protein design to drug supply optimization and immune analysis via an infection fashions.”
Professor Ho Min Kim, Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST
This analysis concerned Dr. Jeongwon Yun from the KAIST InnoCORE (AI-Innovation Drug Discovery Research Group), Dr. Seungju Yang from the Department of Biological Sciences, and PhD scholar Jae Hyuk Kwon from the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering as co-first authors. The outcomes have been revealed consecutively within the famend worldwide journals Advanced Science (Nov 20) and Biomaterials Research (Nov 21).
- Paper 1: Computational Design and Glycoengineering of Interferon-Lambda for Nasal Prophylaxis towards Respiratory Viruses, Advanced Science, DOI: 10.1002/advs.202506764
- Paper 2: Intranasal Nanoliposomes Delivering Interferon Lambda with Enhanced Mucosal Retention as an Antiviral, Biomaterials Research, DOI: 10.34133/bmr.0287
This analysis was performed with assist from the KAIST InnoCORE Program, the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Mid-Career Researcher Support Program, the Bio-Medical Technology Development Program, the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) Health and Medical Technology R&D Project, the KAIST Large-scale Convergence Research Institute Operation Project, and the Institute for Basic Science (IBS).