Researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine have found that nanobodies, tiny particles produced by llamas, could offer protection against human noroviruses.
Llamas produce antibodies, known as nanobodies, which are smaller than human antibodies. The researchers tested a nanobody named M4 against a subgroup of noroviruses, which is common in people and often mutates into new variants that are challenging to treat.
The M4 nanobody was found to interact with and neutralize norovirus and its older variants by identifying a hidden ‘pocket’ in the norovirus, disrupting its ability to infect human cells. While the research is in the early stages, it holds promise for developing new methods to combat norovirus infections, which cause millions of illnesses and hundreds of thousands of deaths yearly.