COVID-19
As a leader in therapeutic human antibody discovery, the Marasco Lab is actively working on antibody discovery for COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2
As an infectious disease physician, Dr. Marasco was actively involved in the SARS outbreaks of 2003 and 2004 as well as the MERS outbreak of 2012. During outbreaks of novel diseases, researchers often are unable to obtain blood samples from infected patients quickly, which can cause delays in the design of treatments. Using a "library" of 27 billion human antibodies that the lab has built over the past 20 years, Dr. Marasco was able to create the first antibody therapy against SARS in 2004 and MERS in 2012. Now, the Marasco lab is using this library to determine which of these antibodies represent the best candidates for antibody-based drugs to treat people with COVID-19. Additionally, using samples collected by our convalescent cohort, the Marasco lab is working to characterize post-infection immune repertoires and evaluate the impacts of emerging variants of concern.
Chang MR, Ke H, Losada Miguéns L, Coherd C, Nguyen K, Kamkaew M, Johnson R, Storm N, Honko A, Zhu Q, Griffiths A, Marasco WA. The variable conversion of neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 single-chain antibodies to IgG provides insight into RBD epitope accessibility. Protein Eng Des Sel. 2023 Jan 21;36:gzad008. doi: 10.1093/protein/gzad008. Erratum in: Protein Eng Des Sel. 2023 Jan 21;36: PMID: 37561410; PMCID: PMC10505556.
Chang MR, Ke H, Coherd CD, Wang Y, Mashima K, Kastrunes GM, Huang CY, Marasco WA. Analysis of a SARS-CoV-2 convalescent cohort identified a common strategy for escape of vaccine-induced anti-RBD antibodies by Beta and Omicron variants. EBioMedicine. 2022 May 6;80:104025. PMID: 35533497; PMCID: PMC9073271.
Chang MR, Tomasovic L, Kuzmina NA, Ronk AJ, Byrne PO, Johnson R, Storm N, Olmedillas E, Hou YJ, Schäfer A, Leist SR, Tse LV, Ke H, Coherd C, Nguyen K, Kamkaew M, Honko A, Zhu Q, Alter G, Saphire EO, McLellan JS, Griffiths A, Baric RS, Bukreyev A, Marasco WA. IgG-like bispecific antibodies with potent and synergistic neutralization against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 3;13(1):5814. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33030-4. PMID: 36192374; PMCID: PMC9528872.
Read more about our antibody library and work on COVID-19
Chang MR, Ke H, Losada Miguéns L, Coherd C, Nguyen K, Kamkaew M, Johnson R, Storm N, Honko A, Zhu Q, Griffiths A, Marasco WA. The variable conversion of neutralizing anti-SARS-CoV-2 single-chain antibodies to IgG provides insight into RBD epitope accessibility. Protein Eng Des Sel. 2023 Jan 21;36:gzad008. doi: 10.1093/protein/gzad008. Erratum in: Protein Eng Des Sel. 2023 Jan 21;36: PMID: 37561410; PMCID: PMC10505556.
Chang MR, Ke H, Coherd CD, Wang Y, Mashima K, Kastrunes GM, Huang CY, Marasco WA. Analysis of a SARS-CoV-2 convalescent cohort identified a common strategy for escape of vaccine-induced anti-RBD antibodies by Beta and Omicron variants. EBioMedicine. 2022 May 6;80:104025. PMID: 35533497; PMCID: PMC9073271.
Chang MR, Tomasovic L, Kuzmina NA, Ronk AJ, Byrne PO, Johnson R, Storm N, Olmedillas E, Hou YJ, Schäfer A, Leist SR, Tse LV, Ke H, Coherd C, Nguyen K, Kamkaew M, Honko A, Zhu Q, Alter G, Saphire EO, McLellan JS, Griffiths A, Baric RS, Bukreyev A, Marasco WA. IgG-like bispecific antibodies with potent and synergistic neutralization against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 3;13(1):5814. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33030-4. PMID: 36192374; PMCID: PMC9528872.
Read more about our antibody library and work on COVID-19
Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness
Dr. Marasco is a member of the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness (MassCPR) led by Harvard Medical School, which aims to address immediate and long-term implications of COVID-19 and to lay groundwork for dealing with future pandemics. Currently, Dr. Marasco participates in two MassCPR working groups: therapeutics and pathogenesis.
We are proud to announce that the Marasco Lab is a project recipient of the MassCPR Request for Proposal. This project is focused on therapeutic human antibodies against pathogenic coronaviruses that emerge from southeast Asia including SARS-CoV2.
Read more about our MassCPR award and others
We are proud to announce that the Marasco Lab is a project recipient of the MassCPR Request for Proposal. This project is focused on therapeutic human antibodies against pathogenic coronaviruses that emerge from southeast Asia including SARS-CoV2.
Read more about our MassCPR award and others
Recent Press on COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2
1. DFCI Blog Post by Dr. Marasco- What Researchers Need to Learn About COVID-19 — And How You Can Help
2. DFCI Blog Post by Dr. Marasco- COVID-19 Antibody Tests: What We Know and What We Don’t
3. Marasco Lab research on antibody therapy for COVID-19 featured in Washington Post article
4. Dr. Marasco comments on Mesoblast's stem cell treatment for COVID-19 in Forbes article
5. Dr. Marasco featured in article by Forbes contributor, Dr. William A. Hazeltine, on missteps with COVID-19 and future biothreats
6. Marasco Lab at Forefront of Development of Antibody Therapy for COVID-19 at DFCI
7. Dr. Marasco discusses the role of convalescent plasma in COVID-19 treatment in a Washington Post article
8. Dr. Marasco featured in Harvard Medical School story on the COVID-19 pandemic and his expertise on designer antibodies
9. Dr. Marasco discusses his previous antibody therapy work on MERS and SARS, and current focus on antibody therapies effective against SARS-CoV-2 in Harvard Magazine
2. DFCI Blog Post by Dr. Marasco- COVID-19 Antibody Tests: What We Know and What We Don’t
3. Marasco Lab research on antibody therapy for COVID-19 featured in Washington Post article
4. Dr. Marasco comments on Mesoblast's stem cell treatment for COVID-19 in Forbes article
5. Dr. Marasco featured in article by Forbes contributor, Dr. William A. Hazeltine, on missteps with COVID-19 and future biothreats
6. Marasco Lab at Forefront of Development of Antibody Therapy for COVID-19 at DFCI
7. Dr. Marasco discusses the role of convalescent plasma in COVID-19 treatment in a Washington Post article
8. Dr. Marasco featured in Harvard Medical School story on the COVID-19 pandemic and his expertise on designer antibodies
9. Dr. Marasco discusses his previous antibody therapy work on MERS and SARS, and current focus on antibody therapies effective against SARS-CoV-2 in Harvard Magazine