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According to a new study led by Ulrike Protzer, a breakthrough infection after two vaccinations achieves the same protective effect as an additional booster vaccination. According to the study by Helmholtz Munich, LMU and TUM, the decisive factor for immunity is that the immune system has had three contacts with the viral spike protein. Only in this way can it produce sufficient high-quality antibodies to arm the body against future variants.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus continues to change. New worrying variants are spreading rapidly: a challenge for physicians, as the question remains how to best protect people against infections with future virus variants.
Answers to this question have been found by a team led by Ulrike Protzer (Institute of Virology at Helmholtz Munich and the Technical University of Munich), Percy Knolle (University Hospital rechts der Isar of the Technical University of Munich), and Oliver T. Keppler (Max von Pettenkofer Institute and Gene Center Munich at LMU) working together within the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). As they report in their new study, a total of three exposures is required to the spike protein as a viral antigen so that neutralizing antibodies form not only in sufficient quantity, but also in high quality. According to the study, this is possible in three constellations: after triple vaccination (basic immunization and booster), after infection and double vaccination, and after two vaccinations and a breakthrough infection.
“Our study shows that triple-vaccinated individuals with no previous SARS-CoV-2 infection have almost the same amount of neutralizing antibodies as convalescents getting vaccinated or vaccinated individuals who had a breakthrough infection,” explains Ulrike Protzer. “Thus, we now know that while immunity built up or enhanced by vaccination is the most important key to effective protection against future variants of the virus, a breakthrough infection, as irritating as it may be, can provide the effect of an additional vaccine shot.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, 171 voluntary participants from the staff at the University Hospital rechts der Isar at risk of infection were recruited for the study and regularly tested. The researchers identified one group of people who had contracted SARS-CoV-2 during the first wave of the pandemic in spring 2020, and a second group who had not been infected. Both groups were comparable in relation to their sex, age, working conditions, and other risk factors. Subsequently, both groups were offered vaccination with the mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine from BioNTech/Pfizer and were monitored for almost two years. The cohort comprised 98 recovered persons and 73 persons without prior infection. The researchers defined several parameters in the blood of study participants: the amount of antibodies (IgG), the binding strength of the antibodies to the virus protein, and the ability of the blood serum to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 variants in cell culture. For estimating the extent of protective immunity, the latter two parameters are particularly important.
Node-centric expression models (NCEMs): Graph-neural networks reveal communication between cells
How do single cells communicate in a tissue? How can these interactions be modeled, while retaining information of spatial context? Researchers around Fabian Theis from Helmholtz Munich Computational Health Center and Technical University of Munich (TUM) have generated a new method to repre ... more
How tiny changes help T cells survive
The chemical modification of nucleic acids, known as methylation, exists not only on DNA but also on RNA. So far, it is still unclear whether this methylation is important for certain cell types and what effects it has on the interaction of cells in the body. The most abundant modification ... more
The oat genome unlocks the unique health benefits of oats
Researchers have succeeded in sequencing and characterizing the entire genome of oat. Compared to other cereals and humans, the oat genome architecture is very complex. Scientists from Helmholtz Munich, Lund University and the ScanOats network finally elucidated at the genetic level why oat ... more
Using deep learning to better understand blood disorders
For a long time, doctors have been diagnosing disorders of the body’s hematopoietic system using a light microscope. The analysis of individual blood cells is largely performed manually. Now, artificial intelligence can lend them a digital hand. more
Carsten Marr, born in 1977, received his diploma in general physics from the Technische Universität München in 2002. He wrote his diploma thesis at the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany, and in 2003 visited the Quantum Information and Quantum Optics Theory Group at ... more
Christian Matek, born in 1986, received undergraduate degrees in both Physics and Medicine in Munich. He then moved to the UK and finished his DPhil in Theoretical Physics at Oxford University in 2014. Since 2017, his main research interest has been applying artificial intelligence and mach ... more
Key factors identified for regeneration of brain tissue
Whereas cells regularly renew themselves in most endogenous tissues, the number of nerve cells in the human brain and spinal cord remains constant. Although nerve cells can regenerate in the brains of adult mammals, as LMU scientist Professor Magdalena Götz has previously shown, young neuro ... more
When light impinges on molecules, it is absorbed and re-emitted. Advances in ultrafast laser technology have steadily improved the level of detail in studies of such light-matter interactions. FRS, a laser spectroscopy method in which the electric field of laser pulses repeating millions of ... more
Secret structure in the wiring diagram of the brain
In the brain, our perception arises from a complex interplay of neurons that are connected via synapses. But the number and strength of connections between certain types of neurons can vary. Researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University Medical Center Mainz and the Lud ... more
Thomas Carell graduated in chemistry, completing his doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research under the tutelage of Prof. Dr Dr H. A. Staab. Following a research position in the USA, he accepted a position at ETH Zurich, setting up his own research group in the Laboratory ... more
Molecular monitoring of RNA regulation
The better we understand cellular processes such as RNA regulation, the better molecular therapies can be developed. Until now, it has been especially difficult to track the regulation of non-coding RNA, which is RNA that is not further converted into proteins. A research team from the Tech ... more
Synthetic peptides may suppress formation of harmful deposits
In Alzheimer's disease, the degeneration of brain cells is linked to formation of toxic protein aggregates and deposits known as amyloid plaques. Similar processes play an important role also in type 2 diabetes. A research team under the lead of the Technical University of Munich has now de ... more
First electric nanomotor made from DNA material
A research team led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has succeeded for the first time in producing a molecular electric motor using the DNA origami method. The tiny machine made of genetic material self-assembles and converts electrical energy into kinetic energy. The new nanomot ... more
Vital wheat gluten, a protein with potential
For almost every one of the 17 goals that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out, food and its value chain plays an important role [1]. With this agenda, the United Nations has created a global framework for action that addresses all social players. more
Biobased raw material flows of the future
Anthropogenic climate change and the rising world population, in combination with increasing urbanization, poses global challenges to our societies that can only be solved by technological advancement. The direct biotechnological use of greenhouse gases, including residual biomass flows fro ... more
Taste and aroma boost in the mouth
The food trend towards healthy snacks is continuing. Snacks made from freeze-dried fruit meet consumer expectations of modern and high-quality food. However, freeze drying of whole fruits requires long drying times and substantially reduces sensorial quality, which is unappealing to consumers. more
Thomas Becker, born in 1965, studied Technology and Biotechnology of Food at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). He then worked as a project engineer at the company Geo-Konzept from 1992 to 1993. In 1995, he received his PhD from the TUM. From 1996 to 2004 he was Deputy Head of Depart ... more
Monika Wehrli, born in 1994, graduated from the ETH Zurich with a major in food process engineering. Since 2018 she has been working as a researcher at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, at the Chair of Brewing and Beverage Technology, where she pursues her doctorate in the field ... more
Thomas Brück, born in 1972, obtained his B.Sc. in chemistry, biochemistry and management science from Keele University, Stoke on Trent. Additionally, he holds an M.Sc. in molecular medicine from the same institution. In 2002, Thomas obtained his Ph.D. in Protein Biochemistry from Imperial C ... more
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