# Nanobody toolkit for human coronavirus classification

> **NIH NIH R21** · TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2022 · $247,500

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 The endemic human coronaviruses (HCoV) NL63, OC43, 229E and HKU1 have typically been
associated with relatively mild and self-limiting respiratory disease resembling the common cold in healthy
individuals. However, the newly emerging zoonotic coronaviruses (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2)
can cause more severe respiratory distress, especially in those with underlying health conditions and can be
fatal. Coronaviruses are diverse and spillover from zoonotic reservoirs either directly to humans or via an
intermediate host. Spillover is likely to be more frequent due to the ever-expanding human population and
ecosystem erosion, thereby ensuring more collisions between natural and unnatural host. Our exploratory
research proposal seeks to develop a small toolkit of immunoreagents that will form the basis of a logic gate to
identify and classify coronaviruses. A single immunoreagent, with broad recognition of overall shared protein
architecture, will allow the identification of the coronavirus genera. Separate immunoreagents with absolute
specificity for unique amino-acid variation between the human and zoonotic coronaviruses will allow the further
classification to a known pathogen. Such a toolkit will quickly establish if a newly emerging virus is a
coronavirus we are familiar with or is a novel genus or lineage that has never before spilled over into the
human population and may demand urgent follow up for epidemic or pandemic potential. Our immunoreagents
are based on llama single domain antibodies or nanobodies that are inexpensive to produce at high yields in E.
coli and highly modular, allowing fusion to enzymatic reporter enzymes for one-step probing of virus infected
cells and facile establishment of sandwich assays. Immortalization of nanobody sequences in silico means
these are immediately available to the wider research community following deposition in Genbank unlike
polyclonal sera or hybridomas secreting IgG. Single-pot library technology enables a rapid response to be
mounted against any newly emerged coronavirus in the future, ensuring we are more pro-active than re-active
to help safeguard human health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10375561
- **Project number:** 5R21AI156467-02
- **Recipient organization:** TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** ANDREW HAYHURST
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $247,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-03-19 → 2024-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10375561

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10375561, Nanobody toolkit for human coronavirus classification (5R21AI156467-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10375561. Licensed CC0.

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