The 2022 monkeypox outbreak, which infected than 150,000 people and killed nearly 500, exposed the shortcomings of existing vaccines. The drugs are based on a weakened live virus; their production is difficult and expensive. Scientists were looking for a simpler and effective alternative, and artificial intelligence helped them find it.

Italian researchers from the Biotecnopolo di Siena foundation isolated12 powerful antibodiescapable of neutralizing the Mpox virus. However, it remained unknown which protein on the surface of the virus these antibodies targeted—knowledge that is essential to creating precise drugs or vaccines.

To solve this problem, the team of Professor Jason McLellan from the University of Texas at Austin used an artificial intelligence systemAlphaFold 3. The model analyzed about 35 surface proteins of the virus and predicted with high accuracy that antibodies bind to a previously almost unstudied protein –OPG153. Laboratory experiments fully confirmed this prediction.

“Without AI, it would take years to find this target. No one had previously considered this protein as a target for a vaccine or neutralizing antibodies.” noted McLellan.

The OPG153 protein is now considered a promising target fornew type vaccines. According to immunologists, it is possible to create a drug based only on this protein (a subunit vaccine), and not on the whole virus. This will simplify and reduce the cost of production. And the developed antibodies targeting OPG153 could become a ready-made medicine for treating people who are already sick. Because the Mpox virus is related to the variola virus, this discovery could also lead to improved treatments against the disease.

Scientists call their approach“reverse vaccinology”: They started with the antibodies that the human body naturally produces when it encounters a virus, and then worked backwards to figure out which part of the virus would activate them. Experimental vaccine constructs have already been created based on this antigen protein, which successfully induce the production of protective antibodies in mice.