A protein particle hidden within the SARS-CoV-2 virus could lead to longer-lasting, more protective vaccines for COVID-19.

Scientists from La Trobe University and Kumamoto University in Japan have discovered that the body’s immune system strongly reacts to an internal protein from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, which mutates less frequently than the surface-spike protein currently targeted by vaccines.

Source:

Molecular basis of potent antiviral HLA-C-restricted CD8+ T cell response to an immunodominant SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid epitope

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63288-3