Molecular Clamp

The Molecular Clamp is a proprietary vaccine platform technology developed by the University of Queensland designed to stabilize viral surface proteins in their most immunogenic state. Many enveloped viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), utilize fusion proteins that undergo a significant conformational change to facilitate host cell entry. The Molecular Clamp technology involves the genetic fusion of a specific polypeptide sequence to these viral proteins, which clamps them into their pre-fusion conformation (Chappell et al., 2021, The Lancet Infectious Diseases). This stabilization is critical because the pre-fusion form typically displays the most potent neutralizing epitopes for the immune system to recognize. While the initial version of the technology faced challenges due to its use of an HIV-derived sequence that caused false-positive diagnostic tests, the updated Molecular Clamp 2.0 utilizes alternative sequences to achieve the same stabilizing effect without diagnostic interference (Watterson et al., 2022, Nature Communications). This platform is intended to enable the rapid development of highly effective subunit vaccines against a wide range of human and animal viruses.

Other names

UQ Molecular ClampMolecular Clamp 2.0Pre-fusion stabilization domainv451 platform

The Molecular Clamp functions by providing a trimerization domain that is genetically fused to the C-terminus of viral class I fusion proteins. This domain acts as a structural clamp that locks the protein in its metastable pre-fusion conformation, preventing it from collapsing into the post-fusion state. By maintaining the pre-fusion structure, the technology ensures that the immune system is presented with the most relevant epitopes for generating high-titer neutralizing antibodies (Watterson et al., 2020, Clinical & Translational Immunology; Chappell et al., 2021, The Lancet Infectious Diseases).