Multi-Epitope Vaccine Design Using an Immunoinformatic Approach for SARS-CoV-2.
Pathogens
; 10(6)2021 Jun 11.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1270096
ABSTRACT
Through 4 June 2021, COVID-19 has caused over 172.84 million cases of infection and 3.71 million deaths worldwide. Due to its rapid dissemination and high mutation rate, it is essential to develop a vaccine harboring multiple epitopes and efficacious against multiple variants to prevent the immune escape of SARS-CoV-2. An in silico approach based on the viral genome was applied to identify 19 high-immunogenic B-cell epitopes and 499 human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-restricted T-cell epitopes. Thirty multi-epitope peptide vaccines were designed by iNeo-Suite and manufactured by solid-phase synthesis. Docking analysis confirmed stable hydrogen bonds of epitopes with their corresponding HLA alleles. When four peptide candidates derived from the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 were selected to immunize mice, a significantly larger amount of total IgG in serum, as well as an increase of CD19+ cells in the inguinal lymph nodes, were observed in the peptide-immunized mice compared to the control. The ratios of IFN-γ-secreting lymphocytes in CD4+ or CD8+ T-cells in the peptide-immunized mice were higher than those in the control mice. There were also a larger number of IFN-γ-secreting T-cells in the spleens of peptide-immunized mice. The peptide vaccines in this study successfully elicited antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses in mice. To further validate the safety and efficacy of this vaccine, animal studies using a primate model, as well as clinical trials in humans, are required.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Vaccines
/
Variants
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Pathogens10060737
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