Novel epitope based peptides for vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 virus: immunoinformatics with docking approach

Authors

  • Jesvin Bency B. Department of Biotechnology, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abishekapatti, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Mary Helen P. A. Department of Biotechnology, Malankara Catholic College, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20202875

Keywords:

Epitope‐based peptides, S protein, SARS-CoV-2 virus, Vaccine

Abstract

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative viral strain for the contagious pandemic respiratory illness in humans which is a public health emergency of international concern. There is a desperate need for vaccines and antiviral strategies to combat the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: The present study based on computational methods has identified novel conserved cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes as well as linear and discontinuous B-cell epitopes on the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein. The predicted MHC class I and class II binding peptides were further checked for their antigenic scores, allergenicity, toxicity, digesting enzymes and mutation.

Results: A total of fourteen linear B-cell epitopes where GQSKRVDFC displayed the highest antigenicity-score and sixteen highly antigenic 100% conserved T-cell epitopes including the most potential vaccine candidates MHC class-I peptide KIADYNYKL and MHC class-II peptide VVFLHVTYV were identified. Furthermore, the potential peptide QGFSALEPL with high antigenicity score attached to larger number of human leukocyte antigen alleles. Docking analyses of the allele HLA-B*5201 predicted to be immunogenic to several of the selected epitopes revealed that the peptides engaged in strong binding with the HLA-B*5201 allele.

Conclusions: Collectively, this research provides novel candidates for epitope-based peptide vaccine design against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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Published

2020-06-26

How to Cite

B., J. B., & P. A., M. H. (2020). Novel epitope based peptides for vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 virus: immunoinformatics with docking approach. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 8(7), 2385–2394. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20202875

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Original Research Articles