Multi-Epitope Vaccine Design Using an Immunoinformatic Approach for SARS-CoV-2

Pathogens

Xinlei Zhuang¹  Min Qiu²  Kui Wang²  Shuqing Chen²  Lantian Lu²  Liang Liu²  Shanshan Zhang²  Ning Han²  Fan Mo²  Qianpeng Guo²  Yingqiang Sun²  Ye Feng³  Shengmei Zou³  Haiping Jiang⁴  Yun Li⁵ 

[1] College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China;Hangzhou Neoantigen Therapeutics Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 310058, China;Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310001, China;The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310007, China;Zhejiang Forest Resources Monitoring Center, Hangzhou 310020, China;

关键词: COVID-19;    SARS-CoV-2;    epitope;    immunoinformatics;    peptide;    vaccine;   

DOI  :  10.3390/pathogens10060737

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

Unknown