Immunogenic SARS-CoV-2 Epitopes: In Silico Study Towards Better Understanding of COVID-19 Disease-Paving the Way for Vaccine Development.

ABSTRACT: The emergence of the COVID-19 outbreak at the end of 2019, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has, to date, led to over 13.6 million infections and nearly 600,000 deaths. Consequently, there is an urgent need to better understand the molecular factors triggering immune defense against the virus and to develop countermeasures to hinder its spread. Using in silico analyses, we showed that human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I cell-surface molecules vary in their capacity for binding different SARS-CoV-2-derived epitopes, i.e., short sequences of 8-11 amino acids, and pinpointed five specific SARS-CoV-2 epitopes that are likely to be presented to cytotoxic T-cells and hence activate immune responses. The identified epitopes, each one of nine amino acids, have high sequ

SUBMITTER: Ranga V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7564651 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature