T cell immunity, such as CD4 and CD8 T cell responses, plays a vital role in controlling the virus infection and pathological damage. Several studies have reported SARS-CoV-2 proteins could serve as ideal vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 infection by activating the T cell responses.
Based on the SARS-CoV-2 sequence and distribution of host HLA in the current study, we predicted the possible epitopes for the vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 infections. Firstly, the recent research retrieved the SARS-CoV-2 S and N protein sequences from the NCBI Database. Using the Immune Epitope Database Analysis Resource, we predicted the CTL epitopes of the SARS-CoV-2 S and N proteins according to worldwide frequency distributions of HLA-A, -B, and -C alleles. Our results predicted 90 and 106 epitopes of N and S proteins, respectively. Epitope cluster analysis showed 16 and 34 respective SARS-CoV-2 N and S protein clusters, which covered 95.91% and 96.14% of the global population, respectively. After epitope conservancy analysis, 8 N protein epitopes and 6 S protein epitopes showed conservancy within two SARS-CoV-2 types. Of these fourteen epitopes, thirteen could cover SARS coronavirus and Bat SARS-like coronavirus. The remaining epitope could cover MERS coronavirus.
Finally, the 14-epitope combination could vaccinate 89.60% of all individuals worldwide. The study concluded that single or combined CTL epitopes in the current study as candidates for vaccines to effectively control SARS-CoV-2 infection and development.
Reference: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645515.2020.1823777
