An immunoinformatic approach for identifying and designing conserved multi-epitope vaccines for coronaviruses

Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus has exposed the vulnerabilities and unpreparedness of the global healthcare system in dealing with emerging zoonoses. In the past two decades, coronaviruses (CoV) have...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ong, Yu Chuan, Tejo, Bimo Ario, Yap, Wei Boon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2024
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114918/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114918/1/114918.pdf
_version_ 1848866634077306880
author Ong, Yu Chuan
Tejo, Bimo Ario
Yap, Wei Boon
author_facet Ong, Yu Chuan
Tejo, Bimo Ario
Yap, Wei Boon
author_sort Ong, Yu Chuan
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus has exposed the vulnerabilities and unpreparedness of the global healthcare system in dealing with emerging zoonoses. In the past two decades, coronaviruses (CoV) have been responsible for three major viral outbreaks, and the likelihood of future outbreaks caused by these viruses is high and nearly inevitable. Therefore, effective prophylactic universal vaccines targeting multiple circulating and emerging coronavirus strains are warranted. Methods: This study utilized an immunoinformatic approach to identify evolutionarily conserved CD4+ (HTL) and CD8+ (CTL) T cells, and B-cell epitopes in the coronaviral spike (S) glycoprotein. Results: A total of 132 epitopes were identified, with the majority of them found to be conserved across the bat CoVs, pangolin CoVs, endemic coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2, and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Their peptide sequences were then aligned and assembled to identify the overlapping regions. Eventually, two major peptide assemblies were derived based on their promising immune-stimulating properties. Conclusions: In this light, they can serve as lead candidates for universal coronavirus vaccine development, particularly in the search for pan-coronavirus multi-epitope universal vaccines that can confer protection against current and novel coronaviruses.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T14:23:43Z
format Article
id upm-114918
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T14:23:43Z
publishDate 2024
publisher Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling upm-1149182025-02-10T04:17:16Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114918/ An immunoinformatic approach for identifying and designing conserved multi-epitope vaccines for coronaviruses Ong, Yu Chuan Tejo, Bimo Ario Yap, Wei Boon Background/Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus has exposed the vulnerabilities and unpreparedness of the global healthcare system in dealing with emerging zoonoses. In the past two decades, coronaviruses (CoV) have been responsible for three major viral outbreaks, and the likelihood of future outbreaks caused by these viruses is high and nearly inevitable. Therefore, effective prophylactic universal vaccines targeting multiple circulating and emerging coronavirus strains are warranted. Methods: This study utilized an immunoinformatic approach to identify evolutionarily conserved CD4+ (HTL) and CD8+ (CTL) T cells, and B-cell epitopes in the coronaviral spike (S) glycoprotein. Results: A total of 132 epitopes were identified, with the majority of them found to be conserved across the bat CoVs, pangolin CoVs, endemic coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2, and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Their peptide sequences were then aligned and assembled to identify the overlapping regions. Eventually, two major peptide assemblies were derived based on their promising immune-stimulating properties. Conclusions: In this light, they can serve as lead candidates for universal coronavirus vaccine development, particularly in the search for pan-coronavirus multi-epitope universal vaccines that can confer protection against current and novel coronaviruses. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2024-11-05 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_4 http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114918/1/114918.pdf Ong, Yu Chuan and Tejo, Bimo Ario and Yap, Wei Boon (2024) An immunoinformatic approach for identifying and designing conserved multi-epitope vaccines for coronaviruses. Biomedicines, 12 (11). art. no. 2530. ISSN 2227-9059; eISSN: 2227-9059 https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/12/11/2530 10.3390/biomedicines12112530
spellingShingle Ong, Yu Chuan
Tejo, Bimo Ario
Yap, Wei Boon
An immunoinformatic approach for identifying and designing conserved multi-epitope vaccines for coronaviruses
title An immunoinformatic approach for identifying and designing conserved multi-epitope vaccines for coronaviruses
title_full An immunoinformatic approach for identifying and designing conserved multi-epitope vaccines for coronaviruses
title_fullStr An immunoinformatic approach for identifying and designing conserved multi-epitope vaccines for coronaviruses
title_full_unstemmed An immunoinformatic approach for identifying and designing conserved multi-epitope vaccines for coronaviruses
title_short An immunoinformatic approach for identifying and designing conserved multi-epitope vaccines for coronaviruses
title_sort immunoinformatic approach for identifying and designing conserved multi-epitope vaccines for coronaviruses
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114918/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114918/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114918/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114918/1/114918.pdf