AUTHOR=Yu Mingkai , Zhu Yuejie , Li Yujiao , Chen Zhiqiang , Li Zhiwei , Wang Jing , Li Zheng , Zhang Fengbo , Ding Jianbing 

TITLE=Design of a Recombinant Multivalent Epitope Vaccine Based on SARS-CoV-2 and Its Variants in Immunoinformatics Approaches

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.884433

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2022.884433

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=The development of an effective multivalent vaccine against SARA-CoV-2 variants is an important means to improve the global public health situation caused by COVID-19. In this study, we identified the antigen epitopes of the main global epidemic SARS-CoV-2 and mutated virus strains using immunoinformatics approach, and screened out 8 cytotoxic T lymphocyte epitopes (CTLEs), 17 helper T lymphocyte epitopes (HTLEs), 9 linear B-cell epitopes and 4 conformational B-cell epitopes. The global population coverage of CTLEs and HTLEs was 93.16% and 99.9% respectively. These epitopes were spliced together by corresponding linkers and recombined into multivalent vaccine. In silico tests, the vaccine protein was a non-allergen and the docking with TLR-3 molecule showed a strong interaction. The immunogenicity of the vaccine was confirmed in vivo and in vitro finally. Therefore, our vaccine may have potential protection for SARA-CoV-2 and its variants.