Epitope-based peptide vaccine design and target site characterization against novel coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2

Lin Li; Ting Sun; Yufei He; Wendong Li; Yubo Fan; Jing Zhang

All selected B-cell and MHC class I and II binding T cell epitopes were examined for their allergenicity, hydro and physiochemical features, toxicity and digestion. Allergenicity of B-cell and T-cell epitopes were assessed by Allergen FP 1.0 (http://ddg-pharmfac.net/AllergenFP/). Toxicity of B-cell and T-cell epitopes along with hydrophobicity, hydropathicity, hydrophilicity and charge were evaluated by ToxinPred (https://webs.iiitd.edu.in/raghava/toxinpred/index.html). The peptides that can be digested by several enzymes are usually non-stable, while the peptides digested by fewer enzymes are more stable, so that those are more favorable vaccine candidates. Examined by protein digest server (http://db.systemsbiology.net:8080/proteomicsToolkit/proteinDigest.html), the digestion of B-and T-cell epitopes by 13 enzymes including Trypsin, Chymotrpsin, Clostripain, Cyanogen Bromide, IodosoBenzoate, Proline Endopept, Staph Protease, Trypsin K, Trypsin R, AspN, Chymotrypsin (modified), Elastase, and Elastase/Trypsin/Chymotryp.