Understanding the B and T cells epitopes of spike protein of severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2: A computational way to predict the immunogens

Yoya Vashi; Vipin Jagrit; Sachin Kumar

The 2019 novel severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak 25 has caused a large number of deaths with thousands of confirmed cases worldwide. The present 26 study followed computational approaches to identify B-and T-cell epitopes for spike 27 glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 by its interactions with the human leukocyte antigen alleles. We 28 identified twenty-four peptide stretches on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that are well 29 conserved among the reported strains. The S protein structure further validated the presence of 30 predicted peptides on the surface. Out of which twenty are surface exposed and predicted to 31 have reasonable epitope binding efficiency. The work could be useful for understanding the 32 immunodominant regions in the surface protein of SARS-CoV-2 and could potentially help in 33 designing some peptide-based diagnostics. binding domains of S proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV bind with similar affinities to 74 human ACE2 11,12 . 75 As the situation worsens, there is a growing need for the development of suitable 76 therapeutics and alternate diagnostics against SARS-CoV-2 for effective disease management 77 strategies. Diagnostic assays based on peptides have become increasingly substantial and 78 indispensable for its advantages over conventional methods 13 . The present study aimed to 79 locate appropriate epitopes within a particular protein antigen, which can elicit an immune 80 response that could be selected for the synthesis of the immunogenic peptide. Using 81 computational approach, S glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 was explored to identify various 82 immunodominant epitopes for the development of diagnostics. Besides, the results could also 83 help us to understand the SARS-CoV-2 surface protein response towards T and B cells. To identify an immunodominant region, it is of extreme importance to select the 92 conserved region within the S protein of SARS-CoV-2. All the sequences were compared 6 The potential epitopes are represented by blue peaks, while green-colored slopes represent non-124 epitopic regions (Figure 2 ).