Scrutinizing the SARS-CoV-2 protein information for the designing an effective vaccine encompassing both the T-cell and B-cell epitopes

Neha Jain; Uma Shankar; Prativa Majee; Amit Kumar

To check the interaction of the vaccine construct with the immune receptors, protein-protein docking was performed. Various immune receptors like Toll-like receptors (TLRs) act as sensor proteins that help in recognizing and differentiating self and non-self molecules and cells. They help in recognizing molecular patterns on the surface of foreign particles like viruses, bacteria and fungi and elicit immune response against these infectious agents. TLR3 acts as a nucleic acid sensor and helps in recognizing RNA and DNA viruses inside the human body and establishes a protective role against this infectious agents [68] . In SARS-CoV infection, TLR3 signaling contributes to the innate immune response against the viral infection [69] . Thus agonist of TLR3, β-defensin that also acts as an adjuvant was added to the vaccine construct. Also, the molecular interaction analysis of the vaccine construct with the TLR3 resulted into a stable complex formation that was energetically favorable. RSMD analysis of the vaccine construct and the vaccine construct-TLR3 complex depicted the stable nature of both the systems in the real environment.