We observed substantial differences in predicted Major Histocompatibility Complex II (MHCII) epitope presentation of SARS-CoV-2 proteins for different populations but only minor differences in predicted MHCI epitope presentation. A comparison of this predicted epitope MHC-coverage revealed for the early phase of infection spread (till day 15 after reaching 128 observed infection cases) highly significant negative correlations with the case fatality rate. Specifically, this was observed in different populations for MHC class II presentation of the viral spike protein ( p -value: 0.0733 for linear regression), the envelope protein ( p -value: 0.023), and the membrane protein ( p -value: 0.00053), indicating that the high case fatality rates of COVID-19 observed in some countries seem to be related with poor MHC class II presentation and hence weak adaptive immune response against these viral envelope proteins. Our results highlight the general importance of the SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins in immunological control in early infection spread looking at a global census in various countries and taking case fatality rate into account. Other factors such as health system and control measures become more important after the early spread. Our study should encourage further studies on MHCII alleles as potential risk factors in COVID-19 including assessment of local populations and specific allele distributions.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, T-cell, epitope mapping, B-cell, population coverage, lethality rate, MHC II, MHC I, infection spread, 【초록키워드】 Infection, Local, Population, Spread, membrane protein, Case fatality rate, Linear regression, envelope protein, structural protein, health system, Adaptive immune response, epitope, Other, histocompatibility, early infection, Major, viral spike protein, Factor, viral envelope proteins, early phase, significant negative correlation, potential risk, Fatality rate, measure, allele, SARS-CoV-2 protein, MHCII, MHC class, distributions, country, immunological, highlight, predicted, the SARS-CoV-2, 【제목키워드】 MHC class II, presentation, Rate,