Background Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-COV) is the main cause of lung and kidney infections in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia and South Korea. This infectious single-stranded, positive (+) sense RNA virus enters the host by binding to dipeptidyl-peptide receptors. Since no vaccine is yet available for MERS-COV, rapid case identification, isolation, and infection prevention strategies must be used to combat the spreading of MERS-COV infection. Additionally, there is a desperate need for vaccines and antiviral strategies. Methods The present study used immuno-informatics and computational approaches to identify conserved B- and T cell epitopes for the MERS-COV spike (S) protein that may perform a significant role in eliciting the resistance response to MERS-COV infection. Results Many conserved cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes and discontinuous and linear B-cell epitopes were predicted for the MERS-COV S protein, and their antigenicity and interactions with the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B7 allele were estimated. Among B-cell epitopes, QLQMGFGITVQYGT displayed the highest antigenicity-score, and was immensely immunogenic. Among T-cell epitopes, MHC class-I peptide YKLQPLTFL and MHC class-II peptide YCILEPRSG were identified as highly antigenic. Furthermore, docking analyses revealed that the predicted peptides engaged in strong bonding with the HLA-B7 allele. Conclusion The present study identified several MERS-COV S protein epitopes that are conserved among various isolates from different countries. The putative antigenic epitopes may prove effective as novel vaccines for eradication and combating of MERS-COV infection.
【저자키워드】 Vaccine design, MERS-CoV, Spike protein, Computational approaches, T-and B-cell epitopes, 【초록키워드】 Vaccine, S protein, Infection, peptide, lung, docking, Saudi Arabia, Antigen, Isolation, Infection prevention, receptors, HLA, antigenicity, RNA virus, respiratory, B-cell epitopes, T-cell epitopes, epitope, South Korea, MHC, T cell epitope, binding, Interaction, Analysis, Middle East, leukocyte, Antiviral strategies, immunogenic, allele, positive, kidney infection, Host, linear B-cell epitope, isolate, country, effective, single-stranded, combating, Result, highest, predicted, identify, conserved, antigenic epitope, computational approach, highly antigenic, HLA-B7 allele, S protein epitope, 【제목키워드】 peptide, respiratory, Middle East,