Epitope-Based Vaccine Design against Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Envelope Protein

Abstract

Objectives: The outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has infected millions of people, with a large number of deaths across 200 countries. The sudden emergence of the virus leads to limited available therapies for SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, vaccines and antiviral medicines are in desperate need. Methods: This study took immune-informatics approaches to identify B-and T-cell epitopes for the envelope membrane protein (E) of SARS-CoV-2, followed by estimating their antigenicity and interactions with the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles. Results: We identified three B cell epitopes (“NSSRVPD”, “SRVKNLNSSRV”, “SRVPDLLV”), two MHC class-I (“FLLVTLAIL”, “VSLVKPSFY”) and one MHC class-II binding T-cell epitopes (“LLFLAFVVFLLVTLA”), which showed highly antigenic fea-tures. Allergenicity, toxicity and physicochemical properties analysis confirmed the specificity and selectivity of epit-opes. The stability and safety of epitopes were confirmed by digestion analysis. Conclusion: Epitopes were thus identified and some of them can be potential candidates for vaccine development.