In silico Multi Subunit Vaccine Design Referring Spike Glycoprotein of SARS-COV-2 (COVID–19): The World Pandemic

Abstract

Contagious human coronavirus belong to family Coronaviridae and infects human respiratory system causing the disease known as COVID-19 (WHO). To eradicate the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic, an effective vaccine should be developed. In the current study immunoinformatics procedures were employed to introduce a novel multi-epitope subunit vaccine. This multi-epitope vaccine can activate equally class I and II human leukocyte antigen and antibody mediated immune responses. Spike glycoprotein (PDB Id: 6VSB) of the coronavirus was selected and analysed using immune epitope database server for prediction of potential immunogenic B and T-cell epitopes. Population conservation studies of the selected protein and predicted epitopes were also performed using population conservancy analysis tool of immune epitope database resource. The two dimensional and three dimensional structure of multi-epitope vaccine were predicted and authenticated using PROCheck and Raptor-X servers. Docking results of the multi-epitope vaccine peptide with human leukocyte antigen class I and II alleles predicted efficient binding and the resulted docked models were stable during simulation. In silico immune evaluation using C-ImmSim server showed that the peptide could concurrently elicit cell-mediated and humoral immune responses. Immune simulation studies significantly anticipated high levels of IgM and IgG, T-helper, T-cytotoxic cells, INF-γ.