SARS-CoV-2 Epitope Peptides Inducing Cytotoxic T Cells
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current COVID-19 vaccines primarily focus on inducing neutralizing antibodies, which may become ineffective due to viral mutations, and lack effective induction of cellular immunity, while existing testing methods for SARS-CoV-2 infection are limited by low antibody titers in asymptomatic individuals.
Innovation Solution
Development of epitope peptides that bind to specific HLA alleles (e.g., HLA-A*02:01, HLA-A*02:06, HLA-A*24:02) to induce cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), which are potent immune responders, and the creation of pharmaceutical compositions and methods to administer these peptides for inducing CTLs and immune responses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If vaccines focus on inducing neutralizing antibodies against the spike protein, then humoral immunity is improved, but the vaccine becomes ineffective when viral mutations occur and cellular immunity is not sufficiently induced
Solution Approach 1:
The vaccine divides the antigenic target into multiple segments: instead of focusing solely on the spike protein, it includes epitopes from multiple SARS-CoV-2 proteins (nucleoprotein, envelope protein, membrane protein, and non-structural proteins). This segmentation ensures that if one viral protein mutates, other segments remain recognizable by the immune system, maintaining vaccine effectiveness against variants.
Solution Approach 2:
The vaccine achieves multi-functionality by simultaneously inducing both humoral immunity (antibody production) and cellular immunity (CTL response). The composition includes epitopes capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies against the spike protein while also containing epitopes from other viral proteins that induce cytotoxic T lymphocytes, providing comprehensive immune protection that adapts to viral mutations.
2Ease of operation
If testing methods rely on antibody titers, then humoral immunity assessment is simplified, but detection accuracy is reduced in asymptomatic individuals with low antibody responses
Solution Approach 1:
The testing method introduces T cell response analysis as an intermediary marker for infection detection. Instead of directly measuring viral presence or relying solely on antibody titers, the method uses the immune system's T cell response to viral antigens as a mediator that indicates infection status. This intermediary approach maintains testing simplicity while improving accuracy in asymptomatic cases where antibody responses are weak.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides epitope peptides which are derived from SARS-CoV-2 proteins and have the ability to induce cytotoxic T cells. The present invention also provides polynucleotides encoding the peptides, antigen-presenting cells that present the peptides, and cytotoxic T cells that target the peptides, and methods of inducing the antigen-presenting cells or CTLs. The present invention further provides compositions and pharmaceutical compositions containing them as active ingredients. Moreover, the present invention provides methods of treating and/or preventing coronavirus infectious diseases, and/or methods of suppressing the aggravation of coronavirus infectious diseases by using the peptides, polynucleotides, antigen-presenting cells, cytotoxic T cells, or pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention. The present invention also provides methods of inducing an immune response against coronavirus infection. Furthermore, the present invention provides methods of examining the history of coronavirus infection by detecting TCR sequences of a subject.