SARS-CoV-2 Peptide Epitopes for Broad Immune Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current COVID-19 treatments are limited, and there is an urgent need for improved efficacy and protection against severe disease and hospitalization, particularly due to emerging virus variants that may evade vaccine-induced antibody responses.
Innovation Solution
Development of peptides comprising specific T cell and B cell epitopes, optionally with heterologous amino acid sequences, to elicit a robust immune response against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronavirus infections, including the use of nucleic acids encoding these peptides and expression cassettes for vaccine development.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If monoclonal antibody treatments are used to treat COVID-19, then the immune system can recognize and respond more effectively to the virus, but the risk-benefit assessment may not be favorable due to increased frequency of resistant variants
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the viral antigen into multiple distinct epitopes (T cell epitopes and B cell epitopes) that are presented separately to the immune system. This segmentation allows the vaccine to target multiple conserved regions of the virus simultaneously, reducing the likelihood that a single mutation can confer resistance, thereby addressing the adaptability problem while maintaining reliability of treatment efficacy
Solution Approach 2:
The vaccine composition is designed to elicit multiple types of immune responses (both T cell and B cell responses) against multiple epitopes, creating a multi-functional immune protection. This universal approach ensures that the vaccine remains effective against various virus variants by targeting conserved epitopes that are less likely to mutate, thus improving adaptability while maintaining treatment reliability
2Reliability
If vaccines are developed to induce neutralizing antibody response, then protection against severe disease can be provided, but there is an unmet need for vaccines that may induce a robust neutralizing antibody response due to emerging virus variants
Solution Approach 1:
The vaccine employs T cell epitopes that prime the immune system in advance to recognize conserved viral regions before variant emergence. This preliminary action creates a foundational immune response that can adapt to future variants, providing reliable protection against severe disease while maintaining adaptability to emerging virus strains
Solution Approach 2:
The vaccine combines multiple epitope types (T cell epitopes from Tables 15-47 and B cell epitopes from Table 4) into a composite immunogenic composition. This composite approach integrates diverse immune targets that collectively provide robust and adaptable protection against severe disease across different virus variants, overcoming the limitations of single-epitope vaccines
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure identifies a set of T cell and B cell epitopes derived from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 1 (SARS-CoV-1) and their use in designing vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. A method for eliciting an immune response for prophylactic or therapeutic application using the T cell and/or B cell epitopes is described. Further disclosed are SARS-CoV-2-specific polypeptides, nucleic acids, host cells, and corresponding compositions for eliciting or measuring an immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and/or other coronaviruses.