Abstract

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) is the cause of COVID-19 which is the pandemic as of the current time. It is a global public health emergency and is still on the loose of spreading more infections and deaths. Bioinformatics offer extensive visualization and analysis of combined molecular, cellular, biochemical and immunobiologic aspects of SARS-CoV-2 which is indeed vital for antibody and vaccine development.

Objectives: This paper presents the SARS-CoV-2 molecular virologic, biochemical, cellular and immunobiologic features and gives a basic B cell linear epitope prediction of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein using bioinformatics which both can serve as a guide for development of vaccines or antibody-based treatments.

Methods: Several bioinformatic methods were used, from sequence analysis (Uniprot), structural correlation (PDB), molecular modelling (UCSF Chimera) and illustration (Biorender), B cell linear epitope prediction tools, conservancy analysis and search of related epitopes (IEDB) together with determination of disordered regions (GlobPlot and DisEMBL).

Results: Host enzymes such as furin, cathepsin L and TMPRSS2 enable pre-processing of SARS-CoV-2 prior to infecting cells such as monocytes, macrophages and alveolar cells. Sialylated cells can potentially be infected with SARS-CoV-2. A 29 and an 11-residues long B cell linear epitope candidates were predicted from the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein to be the potential target of antibodies or vaccines.

Conclusion: SARS-CoV-2 binds to many host receptors and is enzymatically processed leading to infection of many human cells. Prediction of B cell linear epitopes using bioinformatics can be vital for antibody or vaccine development. Integration of Tropical Medicine and Bioinformatics can offer new horizons and can turn the battle against SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: SARS-Cov-2; COVID-19; Tropical Medicine; Bioinformatics; Epitope; Vaccine

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Citation

Citation: Joshua Angelo Hermida Mandanas. “On SARS-CoV-2, Tropical Medicine and Bioinformatics: Analysis of the SARS-Cov-2 Molecular Features and Epitope Prediction for Antibody or Vaccine Development". Acta Scientific Microbiology 4.1 (2021): 03-20.

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Copyright: © 2021 Joshua Angelo Hermida Mandanas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.