Engineered immunogens to elicit antibodies against conserved coronavirus epitopes.

ABSTRACT: Immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 primarily target the receptor binding domain of the spike protein, which continually mutates to escape acquired immunity. Other regions in the spike S2 subunit, such as the stem helix and the segment encompassing residues 815-823 adjacent to the fusion peptide, are highly conserved across sarbecoviruses and are recognized by broadly reactive antibodies, providing hope that vaccines targeting these epitopes could offer protection against both current and emergent viruses. Here we employ computational modeling to design scaffolded immunogens that display the spike 815-823 peptide and the stem helix epitopes without the distracting and immunodominant receptor binding domain. These engineered proteins bind with high affinity and specificity to the mature and germ

SUBMITTER: Kapingidza AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10689493 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature