Developing a multiepitope vaccine for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 and monkeypox virus co-infection: A reverse vaccinology analysis

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and monkeypox virus (MPXV) severely threaten human health; however, currently, no vaccine can prevent a co-infection with both viruses.Methods: Five antigens were selected to predict dominant T and B cell epitopes screened for immunogenicity, antigenicity, toxicity, and sensitization. After screening, all antigens joined in the construction of a novel mul-tiepitope vaccine. The physicochemical and immunological characteristics, and secondary and tertiary structures of the vaccine were predicted and analyzed using bio-and immunoinformatics. Finally, codon optimization and cloning in-silico were performed.Results: A new multiepitope vaccine, named S7M8, was constructed based on four helper T lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes, six cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes, five B cell epitopes, as well as Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists. The antigenicity and immunogenicity scores of the S7M8 vaccine were 0.907374 and 0.6552, respectively. The S7M8 vaccine was comprised of 26.96% alpha-helices, the optimized Z-value of the tertiary structure was-5.92, and the favored area after majorization in the Ramachandran plot was 84.54%. Molecular docking showed that the S7M8 vaccine could tightly bind to TLR2 (-1100.6 kcal/mol) and TLR4 (-950.3 kcal/ mol). In addition, the immune stimulation prediction indicated that the S7M8 vaccine could activate T and B lymphocytes to produce high levels of Th1 cytokines and antibodies.Conclusion: S7M8 is a promising biomarker with good antigenicity, immunogenicity, non-toxicity, and non -sensitization. The S7M8 vaccine can trigger significantly high levels of Th1 cytokines and antibodies and may be a potentially powerful tool in preventing SARS-CoV-2 and MPXV.

Automated summary

The researchers have developed a new multiepitope vaccine, S7M8, which can prevent infections of both severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and monkeypox virus (MPXV). The vaccine has good antigenicity, immunogenicity, and non-toxicity, and can activate the production of high levels of Th1 cytokines and antibodies.