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Microbes Infect
. 2020 May 21;S1286-4579(20)30091-5.
doi: 10.1016/j.micinf.2020.05.013. Online ahead of print.
Immunoinformatic Analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 Envelope Protein as a Strategy to Assess Cross-Protection Against COVID-19
Bruno Tilocca 1 , Alessio Soggiu 2 , Maurizio Sanguinetti 3 , Gabriele Babini 4 , Flavio De Maio 3 , Domenico Britti 1 , Alfonso Zecconi 5 , Luigi Bonizzi 5 , Andrea Urbani 6 , Paola Roncada 7
Affiliations
- PMID: 32446902
- DOI: 10.1016/j.micinf.2020.05.013
Abstract
Envelope protein of coronaviruses is a structural protein existing in both monomeric and homo-pentameric form. It has been related to a multitude of roles including virus infection, replication, dissemination and immune response stimulation. In the present study, we employed an immunoinformatic approach to investigate the major immunogenic domains of the SARS-CoV-2 envelope protein and map them among the homologue proteins of coronaviruses with tropism for animal species that are closely inter-related with the human beings population all over the world. Also, when not available, we predicted the envelope protein structural folding and mapped SARS-CoV-2 epitopes. Envelope sequences alignment provides evidence of high sequence homology for some of the investigated virus specimens; while the structural mapping of epitopes resulted in the interesting maintenance of the structural folding and epitope sequence localization also in the envelope proteins scoring a lower alignment score. In line with the One-Health approach, our evidences provide a molecular structural rationale for a potential role of taxonomically related coronaviruses in conferring protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection and identifying potential candidates for the development of diagnostic tools and prophylactic-oriented strategies.
Keywords: COVID-19; One-Health; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus; diagnosis; immunoinformatics.