Olukitibi, T.A.; Ao, Z.; Warner, B.; Unat, R.; Kobasa, D.; Yao, X. Significance of Conserved Regions in Coronavirus Spike Protein for Developing a Novel Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Vaccines2023, 11, 545.
Olukitibi, T.A.; Ao, Z.; Warner, B.; Unat, R.; Kobasa, D.; Yao, X. Significance of Conserved Regions in Coronavirus Spike Protein for Developing a Novel Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Vaccines 2023, 11, 545.
Olukitibi, T.A.; Ao, Z.; Warner, B.; Unat, R.; Kobasa, D.; Yao, X. Significance of Conserved Regions in Coronavirus Spike Protein for Developing a Novel Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Vaccines2023, 11, 545.
Olukitibi, T.A.; Ao, Z.; Warner, B.; Unat, R.; Kobasa, D.; Yao, X. Significance of Conserved Regions in Coronavirus Spike Protein for Developing a Novel Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Vaccines 2023, 11, 545.
Abstract
Abstract: Over the years, several distinct pathogenic coronaviruses have emerged, including the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 which is difficult to curtail despite the availability of licensed vaccines. The difficulty in managing SARS-CoV-2 is linked to changes in the variants’ proteins, especially in the spike protein (S) used for viral entry. These mutations, especially in the S, enable the virus to evade the immune responses induced by natural infection or vaccination. However, some parts of the SP in the S1 subunit and the S2 subunit are considered conserved among coronaviruses. In this review, we will discuss the epitopes in the SARS-CoV-2 S1 and S2 subunit proteins that have been demonstrated by various studies to be conserved among coronaviruses and may be immunogenic for the development of vaccine. Considering the higher conservancy of the S2, we will further discuss the likely challenges that could limit the S2 subunit from inducing robust immune responses and the promising approaches to increase their immunogenicity.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
