IDENTIFICATION AND USES OF PEPTIDE SEQUENCES OF SARS-COV-2 T CELL AND B CELL EPITOPES

20250000965

18/260767

January 10, 2022

The present disclosure identifies a set of T cell and B cell epitopes derived from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 1 (SARS-CoV-1) and their use in designing vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. A method for eliciting an immune response for prophylactic or therapeutic application using the T cell and/or B cell epitopes is described. Further disclosed are SARS-CoV-2-specific polypeptides, nucleic acids, host cells, and corresponding compositions for eliciting or measuring an immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and/or other coronaviruses.

1. A peptide of no more than 500 amino acids, comprising (1) at least one T cell epitope set forth in Table 3 or Tables 15-47 or (2) at least one B cell epitope set forth in Table 4, the peptide optionally further comprising at least one heterologous amino acid sequence.

2. The peptide of claim 1, comprising or consisting of at least one of the T cell epitopes.

3. The peptide of claim 1, comprising or consisting of at least one of the B cell epitopes.

4. The peptide of claim 1, comprising or consisting of at least one of the T cell epitopes and at least one heterologous amino acid sequence.

5. The peptide of claim 1, comprising or consisting of at least one of the B cell epitopes and at least one heterologous amino acid sequence.

6. A nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding the peptide of claim 1.

7. An expression cassette comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding the peptide of claim 1, operably linked to a promoter.

8. A vector comprising the expression cassette of claim 7.

9. A host cell comprising the vector of claim 8.

10. A composition comprising (1) the peptide of claim 1; and (2) a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.

11. The composition of claim 10, further comprising an adjuvant.

12. The composition of claim 10, comprising a plurality of peptides each comprising a T cell epitope set forth in Table 3 or Tables 15-47.

13. A method of eliciting an immune response in a subject in need thereof, the method comprising administering to the subject an effective amount of a composition comprising (1) the peptide of claim 1.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the composition is administered to the subject by a route selected from the group consisting of, subcutaneous, intramuscular, and oral.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the subject is at risk of exposure to SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-2 infection.

16. A kit for eliciting an immune response in a subject in need thereof, the kit comprising a first container containing the composition comprising (1) the peptide of claim 1, optionally an additional container containing a therapeutic agent against SARS-CoV-2.

17. The kit of claim 16, further comprising at least a second container each containing at least one different composition.

18. A method for detecting T cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in a subject, comprising: (1) contacting T cells obtained from the subject with a T cell epitope set forth in Table 3 or Tables 15-47 and antigen-presenting cells having an HLA allele associated with the epitope; and (2) detecting activation of the T cells, thereby detecting presence of T cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in the subject.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein step (2) comprises detection of T cell proliferation or T cell secretion of one or more cytokines.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein step (2) comprises T cell proliferation assay, flow cytometry, ELISPOT, or ELISA.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein step (1) comprises contacting T cells obtained from the subject with a composition comprising a plurality of peptides each comprising a T cell epitope set forth in Table 3 or Tables 15-47 and antigen-presenting cells having HLA alleles associated with each of the plurality of epitopes.

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edspap.20250000965