Immunity in Harmony: Utilizing Overlapping Epitopes for Tuberculosis and COVID-19 Protection.

IF 2.5 4区生物学 Q4 BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Protein and Peptide Letters Pub Date : 2026-01-01 DOI:10.2174/0109298665417756251207111117

Kritika Pasricha, Shivank Prajapati, Taruna Lamba, Jonaid Ahmad Malik, Mohd Affan Khan, Sidhanta Nanda, Mohammad Adeel Zafar, Nitesh Mani Tripathi, Anupam Bandyopadhyay, Javed Naim Agrewala

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: The BCG vaccine, widely administered against tuberculosis, has also been linked to reduced incidence of bacterial and viral infections, particularly those affecting the respiratory tract. Its antigens enhance innate immune responses and contribute to therapeutic effects, such as those observed in bladder cancer. Notably, reduced COVID-19 incidence has been reported in BCG-vaccinated populations from TB-endemic regions.

Methods: To investigate this hypothesis, immunoinformatics tools were employed to identify overlapping CD4, CD8, and B-cell epitopes shared between Mycobacteria and SARS-CoV-2. The most promising CD8 epitope was synthesized using the SPPS-Fmoc method, and antigen-specific Tcell proliferation was evaluated by CFSE dye-dilution assay. Additionally, the expression of proand anti-inflammatory molecules was assessed using qRT-PCR.

Results: Multiple overlapping T-cell and B-cell epitopes were identified between Mycobacteria and SARS-CoV-2. The T-cell epitopes displayed promiscuous binding characteristics, high immunogenicity, and strong affinity for both HLA class I and class II alleles. Experimental validation using the most immunodominant T-cell epitope confirmed its ability to induce proliferation and differentiation of T cells isolated from COVID-19-vaccinated individuals.

Discussion: The overlapping T-cell and B-cell epitopes identified through this approach may provide broader and more robust protection than initial exposure to virus-specific antigens, which the immune system encounters for the first time during infection or vaccination. This strategy may therefore support the rapid and effective development of future vaccines, particularly against emerging pathogens.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that the higher level of protection observed in TB-endemic countries during recent pandemics may be attributable to cross-reactive mycobacterial antigens that stimulate protective immunity.

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和谐免疫：利用重叠表位对结核病和COVID-19的保护。

导论：广泛用于结核病的卡介苗也与减少细菌和病毒感染的发生率有关，特别是那些影响呼吸道的感染。它的抗原增强先天免疫反应，有助于治疗效果，例如在膀胱癌中观察到的效果。值得注意的是，据报告，在结核病流行地区接种过bcg的人群中，COVID-19发病率有所下降。方法：为了验证这一假设，利用免疫信息学工具鉴定分枝杆菌和SARS-CoV-2之间共有的重叠CD4、CD8和b细胞表位。利用SPPS-Fmoc方法合成最有希望的CD8表位，并通过CFSE染料稀释法评估抗原特异性t细胞增殖。此外，采用qRT-PCR检测抗炎分子的表达。结果：分枝杆菌与SARS-CoV-2之间存在多个重叠的t细胞和b细胞表位。t细胞表位表现出混杂结合特征、高免疫原性和对HLA I类和II类等位基因的强亲和力。利用最具免疫优势的T细胞表位进行实验验证，证实其能够诱导从covid -19疫苗接种个体分离的T细胞增殖和分化。讨论：通过这种方法鉴定的重叠的t细胞和b细胞表位可能比初次暴露于病毒特异性抗原提供更广泛和更强大的保护，这是免疫系统在感染或接种疫苗期间第一次遇到的。因此，这一战略可能有助于快速有效地开发未来疫苗，特别是针对新出现的病原体的疫苗。结论：研究结果表明，结核病流行国家在最近大流行期间观察到的较高保护水平可能归因于刺激保护性免疫的交叉反应性分枝杆菌抗原。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Protein and Peptide Letters 生物-生化与分子生物学

CiteScore

2.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Protein & Peptide Letters publishes letters, original research papers, mini-reviews and guest edited issues in all important aspects of protein and peptide research, including structural studies, advances in recombinant expression, function, synthesis, enzymology, immunology, molecular modeling, and drug design. Manuscripts must have a significant element of novelty, timeliness and urgency that merit rapid publication. Reports of crystallization and preliminary structure determination of biologically important proteins are considered only if they include significant new approaches or deal with proteins of immediate importance, and preliminary structure determinations of biologically important proteins. Purely theoretical/review papers should provide new insight into the principles of protein/peptide structure and function. Manuscripts describing computational work should include some experimental data to provide confirmation of the results of calculations. Protein & Peptide Letters focuses on: Structure Studies Advances in Recombinant Expression Drug Design Chemical Synthesis Function Pharmacology Enzymology Conformational Analysis Immunology Biotechnology Protein Engineering Protein Folding Sequencing Molecular Recognition Purification and Analysis