Cell Rep Med: Targeting the COVID-19 vaccine using cancer immunotherapy tools

, June 18, 2020 /PRNewswirebioON,, researchers at the Children's Hospital of Cancer Philadelphia (CHOP) used tools used to develop cancer immunotherapy to make them suitable for identifying vaccine targets in the SARS-CoV-2 virus genome, using methods used to stimulate immune responses to cause immune response attackstumor seviralcellsUsing this strategy, the researchers believe that the resulting vaccine will provide protection in the population and trigger a long-term immune responseThe study was published in the journal Cell Reports MedicinePhoto Source: NIAID"In many ways, cancer is like a virus, so our team decided to use the tools we developed to identify unique childhood cancers that can be targeted with immunotherapy to determine the correct target protein sequence in SARS-CoV-2." Senior author DrJohn MMaris, a pediatric oncologist at chop cancer research center and professor of pediatriconcology
at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, said"Using computational tools developed and improved by DrMark Yarmarkovich of my lab, the lead author of the study, we can now prioritize viruses based on their ability to stimulate a persistent immune response, which is expected to be the case in the vast majority of humans." We believe that our approach provides a roadmap for a vaccine that is both safe and effective and can be produced on a large scale"
there is an urgent need to develop a safe and effective vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the new coronapneumonia due to the new coronapneumonia pandemic A vaccine that is optimized to maximize the immune response while minimizing adverse , autoimmune or disease deterioration to improve the likelihood that the vaccine is safe and effective, the team prioritized parameters when determining the target area of the virus The researchers looked for areas that stimulate the response of memory T-cells, which, when paired with the correct B cells, will drive the formation of memory B cells and provide long-lasting immunity, as is possible in most human genomes They target SARS-CoV-2 regions present in a variety of related coronaviruses, as well as new mutations that increase infectiousness, while also ensuring that these regions differ as much as possible from the sequences that occur naturally in humans to maximize safety researchers have come up with a list of 65 peptide sequences that offer the greatest possible possibility of providing population immunity when targeting these peptide sequences Next, the team will test more than a dozen different combinations of these sequences on mouse models to assess their safety and efficacy Dr Yarmarkovich said, "With the third outbreak in the past two decades, all viruses originate from the coronavirus family, and these viruses will continue to threaten humans, so it is necessary to take precautions against future outbreaks." A subset of the sequences selected in our study came from virus regions that were very similar to other coronaviruses, so our approach, if successful, not only prevented SARS-CoV-2, but also prevented other coronaviruses that might occur in the future " (BioValleyBioon.com) References: Scientists Identify Targets for COVID-19 Using Cancer Immunotherapy Tools Mark Yarmarkovich et al, Identify of SARS-CoV-2 Epitop Eges Predictes to Long-Long-Scale Population I, DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2020.100036