Immunoinformatic investigation of three structural protein genes in Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates

Abstract

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 has crossed the species barrier to infect human. It is a rapidly spreading virus that has poses a significant public threat and is a considerable burden on the global economy and human health. Objective: We characterized the nucleocapsid phosphoprotein (N), membrane protein (M), and envelope protein (E) genes of Indonesian isolates to investigate genetic composition, predict B-cell epitopes, and construct a molecular phylogenetic tree. Methods: In the present work, we retrieved the sequences of 16 Indonesian isolates from the GISAID EpiCoV and the Wuhan-Hu-1 isolate (reference sequence) from GenBank, NCBI. We used MEGA X to identify mutations in the three structural protein genes and to construct a molecular phylogenetic tree. The IEDB was employed to reveal the linear B-cell epitopes and other parameters. Allergenicity prediction was evaluated using AllerTOP and ToxinPred was performed to analyze non-toxic antigen prediction. Results: In this study, we report the genetic composition of three structural protein genes in Indonesian SARS-CoV-2 isolates. Furthermore, we identified the peptide RGPEQTQGNFGDQELIRQGTDYK from nucleocapsid phosphoprotein to generate a peptide-based vaccine contrary to SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: In summary, we propose a candidate for a peptide-based vaccine contrary to SARS-CoV-2. However, advance trials such as in vitro and in vivo testing are involved for validation.