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- Academic Editor
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†These authors contributed equally.
Background: Developing a
novel COVID-19 multi-epitope vaccine (CoVMEV) is essential to containing the
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Methods: The virus’s immunodominant B and
T cell epitopes from the S protein were found and joined to create the CoVMEV.
Bioinformatics techniques were used to investigate the secondary and tertiary
structures, as well as the physical and chemical properties of CoVMEV.
Results: CoVMEV exhibited high antigenicity and immunogenicity scores,
together with good water solubility and stability. Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and toll-like receptor4 (TLR4), which are
critical in triggering immunological responses, were also strongly favoured by
CoVMEV. Molecular dynamics simulation and immune stimulation studies revealed
that CoVMEV effectively activated T and B lymphocytes, and increased the number
of active CD8