A future vaccine providing protection against a wide range of coronaviruses that jump from their original animal hosts to humans — including SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19 — may be possible, say Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, based on findings from their recent study.
In a paper posted online Jan. 21, 2022, in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the research team focused on a peptide, or protein fragment, on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein — the target of the two available messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines for COVID-19 — called S815-827. Homologs (equivalent peptides) can be found on the spike proteins of MERS-CoV (the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, more commonly known as MERS, and believed to have been passed from camels to humans) and other animal coronaviruses. The researchers were particularly interested in studying the S815-827 homologs seen in coronaviruses hosted by bats because SARS-CoV-2 is believed to have risen from a bat species. Additionally, bat-borne coronaviruses are considered a major threat for producing future zoonotic (animal-to-human) diseases.
Previous research studies looking at a variety of human coronaviruses that cause the common cold have shown that homologs of the S815-827 peptide — also known as an epitope
— source Johns Hopkins Medicine | Feb 16, 2022