Flow Core Covid-19 Projects

 

COVID-19 Vaccine Project

Humanity has been confronting a pandemic caused by the new Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Our long-term goal is to develop a potent pan-Coronavirus vaccine to stop/reduce past, current and future Coronavirus infections and/or diseases. While SARS-CoV-2-induced antibody and CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell responses are critical to reducing viral infection in the majority of asymptomatic individuals, an excessive pro-inflammatory cytokine storm appears to lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome in many symptomatic individuals. Major gaps: Identifying the epitope specificities, the phenotype and function of B cells, CD4⁺ T cells and CD8⁺ T cells associated with “natural protection seen in asymptomatic individuals (those who are infected, but never develop any major symptoms) and survivors should guide the development of a future coronavirus vaccine. With the help of Flow Cytometry Core (Stem Cell Research Center), we identified several CD8+ epitopes that bid with high affinity with human HLA-A*0201 using T2 cells assay. Many of these epitopes will be included in our multi-epitope pan-Coronavirus vaccine.