A Note on the Potential BCG Vaccination – COVID-19 Molecular Link

Author(s): Alex Y. Strongin, Alex Sloutsky, Piotr Cieplak*

Journal Name: Coronaviruses
The World's First International Journal Dedicated to Coronaviruses

Volume 1 , Issue 1 , 2020

DOI : 10.2174/2666796701999200629003417

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Abstract:

Objective: Our goal was to elucidate a potential molecular link between the past and current tuberculosis vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG; a live attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis) immunization policies and COVID-19.

Methods: Our sequence homology analyses have demonstrated that there is an intriguing level of sequence homology between a few of the BCG and Sars-CoV-2 proteins.

Results: The data suggest that the BCG-specific memory B-cells that are preserved in BCG-vaccinated patients cross-recognize SARS-CoV-2 and that this cross-recognition may affect the virus proliferation and COVID-19 severity.

Conclusion: Our results can stimulate the sharply focused follow-up experimental studies.

Keywords: Covid-19, BCG vaccination, Sars-CoV-2 B-cell epitopes, bioinformatics analysis, tuberculosis vaccine, Mycobacterium bovis.

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Article Details

VOLUME: 1
ISSUE: 1
Year: 2020
Published on: 08 September, 2020
Page: [4 - 6]
Pages: 3
DOI: 10.2174/2666796701999200629003417

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