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SARS-CoV-2 Gut-Targeted Epitopes: Sequence Similarity and Cross-Reactivity Join Together for Molecular Mimicry

The gastrointestinal tract can be heavily infected by SARS-CoV-2. Being an auto-immunogenic virus, SARS-CoV-2 represents an environmental factor that might play a role in gut-associated autoimmune diseases. However, molecular mimicry between the virus and the intestinal epitopes is under-investigate...

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Autores principales: Lerner, Aaron, Benzvi, Carina, Vojdani, Aristo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10376948/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37509576
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11071937
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author Lerner, Aaron
Benzvi, Carina
Vojdani, Aristo
author_facet Lerner, Aaron
Benzvi, Carina
Vojdani, Aristo
author_sort Lerner, Aaron
collection PubMed
description The gastrointestinal tract can be heavily infected by SARS-CoV-2. Being an auto-immunogenic virus, SARS-CoV-2 represents an environmental factor that might play a role in gut-associated autoimmune diseases. However, molecular mimicry between the virus and the intestinal epitopes is under-investigated. The present study aims to elucidate sequence similarity between viral antigens and human enteric sequences, based on known cross-reactivity. SARS-CoV-2 epitopes that cross-react with human gut antigens were explored, and sequence alignment was performed against self-antigens implicated in enteric autoimmune conditions. Experimental SARS-CoV-2 epitopes were aggregated from the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB), while enteric antigens were obtained from the UniProt Knowledgebase. A Pairwise Local Alignment tool, EMBOSS Matcher, was employed for the similarity search. Sequence similarity and targeted cross-reactivity were depicted between 10 pairs of immunoreactive epitopes. Similar pairs were found in four viral proteins and seven enteric antigens related to ulcerative colitis, primary biliary cholangitis, celiac disease, and autoimmune hepatitis. Antibodies made against the viral proteins that were cross-reactive with human gut antigens are involved in several essential cellular functions. The relationship and contribution of those intestinal cross-reactive epitopes to SARS-CoV-2 or its potential contribution to gut auto-immuno-genesis are discussed.
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spelling pubmed-103769482023-07-29 SARS-CoV-2 Gut-Targeted Epitopes: Sequence Similarity and Cross-Reactivity Join Together for Molecular Mimicry Lerner, Aaron Benzvi, Carina Vojdani, Aristo Biomedicines Article The gastrointestinal tract can be heavily infected by SARS-CoV-2. Being an auto-immunogenic virus, SARS-CoV-2 represents an environmental factor that might play a role in gut-associated autoimmune diseases. However, molecular mimicry between the virus and the intestinal epitopes is under-investigated. The present study aims to elucidate sequence similarity between viral antigens and human enteric sequences, based on known cross-reactivity. SARS-CoV-2 epitopes that cross-react with human gut antigens were explored, and sequence alignment was performed against self-antigens implicated in enteric autoimmune conditions. Experimental SARS-CoV-2 epitopes were aggregated from the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB), while enteric antigens were obtained from the UniProt Knowledgebase. A Pairwise Local Alignment tool, EMBOSS Matcher, was employed for the similarity search. Sequence similarity and targeted cross-reactivity were depicted between 10 pairs of immunoreactive epitopes. Similar pairs were found in four viral proteins and seven enteric antigens related to ulcerative colitis, primary biliary cholangitis, celiac disease, and autoimmune hepatitis. Antibodies made against the viral proteins that were cross-reactive with human gut antigens are involved in several essential cellular functions. The relationship and contribution of those intestinal cross-reactive epitopes to SARS-CoV-2 or its potential contribution to gut auto-immuno-genesis are discussed. MDPI 2023-07-07 /pmc/articles/PMC10376948/ /pubmed/37509576 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11071937 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Lerner, Aaron
Benzvi, Carina
Vojdani, Aristo
SARS-CoV-2 Gut-Targeted Epitopes: Sequence Similarity and Cross-Reactivity Join Together for Molecular Mimicry
title SARS-CoV-2 Gut-Targeted Epitopes: Sequence Similarity and Cross-Reactivity Join Together for Molecular Mimicry
title_full SARS-CoV-2 Gut-Targeted Epitopes: Sequence Similarity and Cross-Reactivity Join Together for Molecular Mimicry
title_fullStr SARS-CoV-2 Gut-Targeted Epitopes: Sequence Similarity and Cross-Reactivity Join Together for Molecular Mimicry
title_full_unstemmed SARS-CoV-2 Gut-Targeted Epitopes: Sequence Similarity and Cross-Reactivity Join Together for Molecular Mimicry
title_short SARS-CoV-2 Gut-Targeted Epitopes: Sequence Similarity and Cross-Reactivity Join Together for Molecular Mimicry
title_sort sars-cov-2 gut-targeted epitopes: sequence similarity and cross-reactivity join together for molecular mimicry
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10376948/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37509576
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11071937
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