Immunological Pathways and Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccines: Learned Lessons from Research and Development to Clinical Trials | Chapter 6 | Medical Science: Trends and Innovations Vol. 1

Background: The global outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 prompted an unprecedented race to develop effective vaccines. Previous pandemics provided insight into vaccine design, but COVID-19 demanded novel strategies to combat high transmission rates and mutational variability. The primary focus was to elicit strong humoral and cell-mediated immune responses targeting the viral spike protein, which mediates host cell entry.

Objective: This book chapter aims to evaluate the immunological mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, analyze their ability to generate adaptive and innate immune responses, and identify potential strategies to enhance vaccine efficacy amid ongoing viral mutations.

Methods: A comprehensive analysis was conducted on preclinical and clinical studies evaluating mRNA-based, adenovirus-vectored, and inactivated virus vaccines. Emphasis was placed on antibody generation, T-cell activation, cytokine production, and long-term immune memory. Additionally, data on booster strategies and mixed vaccine regimens were reviewed to assess their potential to counteract emerging variants.

Results: Findings demonstrate that mRNA vaccines elicit robust antibody production and Th1-biased cellular responses shortly after administration, while adenovirus-vectored vaccines generate polyclonal antibodies capable of broad immune activation. Both approaches significantly reduce hospitalization and severe illness. However, immune durability appears variable, necessitating booster doses to sustain immunity. Studies also highlight reduced efficacy against variants such as Delta and Omicron, underscoring the need for polyvalent formulations targeting multiple epitopes. Emerging evidence indicates that hybrid approaches, such as heterologous prime-boost regimens, enhance immunogenicity and mitigate antivector immunity.

Conclusions: COVID-19 vaccines have proven effective in reducing severe disease and hospitalization rates, yet challenges persist due to emerging variants and waning immunity. Strategies to enhance vaccine efficacy include targeting conserved viral epitopes, integrating novel adjuvants, and developing hybrid or polyvalent formulations. Global efforts should focus on equitable vaccine distribution, long-term monitoring, and adaptive booster strategies to ensure sustained protection. Future research must prioritize understanding innate immune contributions and optimizing dosing regimens to counteract evolving variants.

 

Author (s) Details

 

Sami El Khatib
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Lebanese International University, Khiyara-West Bekaa, 1108, Lebanon.

 

Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/msti/v1/4015

 

Unique Peptide Patterns in SARS-CoV-2 Virus Proteins Provide Insights into Variants’ Ability to Evade Immune Response and Infect Humans | Chapter 2 | Advanced Research in Biological Science Vol. 1

 The continuous SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has conceived a need to identify particular regions inside the viral proteome that can present image of antigenic sites and ptomising targets for treatment. In this study, we working a novel approach to shed light on the interplays between the virus and the host creature. We focused on resolving the Unique Peptides (UPs) of the virus, expressly those with a minimum amino acid sequence time named as Core Unique Peptides (CrUPs), not concerning the virus itself, but in comparison to the complete proteome of the host organism. Through this approach, we favorably identified CrUPs unique to the bug, which were not in the direction of the host organism's proteome. We expressly examined the SARS-CoV-2 proteome to identify CrUPs that communicate with the human proteome, refer to as C/H-CrUPs. Our findings indicate that SARS-CoV-2 holds 7,503 C/H-CrUPs, with the protein SPIKE_SARS2 presenting the highest density of these peptides. Extensive study revealed that the detracting P681R mutation create new C/H-CrUPs in the vicinity of the R685 cleavage home, while the L452R mutation belittles the antigenicity of the NF9 peptide and enhances the virus's binding similarity to its ACE2 receptor protein. The concurrent presence of these mutations in concerning variations like Delta enables the bacterium to evade the invulnerable response, facilitates allure entry into host containers on a larger scale, significantly increases bacterium production, and results in allure widespread release, thereby augmenting its infectivity cruel target containers.The Core Unique Peptides (CrUPs) approach utilized in this study has the potential expected applied to some virus or pathogen point or direct at a goal any host animal, yielding valuable insights into their invulnerable response and infectiveness.

Author(s) Details:

Evangelos Kontopodis,
Proteomics Research Unit, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens-11527, Greece and Section of Cell Biology and Biophysics, Department of Biology, School of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens-15701, Greece.

Vasileios Pierros,
Proteomics Research Unit, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens-11527, Greece.

Dimitrios J. Stravopodis,
Section of Cell Biology and Biophysics, Department of Biology, School of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens-15701, Greece.

George Th. Tsangaris,
Proteomics Research Unit, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Athens-11527, Greece.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/ARBS-V1/article/view/11464

Molecular Docking of Secondary Metabolites from Lichens Targeting Sars-CoV-2 Main Protease (Mpro) and Spike Protein Receptors | Chapter 5 | Novel Aspects on Pharmaceutical Research Vol. 7

 This episode aimed to screen the flowerless plant substances to label the potential drug to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 main protease and spike protein by microscopic docking system.COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease) is induced by severe severe respiratory disease coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2. It is a deadly pathogenic and transmissible bacterium. Since there is no particular antiviral treatment against COVID-19, labeling new therapeutics is a important need. Plant natural wealthes represent the rich source of alive molecules that can find many uses in the field of plant structure, pharmacy, and cure including oncology. The COVID-19 main protease (Mpro) and pierce proteins (S protein) were selected as target proteins. A total of 108 flowerless plant compounds were subjected to ADMET reasoning and 14 compounds were selected established the ADMET properties and Lipinski’s rule of five. The Schrodinger Glide piece software was used to act molecular docking for protect of chosen individual flowerless plant metabolites against the primary protease and pierce protein receptors of SARS-CoV-2.  Molecular docking studies of flowerless plant secondary metabolites (14 compounds) were completed activity with SARS-CoV-2 proteins. The interactions of flowerless plant metabolites with main protease and pierce protein of SARS-CoV-2 tabulated accompanying G-Score, number of hydrogen bonds, bond length, and the communicating residues. Among the lead compounds, fallacinol (1,8-dihydroxy-3-(hydroxymethyl)-6 methoxyanthracene - 9,10-dione) showed the topmost binding energy value of -11.83 kcal/mol against pierce protein, and 4-O-Demethyl barbatic acid (4-(2,4-dihydroxy-3,6-dimethylbenzoyl)oxy-2-hydroxy-3,6-dimethylbenzoic acid ) exhibited the chief dock score of -11.67 kcal/mol against main protease. This study finding desires that lichen wealthes may potential inhibitors of receptors of  SARS-CoV-2.

Author(s) Details:

S. Senthil Prabhu,
Department of Microbiology, Dr. N.G.P. Arts and Science College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

R. Sathish Kumar,
Department of Biotechnology, Kongunadu Arts and Science College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

J. Rengaramanujam,
Department of Microbiology, Dr. N.G.P. Arts and Science College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/NAPR-V7/article/view/11435