The majority of COVID-19 vaccine candidates target the spike protein and receptor-binding domain of the virus. This is because the spike protein binds to the ACE2 receptor on the surface of host cells.
Other structural antigens targeted are the envelope, membrane, and nucleocapsid proteins of the virus with studies identifying B and T epitopes being done currently.

Vaccine antigen selection and design

In SARS/MERS- COV-2, spike proteins are "responsible for host receptor
28 binding and priming by host proteases to trigger membrane fusion".  The S protein is an attractive target for vaccine design because it allows the virus to enter the host cell during infection.


Syracuse University

Northwestern University

Chen C., Xu M., et al. 11 June 2020. Identifying SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors through drug repurposing screens of SARS- S and MERS-S pseudotyped particles. BioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.10.197988 

Identifying SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors through drug repurposing screens of SARS- S and MERS-S pseudotyped particles

Shin, M.D., Shukla, S., Chung, Y.H. et al. COVID-19 vaccine development and a potential nanomaterial path forward. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15, 646–655 (2020). doi: 10.1038/s41565-020-0737-y

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-020-0737-y

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