SARS-CoV-2 and Plasmodium falciparum common immunodominant regions may explain low COVID-19 incidence in the malaria-endemic belt

M A M Iesa; M E M Osman; M A Hassan; A I A Dirar; N Abuzeid; J J Mancuso; R Pandey; A A Mohammed; M J Borad; H M Babiker; E H E Konozy

doi:10.1016/j.nmni.2020.100817

SARS-CoV-2 and Plasmodium falciparum common immunodominant regions may explain low COVID-19 incidence in the malaria-endemic belt

New Microbes New Infect. 2020 Nov:38:100817. doi: 10.1016/j.nmni.2020.100817. Epub 2020 Nov 19.

Authors

M A M Iesa¹, M E M Osman², M A Hassan³, A I A Dirar⁴, N Abuzeid⁵, J J Mancuso⁶, R Pandey⁷, A A Mohammed⁸, M J Borad⁹, H M Babiker¹⁰, E H E Konozy⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiology, Al Qunfudah Medical College, Umm Al Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan.
³ Department of Translation Bioinformatics, DetaVax Biotech, Kayseri, Turkey.
⁴ Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto City, Japan.
⁵ Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory of Sciences, Omdurman University, Khartoum, Sudan.
⁶ Department of Immunology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
⁷ Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, AZ, USA.
⁸ Biotechnology Department, Africa City of Technology, Khartoum, Sudan.
⁹ Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology-Oncology, University of Arizona Cancer Center, AZ, USA.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused significant morbidity and mortality and new cases are on the rise globally, yet malaria-endemic areas report statistically significant lower incidences. We identified potential shared targets for an immune response to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by immune determinants' shared identities with P. falciparum using the Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource Immune 9.0 browser tool. Probable cross-reactivity is suggested through HLA-A∗02:01 and subsequent CD8⁺ T-cell activation. The apparent immunodominant epitope conservation between SARS-CoV-2 (N and open reading frame (ORF) 1ab) and P. falciparum thrombospondin-related anonymous protein (TRAP) may underlie the low COVID-19 incidence in the malaria-endemic zone by providing immunity against virus infection to those previously infected with Plasmodium. Additionally, we hypothesize that the shared epitopes which lie within antigens that aid in the establishment of the P. falciparum erythrocyte invasion may be an alternative route for SARS-CoV-2 via the erythrocyte CD147 receptor, although this remains to be proven.

Keywords: CD147 receptor; Plasmodium falciparum; SARS-CoV-2; epitope; homology.

Grants and funding

P30 CA023074/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States