TimCovSEAEu

5th Joint Call: TimCovSEAEu

The proposal aims to characterize T-cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 across Southeast Asian and European populations. By identifying T-cell epitopes recognized in diverse HLA contexts, the project seeks to advance understanding of immune responses, support vaccine development, and provide tools for long-term monitoring of protective T-cell immunity against COVID-19 and future coronavirus outbreaks.
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Background

The COVID-19 pandemic and earlier coronavirus outbreaks (SARS, MERS) demonstrate the ongoing threat of zoonotic spillovers. Vaccines inducing both antibody and T-cell responses against conserved viral regions are essential. However, T-cell epitopes vary across populations due to differences in HLA allele prevalence.

Most studies so far have focused on Caucasian populations, neglecting alleles like HLA-A*24:07, common in Southeast Asia. This project brings together partners from Indonesia, Thailand, and Germany to identify SARS-CoV-2-specific epitopes relevant to these populations, filling a major research gap.

The project

TimCovSEAEu pursues the following objectives:

  • Identification of T-cell epitopes: Use immunoinformatics algorithms (SYFPEITHI, NetMHCpan) to predict SARS-CoV-2 CD4+ and CD8+ epitopes for the most frequent HLA class I (15 alleles) and HLA-DR (6 alleles) in Southeast Asia.
  • Experimental validation: Conduct high-throughput ELISpot assays using PBMCs from COVID-19 convalescent donors to confirm T-cell responses.
  • Immunological characterization: Compare T-cell responses in COVID-19 convalescents versus uninfected individuals to assess immunity and memory.
  • Application for vaccines and immunotherapies: Provide candidate epitopes for multi-peptide vaccines and adoptive T-cell therapies.

The science

The consortium integrates computational prediction with experimental validation:

  • Immunoinformatics analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 proteome.
  • High-throughput epitope screening using ELISpot assays.
  • Comparative immunology across Indonesian, Thai, and European cohorts.
  • Clinical translation through collaboration with hospitals and immunotherapy centers.

Expected outcomes include novel epitope panels for monitoring T-cell memory, deeper insights into cross-population immunity, and candidate structures for next-generation vaccines and therapies.

The team

The TimCovSEAEu partners are:

Ph.D. Marsia Gustiananda (Coordinator), Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences (i3L), Indonesia

PD Dr. med. Juliane Sarah Walz, Robert Bosch Center for Tumor Diseases, Robert Bosch Hospital Stuttgart (RBCT), Germany

Assist. Prof. Jaturong Sewatanon, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand

 

Contact:

Ph.D. Marsia Gustiananda               Email: marsia.gustiananda@i3l.ac.id 

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