ArticleMicroorganisms2023
Molecular Mimicry and HLA Polymorphisms May Drive Autoimmunity in Recipients of the BNT-162b2 mRNA Vaccine: A Computational Analysis.
Article in Microorganisms, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Autoimmune Features of Post-COVID-19 Vaccination Syndrome and Their Impacts on the Renin-Angiotensin System.Vaccines · 2026Review
- Seeing elephants and drinking water from a porcelain vase - A case of septin-7 antibody-associated encephalitis presenting as a severe disorganized psychosis.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Omadacycline - Associated Anticardiolipin Antibody Positivity and Hypercoagulable State: A Case Report and Review of Tetracycline - Induced Immune Dysregulation.Infection and drug resistance · 2026Article
- Review
- Post-COVID-19 Small Fiber Neuropathy as a New Emerging Quality of Life-Threatening Disease: A Systematic Review.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- The Possible Mechanistic Basis of Individual Susceptibility to Spike Protein Injury.Advances in virology · 2025Review
- An overview of HLA variants in COVID-19 vaccine-induced autoimmunity.International journal of molecular epidemiology and genetics · 2025Review
- Autoantibodies Targeting G-Protein-Coupled Receptors and RAS-Related Molecules in Post-Acute COVID Vaccination Syndrome: A Retrospective Case Series Study.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- A Comprehensive Review on the Intricate Interplay between COVID-19 Immunization and the New Onset of Pemphigus Foliaceus.Vaccines · 2024Review
- Small Fiber Neuropathy Associated with Post-COVID-19 and Post-COVID-19 Vaccination Arthritis: A Rare Post-Infective Syndrome or a New-Onset Disease?Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Article
- Hypocortisolemic ASIA: a vaccine- and chronic infection-induced syndrome behind the origin of long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Evidence for Molecular Mimicry between SARS-CoV-2 and Human Antigens: Implications for Autoimmunity in COVID-19.Autoimmune diseases · 2024Review
- New-onset Immune-mediated Necrotizing Myopathy and Trigeminal Neuropathy after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccination in a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Sjögren's Syndrome.Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2023Article
- Post-COVID-19 and Post-COVID-19 Vaccine Arthritis, Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Horton's Arteritis: A Single-Center Assessment of Clinical, Serological, Genetic, and Ultrasonographic Biomarkers.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease and COVID.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAfter the start of the worldwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign, there were increased reports of autoimmune diseases occurring de novo after vaccination. This in silico analysis aimed to investigate the presence of protein epitopes encoded by the BNT-162b2 mRNA vaccine, one of the most widely administered COVID-19 vaccines, which could induce autoimmunity in predisposed individuals.
methodsThe FASTA sequence of the protein encoded by the BNT-162b2 vaccine served as the key input to the Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource. Linear peptides with 90% BLAST homology were selected, and T-cell, B-cell, and MHC-ligand assays without MHC restriction were searched and analyzed. HLA disease associations were screened on the HLA-SPREAD platform by selecting only positive markers.
resultsBy 7 May 2023, a total of 5693 epitopes corresponding to 21 viral but also human proteins were found. The latter included CHL1, ENTPD1, MEAF6, SLC35G2, and ZFHX2. Importantly, some autoepitopes may be presented by HLA alleles positively associated with various immunological diseases.
conclusionsThe protein product of the BNT-162b2 mRNA vaccine contains immunogenic epitopes that may trigger autoimmune phenomena in predisposed individuals through a molecular mimicry mechanism. Genotyping for HLA alleles may help identify individuals at risk. However, further wet-lab studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.
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