%0 Journal Article %A Lana Bazan Peters Querne %A Fernanda Zettel Bastos %A Breno Castello Branco Beirão %T Potential cross-protection against SARS-CoV-2 from previous exposure to bovine coronavirus %D 2021 %R 10.1101/2021.12.13.472476 %J bioRxiv %P 2021.12.13.472476 %X Humans have long shared infectious agents with cattle, and the common cold OC-43 CoV is a not-so-distant example of cross-species viral spillover. Human exposure to BCoV is certainly common, as the virus is endemic in cattle-raising regions. This article shows an in silico investigation of shared viral epitopes between BCoV and SARS-CoV-2. HLA recognition and lymphocyte reactivity were assessed using freely-available resources. Several epitopes were shared between BCoV and SARS-CoV-2, both for B and T lymphocytes. These data demonstrate that possible cross-protection is being induced by human exposure to cattle.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. %U https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2021/12/14/2021.12.13.472476.full.pdf