{"title":"Identifying immunodominant multi-epitopes from the envelope glycoprotein of the Lassa mammarenavirus as vaccine candidate for Lassa fever.","authors":"Adekunle Babajide Rowaiye, Ezinne Janefrances Nwonu, Titilayo Mercy Asala, Amoge Chidinma Ogu, Doofan Bur, Chimaobi Chukwu, Angus Nnamdi Oli, Tarimoboere Agbalalah","doi":"10.7774/cevr.2022.11.3.249","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Lassa fever is a zoonotic acute viral hemorrhagic disease caused by Lassa virus (LASV). There is currently no licensed vaccine for the prevention of the disease. This study is aimed at discovering immunodominant epitopes from the envelope glycoprotein of the Lassa mammarenavirus and designing of a multi-epitope vaccine candidate (VC).</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>The amino acid sequences of the envelope glycoprotein of 26 strains of LASV from five countries were selected. After evaluation for antigenicity, immunogenicity, allergenicity, and toxicity, immunodominant CD8, CD4, and linear B lymphocytes were also selected. The selected epitopes were modelled and a molecular docking with the appropriate major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins was performed. Using an adjuvant and linkers, a multi-epitope VC was designed. The VC was evaluated for its physicochemical and immunological properties and structurally refined, validated, and mutated (disulphide engineering). The complex formed by the VC and the toll-like receptor-4 receptor was subjected to molecular dynamic simulation (MDS) followed by in silico cloning in a plasmid vector.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A VC with 203 sequences, 22.13 kDa weight, isoelectric point of 9.85 (basic), instability index value of 27.62, aliphatic index of 68.87, and GRAVY value of -0.455 (hydrophilic) emerged. The VC is predicted to be non-allergenic with antigenicity, MHC I immunogenicity, and solubility upon overexpression values of 0.81, 2.04, and 0.86 respectively. The VC also has an estimated half-life greater than 10 hours in <i>Escherichia coli</i> and showed stability in all the parameters of MDS.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The VC shows good promise in the prevention of Lassa fever but further tests are required to validate its safety and efficacy.</p>","PeriodicalId":2,"journal":{"name":"ACS Applied Bio Materials","volume":" ","pages":"249-263"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/6f/22/cevr-11-249.PMC9691867.pdf","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"ACS Applied Bio Materials","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.7774/cevr.2022.11.3.249","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/9/30 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MATERIALS SCIENCE, BIOMATERIALS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Purpose: Lassa fever is a zoonotic acute viral hemorrhagic disease caused by Lassa virus (LASV). There is currently no licensed vaccine for the prevention of the disease. This study is aimed at discovering immunodominant epitopes from the envelope glycoprotein of the Lassa mammarenavirus and designing of a multi-epitope vaccine candidate (VC).
Materials and methods: The amino acid sequences of the envelope glycoprotein of 26 strains of LASV from five countries were selected. After evaluation for antigenicity, immunogenicity, allergenicity, and toxicity, immunodominant CD8, CD4, and linear B lymphocytes were also selected. The selected epitopes were modelled and a molecular docking with the appropriate major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins was performed. Using an adjuvant and linkers, a multi-epitope VC was designed. The VC was evaluated for its physicochemical and immunological properties and structurally refined, validated, and mutated (disulphide engineering). The complex formed by the VC and the toll-like receptor-4 receptor was subjected to molecular dynamic simulation (MDS) followed by in silico cloning in a plasmid vector.
Results: A VC with 203 sequences, 22.13 kDa weight, isoelectric point of 9.85 (basic), instability index value of 27.62, aliphatic index of 68.87, and GRAVY value of -0.455 (hydrophilic) emerged. The VC is predicted to be non-allergenic with antigenicity, MHC I immunogenicity, and solubility upon overexpression values of 0.81, 2.04, and 0.86 respectively. The VC also has an estimated half-life greater than 10 hours in Escherichia coli and showed stability in all the parameters of MDS.
Conclusion: The VC shows good promise in the prevention of Lassa fever but further tests are required to validate its safety and efficacy.
期刊介绍:
ACS Applied Bio Materials is an interdisciplinary journal publishing original research covering all aspects of biomaterials and biointerfaces including and beyond the traditional biosensing, biomedical and therapeutic applications.
The journal is devoted to reports of new and original experimental and theoretical research of an applied nature that integrates knowledge in the areas of materials, engineering, physics, bioscience, and chemistry into important bio applications. The journal is specifically interested in work that addresses the relationship between structure and function and assesses the stability and degradation of materials under relevant environmental and biological conditions.