Immunoinformatics Approach for Designing an HPV Epitope-Based Vaccine Candidate Harboring Built-in Adjuvants

against using tools. Methods: The HPV16 RG-1 epitope linked to built-in adjuvants including the D1 domain of flagellin as agonists, and a tetanus toxoid epitope for induction of immune responses. Using immunoinformatic tools, the immunological characteristics of the construct were evaluated. In the first step, MHC-I and II binding, CD4 + T cell immunogenicity prediction, and in the second step, immunogenicity simulation of the construct were investigated. Results: MHC-I and II predicted epitopes showed a high potentiality to bind to mice and human MHC alleles. The results of the binding of the RG-1 epitope to MHC-I and MHC-II showed that RG1 could induce humoral and cellular immune response while fused to three built-in adjuvants. Also, the CD4 + immunogenicity assessment results predicted that several epitopes in the designed construct, including epitopes of D1 domain and tetanus toxoid P2 epitope, behaved as potentially strong Th inducers. The immunogenicity simulation results showed that the construct could potentially provide sufficient antigen, and induce suitable humoral and cellular immune responses. Conclusion: The development of new vaccine strategies has been the focus of several studies. The results showed that the designed construct can potentially provide an effective model for developing a preventive vaccine candidate against a variety of HPV genotypes.