TY - JOUR
T1 - Harnessing Immunoinformatics for Precision Vaccines
T2 - Designing Epitope-Based Subunit Vaccines against Hepatitis E Virus
AU - Oladipo, Elijah Kolawole
AU - Dairo, Emmanuel Oluwatobi
AU - Bamigboye, Comfort Olukemi
AU - Ajayi, Ayodeji Folorunsho
AU - Onile, Olugbenga Samson
AU - Ariyo, Olumuyiwa Elijah
AU - Jimah, Esther Moradeyo
AU - Oyawoye, Olubukola Monisola
AU - Oloke, Julius Kola
AU - Iwalokun, Bamidele Abiodun
AU - Ajani, Olumide Faith
AU - Onyeaka, Helen
PY - 2024/6/26
Y1 - 2024/6/26
N2 - Background/Objectives: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an RNA virus recognized to be spread mainly by fecal-contaminated water. Its infection is known to be a serious threat to public health globally, mostly in developing countries, in which Africa is one of the regions sternly affected. An African-based vaccine is necessary to actively prevent HEV infection. Methods: This study developed an in silico epitope-based subunit vaccine, incorporating CTL, HTL, and BL epitopes with suitable linkers and adjuvants. Results: The in silico-designed vaccine construct proved immunogenic, non-allergenic, and non-toxic and displayed appropriate physicochemical properties with high solubility. The 3D structure was modeled and subjected to protein docking with Toll-like receptors 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9, which showed a stable binding efficacy, and the dynamics simulation indicated steady interaction. Furthermore, the immune simulation predicted that the designed vaccine would instigate immune responses when administered to humans. Lastly, using a codon adaptation for the E. coli K12 bacterium produced optimum GC content and a high CAI value, which was followed by in silico integration into a pET28 b (+) cloning vector. Conclusions: Generally, these results propose that the design of an epitope-based subunit vaccine can function as an outstanding preventive vaccine candidate against HEV, although validation techniques via in vitro and in vivo approaches are required to justify this statement.
AB - Background/Objectives: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an RNA virus recognized to be spread mainly by fecal-contaminated water. Its infection is known to be a serious threat to public health globally, mostly in developing countries, in which Africa is one of the regions sternly affected. An African-based vaccine is necessary to actively prevent HEV infection. Methods: This study developed an in silico epitope-based subunit vaccine, incorporating CTL, HTL, and BL epitopes with suitable linkers and adjuvants. Results: The in silico-designed vaccine construct proved immunogenic, non-allergenic, and non-toxic and displayed appropriate physicochemical properties with high solubility. The 3D structure was modeled and subjected to protein docking with Toll-like receptors 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9, which showed a stable binding efficacy, and the dynamics simulation indicated steady interaction. Furthermore, the immune simulation predicted that the designed vaccine would instigate immune responses when administered to humans. Lastly, using a codon adaptation for the E. coli K12 bacterium produced optimum GC content and a high CAI value, which was followed by in silico integration into a pET28 b (+) cloning vector. Conclusions: Generally, these results propose that the design of an epitope-based subunit vaccine can function as an outstanding preventive vaccine candidate against HEV, although validation techniques via in vitro and in vivo approaches are required to justify this statement.
KW - hepatitis E virus
KW - immunoinformatics
KW - vaccine
KW - immune simulation
KW - capsid protein
U2 - 10.3390/biomedinformatics4030088
DO - 10.3390/biomedinformatics4030088
M3 - Article
SN - 2673-7426
VL - 4
SP - 1620
EP - 1637
JO - BioMedInformatics
JF - BioMedInformatics
IS - 3
ER -
