Scrutinizing surface glycoproteins and poxin-schlafen protein to design a heterologous recombinant vaccine against monkeypox virus

AbstractMonkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by monkeypox virus with noteworthy mortality and morbidity. Several recent outbreaks and the need of dependable reconnaissance have raised the level of concern for this developing zoonosis. In the present study, a reverse vaccinology strategy was developed to construct a peptide vaccine against monkeypox virus by exploring cell surface binding protein, Poxin-Schlafen andenvelope protein. Both humoral and cell mediated immunity induction were the main concerned properties for the designed peptide vaccine. Therefore, both T cell and B cell immunity against monkeypox virus were analyzed from the conserver region of the selected protein. Antigenicity testing, transmembrane topology screening, allergenicity and toxicity assessment, population coverage analysis and molecular docking approach were used to create the superior epitopes of moneypox virus. The subunit vaccine was constructed using highly immunogenic epitopes with appropriate adjuvant and linkers. Molecular docking examination of the refined vaccine with various MHCs and human immune receptor illustrated higher binding interaction. The designed construct was reverse transcribed and adjusted for E. coli strain K12 earlier to inclusion inside pET28a(+) vector for its heterologous cloning and expression. The study could start in vitro and in vivo studies concerning effective vaccine development against monkeypox virus.

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Reverse vaccinology approach to design a novel multi-epitope subunit vaccine against avian influenza A (H7N9) virus

10.1101/478453 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Mahmudul Hasan ◽

ProggaParomita Ghosh ◽

KaziFaizul Azim ◽

Shamsunnahar Mukta ◽

Ruhshan Ahmed Abir ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Molecular Docking ◽

Avian Influenza ◽

Influenza A ◽

Subunit Vaccine ◽

Peptide Vaccine ◽

Reverse Vaccinology ◽

Cell Mediated Immunity ◽

Viral Pathogen ◽

Mhc Molecules ◽

Cell Immunity

AbstractH7N9, a novel strain of avian origin influenza was the first recorded incidence where a human was transited by a N9 type influenza virus. Effective vaccination against influenza A (H7N9) is a major concern, since it has emerged as a life threatening viral pathogen. Here, an in silico reverse vaccinology strategy was adopted to design a unique chimeric subunit vaccine against avian influenza A (H7N9). Induction of humoral and cell-mediated immunity is the prime concerned characteristics for a peptide vaccine candidate, hence both T cell and B cell immunity of viral proteins were screened. Antigenicity testing, transmembrane topology screening, allergenicity and toxicity assessment, population coverage analysis and molecular docking approach were adopted to generate the most antigenic epitopes of avian influenza A (H7N9) proteome. Further, a novel subunit vaccine was designed by the combination of highly immunogenic epitopes along with suitable adjuvant and linkers. Physicochemical properties and secondary structure of the designed vaccine were assessed to ensure its thermostability, hydrophilicity, theoretical PI and structural behavior. Homology modeling, refinement and validation of the designed vaccine allowed to construct a three dimensional structure of the predicted vaccine, further employed to molecular docking analysis with different MHC molecules and human immune TLR8 receptor present on lymphocyte cells. Moreover, disulfide engineering was employed to lessen the high mobility region of the designed vaccine in order to extend its stability. Furthermore, we investigated the molecular dynamic simulation of the modeled subunit vaccine and TLR8 complexed molecule to strengthen our prediction. Finally, the suggested vaccine was reverse transcribed and adapted forE. colistrain K12 prior to insertion within pET28a(+) vector for checking translational potency and microbial expression.

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Attenuated Replication of Lassa Virus Vaccine Candidate ML29 in STAT-1-/- Mice

Pathogens ◽

10.3390/pathogens8010009 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Dylan Johnson ◽

Jenny Jokinen ◽

Igor Lukashevich

Keyword(s):

Vaccine Development ◽

Vaccine Candidate ◽

Small Animal ◽

Vero Cells ◽

Lassa Fever ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

Cell Mediated Immunity ◽

Lassa Virus ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Fold Reduction

Lassa virus (LASV), a highly prevalent mammalian arenavirus endemic in West Africa, can cause Lassa fever (LF), which is responsible for thousands of deaths annually. LASV is transmitted to humans from naturally infected rodents. At present, there is not an effective vaccine nor treatment. The genetic diversity of LASV is the greatest challenge for vaccine development. The reassortant ML29 carrying the L segment from the nonpathogenic Mopeia virus (MOPV) and the S segment from LASV is a vaccine candidate under current development. ML29 demonstrated complete protection in validated animal models against a Nigerian strain from clade II, which was responsible for the worst outbreak on record in 2018. This study demonstrated that ML29 was more attenuated than MOPV in STAT1-/- mice, a small animal model of human LF and its sequelae. ML29 infection of these mice resulted in more than a thousand-fold reduction in viremia and viral load in tissues and strong LASV-specific adaptive T cell responses compared to MOPV-infected mice. Persistent infection of Vero cells with ML29 resulted in generation of interfering particles (IPs), which strongly interfered with the replication of LASV, MOPV and LCMV, the prototype of the Arenaviridae. ML29 IPs induced potent cell-mediated immunity and were fully attenuated in STAT1-/- mice. Formulation of ML29 with IPs will improve the breadth of the host’s immune responses and further contribute to development of a pan-LASV vaccine with full coverage meeting the WHO requirements.

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Immunoinformatics and Structural Analysis for Identification of Immunodominant Epitopes in SARS-CoV-2 as Potential Vaccine Targets

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines8020290 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 290 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Sumit Mukherjee ◽

Dmitry Tworowski ◽

Rajesh Detroja ◽

Sunanda Biswas Mukherjee ◽

Milana Frenkel-Morgenstern

Keyword(s):

Peptide Vaccine ◽

Vaccine Design ◽

Computational Prediction ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

Cell Mediated Immunity ◽

T Cell Epitopes ◽

Protective Antigens ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

Time Required ◽

Immunodominant Epitopes

A new coronavirus infection, COVID-19, has recently emerged, and has caused a global pandemic along with an international public health emergency. Currently, no licensed vaccines are available for COVID-19. The identification of immunodominant epitopes for both B- and T-cells that induce protective responses in the host is crucial for effective vaccine design. Computational prediction of potential epitopes might significantly reduce the time required to screen peptide libraries as part of emergent vaccine design. In our present study, we used an extensive immunoinformatics-based approach to predict conserved immunodominant epitopes from the proteome of SARS-CoV-2. Regions from SARS-CoV-2 protein sequences were defined as immunodominant, based on the following three criteria regarding B- and T-cell epitopes: (i) they were both mapped, (ii) they predicted protective antigens, and (iii) they were completely identical to experimentally validated epitopes of SARS-CoV. Further, structural and molecular docking analyses were performed in order to understand the binding interactions of the identified immunodominant epitopes with human major histocompatibility complexes (MHC). Our study provides a set of potential immunodominant epitopes that could enable the generation of both antibody- and cell-mediated immunity. This could contribute to developing peptide vaccine-based adaptive immunotherapy against SARS-CoV-2 infections and prevent future pandemic outbreaks.

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Oral Peptide Vaccine against Hookworm Infection: Correlation of Antibody Titers with Protective Efficacy

Vaccines ◽

10.3390/vaccines9091034 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 1034

Author(s):

Ahmed O. Shalash ◽

Luke Becker ◽

Jieru Yang ◽

Paul Giacomin ◽

Mark Pearson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune Response ◽

Worm Burden ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Protective Efficacy ◽

Digestive Enzyme ◽

Peptide Vaccine ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

Antigen Delivery ◽

Hookworm Infection ◽

Linear Arrangement

Approximately 0.4 billion individuals worldwide are infected with hookworm. An effective vaccine is needed to not only improve the health of those affected and at high risk, but also to improve economic growth in disease-endemic areas. An ideal anti-hookworm therapeutic strategy for mass administration is a stable and orally administered vaccine. Oral vaccines are advantageous as they negate the need for trained medical staff for administration and do not require strict sterility conditions. Vaccination, therefore, can be carried out at a significantly reduced cost. One of the most promising current antigenic targets for hookworm vaccine development is the aspartic protease digestive enzyme (APR-1). Antibody-mediated neutralization of APR-1 deprives the worm of nourishment, leading to reduced worm burdens in vaccinated hosts. Previously, we demonstrated that, when incorporated into vaccine delivery systems, the APR-1-derived p3 epitope (TSLIAGPKAQVEAIQKYIGAEL) was able to greatly reduce worm burdens (≥90%) in BALB/c mice; however, multiple, large doses of the vaccine were required. Here, we investigated a variety of p3-antigen conjugates to optimize antigen delivery and establish immune response/protective efficacy relationships. We synthesized, purified, and characterized four p3 peptide-based vaccine candidates with: (a) lipidic (lipid core peptide (LCP)); (b) classical polymeric (polymethylacrylate (PMA)); and (c) novel polymeric (polyleucine in a branched or linear arrangement, BL10 or LL10, respectively) groups as self-adjuvanting moieties. BL10 and LL10 induced the highest serum anti-p3 and anti-APR-1 IgG titers. Upon challenge with rodent hookworms, the highest significant reduction in worm burden was observed in mice immunized with LL10. APR-1-specific serum IgG titers correlated with worm burden reduction. Thus, we provide the first vaccine-triggered immune response-protection relationship for hookworm infection.

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Insights into innate and adaptive immune responses in vaccine development against EV-A71

Therapeutic Advances in Vaccines and Immunotherapy ◽

10.1177/2515135519888998 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 251513551988899 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hui Xuan Lim ◽

Chit Laa Poh

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

Cellular Immunity ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Foot And Mouth Disease ◽

T Cell Immunity ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

Cell Immunity ◽

Causative Agents ◽

Us Fda

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) is one of the major causative agents of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in the world, infecting mostly infants and young children (<5 years of age) in Asia. Approximately 2 million cases of HFMD were reported in China each year, of which approximately 45–50% were due to EV-A71. Most of the HFMD infections caused by EV-A71 usually result in mild symptoms with rashes and ulcers in the mouth. However, virulent strains of EV-A71 can infect the central nervous system and cause severe neurologic diseases, leading to reduced cognitive ability, acute flaccid paralysis and death. The lack of understanding of cellular immunity for long-term protection from the HFMD disease represents a major obstacle for vaccine development. In particular, the role of innate and T cell immunity during HFMD infection remains unclear and there is evidence suggesting the importance of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells for protective immunity. Currently, no US FDA-approved vaccine is available for EV-A71. Although the inactivated vaccines produced in China are highly effective (vaccine efficacy >95%), they lack the cellular immunity required for long-term protection. In this review, we discuss the findings that support the protective roles of innate and T cell immunity against EV-A71 infection, which will provide the knowledge needed for the urgent development of efficacious vaccines that will confer long-term protection.

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Immunoinformatics and Molecular Docking Studies Predicted Potential Multiepitope-Based Peptide Vaccine and Novel Compounds against Novel SARS-CoV-2 through Virtual Screening

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2021/1596834 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Muhammad Waqas ◽

Ali Haider ◽

Abdur Rehman ◽

Muhammad Qasim ◽

Ahitsham Umar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Molecular Docking ◽

Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte ◽

Peptide Vaccine ◽

Specific Treatment ◽

Binding Interaction ◽

Replication Process ◽

Multiple Sequence ◽

Mhc I ◽

Ctl Epitopes ◽

Positive Strand Rna

Background. Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped positive-strand RNA viruses which have club-like spikes at the surface with a unique replication process. Coronaviruses are categorized as major pathogenic viruses causing a variety of diseases in birds and mammals including humans (lethal respiratory dysfunctions). Nowadays, a new strain of coronaviruses is identified and named as SARS-CoV-2. Multiple cases of SARS-CoV-2 attacks are being reported all over the world. SARS-CoV-2 showed high death rate; however, no specific treatment is available against SARS-CoV-2. Methods. In the current study, immunoinformatics approaches were employed to predict the antigenic epitopes against SARS-CoV-2 for the development of the coronavirus vaccine. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte and B-cell epitopes were predicted for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus protein. Multiple sequence alignment of three genomes (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2) was used to conserved binding domain analysis. Results. The docking complexes of 4 CTL epitopes with antigenic sites were analyzed followed by binding affinity and binding interaction analyses of top-ranked predicted peptides with MHC-I HLA molecule. The molecular docking (Food and Drug Regulatory Authority library) was performed, and four compounds exhibiting least binding energy were identified. The designed epitopes lead to the molecular docking against MHC-I, and interactional analyses of the selected docked complexes were investigated. In conclusion, four CTL epitopes (GTDLEGNFY, TVNVLAWLY, GSVGFNIDY, and QTFSVLACY) and four FDA-scrutinized compounds exhibited potential targets as peptide vaccines and potential biomolecules against deadly SARS-CoV-2, respectively. A multiepitope vaccine was also designed from different epitopes of coronavirus proteins joined by linkers and led by an adjuvant. Conclusion. Our investigations predicted epitopes and the reported molecules that may have the potential to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These findings can be a step towards the development of a peptide-based vaccine or natural compound drug target against SARS-CoV-2.

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A novel design of multi-epitope peptide vaccine against Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Letters in Drug Design & Discovery ◽

10.2174/1570180818666211013110345 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 ◽

Author(s):

Fatemeh Esmaeilzadeh ◽

Shirin Mahmoodi

Keyword(s):

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa ◽

Outer Membrane Proteins ◽

Peptide Vaccine ◽

Opportunistic Pathogen ◽

Bacterial Attachment ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

Epitope Peptide ◽

Neisseria Meningitides ◽

Type Iv ◽

Cell Immunity

Background: As an opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes many different hazardous infections. The high mortality rate resulting from infection with this antibiotic-resistant pathogen has made it a major challenge in clinical treatment; it has been listed as the most harmful bacterium to humans by the WHO. So far, no vaccine has been approved for P. aeruginosa. Objective: Infections performed by bacterial attachment and colonization with type IV pili (T4P), known as the most essential adhesive vital for adhesion, while pilQ is necessary for the biogenesis of T4P, also outer membrane proteins of a pathogen is also effective in stimulating the immune system; in this regard, pilQ, OprF, and OprI, are excellent candidate antigens for production of an effective vaccine against P. aeruginosa. Methods: In this research, various bioinformatics methods were employed in order to design a new multi-epitope peptide vaccine versus P. aeruginosa. Since T CD4+ cell immunity is important in eradicating P. aeruginosa, OprF, OprI, and pilQ antigens were analyzed to determineHelper T cell Lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes by many different immunoinformatics servers. One of the receptor agonists 2 (TLR2), a segment of the Por B protein from Neisseria meningitides was used as an adjuvant in order to stimulate an effective cellular immune response, and suitable linkers were used to connect all the above mentioned parts. In the vaccine construct, linear B cell epitopes were also identified. Results: Conforming the bioinformatics forecasts, the designed vaccine possesses high antigenicity and is not allergen. Conclusion: In this regard, the designed vaccine candidate is strongly believed to possess the potential of inducing cellular and humoral immunity against P. aeruginosa.

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In Silico Identification of Novel B Cell and T Cell Epitopes of Wuhan Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) for Effective Multi Epitope-Based Peptide Vaccine Production

10.20944/preprints202002.0359.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Muhammad Asif Rasheed ◽

Sohail Raza ◽

Ali Zohaib ◽

Tahir Yaqub ◽

Masood Rabbani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

B Cell ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Peptide Vaccine ◽

Surface Glycoprotein ◽

World Health ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

Computer Assisted ◽

T Cell Epitopes ◽

Epitope Peptide

During December 2019, a novel coronavirus named as 2019-nCoV, has emerged in Wuhan, China. The human to human transmission of this virus has also been established. Untill now the virus has infected more than seven thousand people and has spread to fifteen countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared 2019-nCoV as global health emergency due to its outburst well beyond China. There is need to develop some vaccines or therapeutics to control or prevent 2019-nCoV infections. The bottleneck with current conventional approaches is that these require longer time for vaccine development. However, computer assisted approaches help us to produce effective vaccine in short time compared with conventional methods. In this study, bioinformatics analysis was used to predict B cell and T cell epitopes of surface glycoprotein of 2019-nCoV that could be suitable to trigger significant immune response. The sequence of surface glycoprotein was collected from the database and analyzed to identify the immunogenic epitope. Both B cell and T cell epitopes were analyzed so the predicted epitopes can stimulate both cellular and humoral immune responses. We predicted 13 B cell and 05 T cell epitopes that later on were joined with GPGPG linker to make a single peptide. This computational approach to design a multi epitope peptide vaccine against emerging 2019-nCoV allows us to find novel immunogenic epitopes against the antigen targets of surface 2019-nCoV surface glycoprotein. This multi epitope peptide vaccine may prove effective to combat 2019-nCoV infections.

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Synthesis, In-vitro and Docking Analysis of C-3 substituted Coumarin Analogues as Anticancer Agents C-3 Substituted Coumarins as Anticancer Agents

Current Computer - Aided Drug Design ◽

10.2174/1573409916666200120114641 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 ◽

Author(s):

Anuradha Thakur ◽

Kamalpreet Kaur ◽

Praveen Sharma ◽

Ramit Singla ◽

Sandeep Singh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Molecular Docking ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Breast Cancer Cell ◽

Anticancer Agents ◽

Proliferative Activity ◽

Binding Interaction ◽

Diverse Range ◽

Mcf 7 ◽

Substituted Coumarins

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women next to skin cancer. Estrogen receptors (ERs) play an important role in the progression of BC. Current anticancer agents have several drawbacks such as serious side effects and the emergence of resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. As coumarins possess minimum side effect along with multi-drug reversal activity, it has a tremendous ability to regulate a diverse range of cellular pathways that can be explored for selective anticancer activity. Objectives: Synthesis and evaluation of new coumarin analogues for anti-proliferative activity on human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 along with exploration of binding interaction of the compounds for ER-α target protein by molecular docking. Method: In this study, the anti-proliferative activity of C-3 substituted coumarins analogues (1-17) has been evaluated against estrogen receptor-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. Molecular interactions and ADME study of the compounds were analyzed by using Schrodinger software. Results: Among the synthesized analogues 12 and 13 show good antiproliferative activity with IC50 values 1and 1.3 µM respectively. Molecular docking suggests a remarkable binding pose of all the seventeen compounds. Compounds 12 and 13 were found to exhibit dock score of -4.10 kcal/mol and -4.38 kcal/mol respectively. Conclusion: Compounds 12 and 13 showed the highest activity followed by 1 and 5. ADME properties of all compounds were in the acceptable range. The active compounds can be taken for lead optimization and mechanistic interventions for their in vivo study in the future.

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Action of Thioglycosides of 1,2,4-Triazoles and Imidazoles on the Oxidative Stress and Glycosidases in Mice with Molecular Docking

Letters in Drug Design & Discovery ◽

10.2174/1573413715666181212150955 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. 696-710

Author(s):

Mahmoud Balbaa ◽

Doaa Awad ◽

Ahmad Abd Elaal ◽

Shimaa Mahsoub ◽

Mayssaa Moharram ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Stress ◽

Molecular Docking ◽

Active Sites ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Imidazole Ring ◽

Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship ◽

Binding Interaction ◽

Qsar Study

Background: ,2,3-Triazoles and imidazoles are important five-membered heterocyclic scaffolds due to their extensive biological activities. These products have been an area of growing interest to many researchers around the world because of their enormous pharmaceutical scope. Methods: The in vivo and in vitro enzyme inhibition of some thioglycosides encompassing 1,2,4- triazole N1, N2, and N3 and/or imidazole moieties N4, N5, and N6. The effect on the antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, glutathione S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase) was investigated as well as their effect on α-glucosidase and β-glucuronidase. Molecular docking studies were carried out to investigate the mode of the binding interaction of the compounds with α- glucosidase and β -glucuronidase. In addition, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) investigation was applied to find out the correlation between toxicity and physicochemical properties. Results: The decrease of the antioxidant status was revealed by the in vivo effect of the tested compounds. Furthermore, the in vivo and in vitro inhibitory effects of the tested compounds were clearly pronounced on α-glucosidase, but not β-glucuronidase. The IC50 and Ki values revealed that the thioglycoside - based 1,2,4-triazole N3 possesses a high inhibitory action. In addition, the in vitro studies demonstrated that the whole tested 1,2,4-triazole are potent inhibitors with a Ki magnitude of 10-6 and exhibited a competitive type inhibition. On the other hand, the thioglycosides - based imidazole ring showed an antioxidant activity and exerted a slight in vivo stimulation of α-glucosidase and β- glucuronidase. Molecular docking proved that the compounds exhibited binding affinity with the active sites of α -glucosidase and β-glucuronidase (docking score ranged from -2.320 to -4.370 kcal/mol). Furthermore, QSAR study revealed that the HBD and RB were found to have an overall significant correlation with the toxicity. Conclusion: These data suggest that the inhibition of α-glucosidase is accompanied by an oxidative stress action.

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