Background:
Globally, the recent outbreak of Zika virus (ZIKV) in Brazil, Asia Pacific, and other countries
highlighted the unmet medical needs. Currently, there are neither effective vaccines nor therapeutics available to prevent or
treat ZIKV infection.
Objective:
In this study, we aimed to design an epitope-based vaccine for ZIKV using an in silico approach to predict and
analyze B- and T-cell epitopes.
Methods:
The prediction of the most antigenic epitopes has targeted the capsid and the envelope proteins as well as nonstructural proteins NS5 and NS3 using immune-informatics tools PROTPARAM, CFSSP, PSIPRED, and Vaxijen v2.0. B
and T-cell epitopes were predicted using ABCpred, IEDB, TepiTool, and their toxicity were evaluated using ToxinPred. The
3-dimensional epitope structures were generated by PEP-FOLD. Energy minimization was performed using Swiss-Pdb
Viewer, and molecular docking was conducted using PatchDock and FireDock server.
Results:
As a result, we predicted 307 epitopes of MHCI (major histocompatibility complex class I) and 102 epitopes of
MHCII (major histocompatibility complex class II). Based on immunogenicity and antigenicity scores, we identified the
four most antigenic MHC I epitopes: MVLAILAFLR (HLA-A*68 :01), ETLHGTVTV (HLA-A*68 :02), DENHPYRTW
(HLA-B*44 :02),QEGVFHTMW (HLA-B*44 :03) and TASGRVIEEW (HLA-B*58:01), and MHC II epitopes:
IIKKFKKDLAAMLRI (HLA-DRB3*02 :02), ENSKMMLELDPPFGD (HLA-DRB3*01:01), HAETWFFDENHPYRT
(HLA-DRB3*01:01), TDGVYRVMTRRLLGS (HLA-DRB1*11 :01), and DGCWYGMEIRPRKEP (HLA-DRB5*01:01).
Conclusion :
This study provides novel potential B cell and T cell epitopes to fight Zika virus infections and may prompt
further development of vaccines against ZIKV and other emerging infectious diseases. However, further investigations for
protective immune response by in vitro and in vivo studies to ratify the immunogenicity, safety of the predicted structure,
and ultimately the vaccine properties to prevent ZIKV infections are warranted.