In silico designing of novel epitope-based peptide vaccines against HIV-1.

The HIV-1 virus has been regarded as a catastrophe for human well-being. The global incidence of HIV-1-infected individuals is increasing. Hence, development of effective immunostimulatory molecules has recently attracted an increasing attention in the field of vaccine design against HIV-1 infection.

Immunoinformatics studies of heat shock proteins 27 and 70: Development of potent therapeutic vaccine constructs against human papillomavirus-related cancers.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) improve cross-presentation of linked tumor antigens, thus they can be exploited in therapeutic vaccine design. Herein, analyses of different vaccine constructs were performed based on human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 E7 protein linked to Hsp27 or Hsp70 in multiepitope and whole sequence forms. Then, computational comparison between different orientations of Hsp/E7 was carried out in both forms.

Application of Cell Penetrating Peptides as a Promising Drug Carrier to Combat Viral Infections.

Novel effective drugs or therapeutic vaccines have been already developed to eradicate viral infections. Some non-viral carriers have been used for effective drug delivery to a target cell or tissue. Among them, cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) attracted a special interest to enhance drug delivery into the cells with low toxicity.

Immunological investigation of a multiepitope peptide vaccine candidate based on main proteins of SARS-CoV-2 pathogen.

Multiepitope vaccines could induce multiantigenic immunity against large complex pathogens with different strain variants. Herein, the in silico, in vitro and in vivo studies were used to design and develop a novel candidate antigenic multiepitope vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 pathogen. The designed multiepitope construct targets the spike glycoprotein (S), membrane protein (M), and nucleocapsid phosphoprotein (N) of SARS-CoV-2 (i.

Cabotegravir/Rilpivirine: the last FDA-approved drug to treat HIV.

Introduction: The development of long-acting (LA) drugs has changed the management of common medical conditions for human replication immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Cabenuva (cabotegravir/Rilpivirine) is the first LA antiretroviral injectable drug composed of nano-formulation of cabotegravir (CAB) and rilpivirine (RPV).

Areas Covered: In this review article, we aim to have a brief overview of results of major clinical trials that administrated Cabotegravir/Rilpivirine for patients considering the efficacy and safety profiles.

Treatment of hepatitis C virus infection with direct-acting antiviral agent-based regimens in Iranian patients with hereditary bleeding disorders.

Background: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is one of the most important comorbidities in patients with hereditary bleeding disorders (HBD). The present study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of direct-acting antiviral agent (DAA)-based interferon-free HCV antiviral regimens in patients with HBD.

Patients And Methods: The present study was performed on the patients with HBD and CHC between 2015 and 2019.

In silico design and in vitro expression of novel multiepitope DNA constructs based on HIV-1 proteins and Hsp70 T-cell epitopes.

Objectives: Epitope-driven vaccines carrying highly conserved and immunodominant epitopes have emerged as promising approaches to overcome human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection.

Methods: Two multiepitope DNA constructs encoding T cell epitopes from HIV-1 Gag, Pol, Env, Nef and Rev proteins alone and/or linked to the immunogenic epitopes derived from heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) as an immunostimulatory agent were designed. In silico analyses were applied including MHC-I and MHC-II binding, MHC-I immunogenicity and antigen processing, population coverage, conservancy, allergenicity, toxicity and hemotoxicity.

Combination of human papillomaviruses L1 and L2 multiepitope constructs protects mice against tumor cells.

Different types of cancer including cervical (>90%), anal (~88%), vaginal (~40%), and penile (~40%) cancers are associated with human papillomaviruse (HPV) infections. Three prophylactic vaccines (Cervarix, Gardasil, and Gardasil-9) were approved to provide immuno-protection against certain types of HPVs. Currently, next-generation HPV vaccines such as L1/L2-based vaccines are being developed to provide broad-type HPV protection.

Design of novel multiepitope constructs-based peptide vaccine against the structural S, N and M proteins of human COVID-19 using immunoinformatics analysis.

The causative agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) reported by the Chinese Center for Disease Control (China CDC) has been identified as a novel Betacoronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). A computational approach was adopted to identify multiepitope vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 based on S, N and M proteins being able to elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses. In this study, the sequence of the virus was obtained from NCBI database and analyzed with in silico tools such as NetMHCpan, IEDB, BepiPred, NetCTL, Tap transport/proteasomal cleavage, Pa3P, GalexyPepDock, I-TASSER, Ellipro and ClusPro.

An overview of vaccine design against different pathogens and cancer.

Introduction: Due to overcome the hardness of the vaccine design, computational vaccinology is emerging widely. Prediction of T cell and B cell epitopes, antigen processing analysis, antigenicity analysis, population coverage, conservancy analysis, allergenicity assessment, toxicity prediction, and protein-peptide docking are important steps in the process of designing and developing potent vaccines against various viruses and cancers. In order to perform all of the analyses, several bioinformatics tools and online web servers have been developed.

Impact of Blood Transfusion on the Prevalence of HHpgV-1, HPgV-1, and B19V Among Iranian HCV-infected Patients With Hemophilia.

Objective: Blood-derived products from patient with hemophilia treated by factor VIII concentrates are potential sources of transfusion-transmitted infections, including human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis, human pegivirus-1 (HPgV-1), B19 virus, and also human hepegivirus-1 (HHpgV-1). In the current study, we investigated the impact of blood transfusion on the prevalence of HHpgV-1, HPgV-1, and B19 virus in plasma of Iranian patient with hemophilia after direct-acting antiviral treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections for the first time.

Materials And Methods: A total of 170 patients with hemophilia who received direct-acting antivirals were enrolled in this study.

Development of HPV E5 and E7 peptides-based vaccines predicted by immunoinformatics tools.

Objectives: Viral oncoproteins are ideal targets in therapeutic vaccines for functional inhibition of human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Herein, we designed the peptide constructs derived from E5 and E7 oncoproteins of high-risk HPV types 16, 18, 31 and 45 using the bioinformatics tools and investigated their potency in mice.

Results: The framework of the combined in silico/in vivo analysis included (1) to determine physicochemical properties of the designed constructs, (2) to identify potential IFN-γ-inducing epitopes, (3) to assess allergenicity, (4) to recognize linear and discontinuous B cell epitopes using modeling and validation of 3D structure of the designed constructs, and (5) to evaluate immune responses and tumor growth in vivo.

In silico/In vivo analysis of high-risk papillomavirus L1 and L2 conserved sequences for development of cross-subtype prophylactic vaccine.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world and the main cause of cervical cancer. Nowadays, the virus-like particles (VLPs) based on L1 proteins have been considered as the best candidate for vaccine development against HPV infections. Two commercial HPV (Gardasil and Cervarix) are available.

First Report of Prevalence of Blood-Borne Viruses (HBV, HCV, HIV, HTLV-1 and Parvovirus B19) Among Hemophilia Patients in Afghanistan.

Blood-borne viruses including Hepatitis B and C, HIV, HTLV-1 and parvovirus B19 are still a factor of concern, especially for hemophilia patients. Although the safety of the blood supply continues to improve worldwide, the blood supply system in Afghanistan was damaged by many years of conflict and political instability. To date, there are few studies focused on the prevalence of blood-borne viruses in hemophilia patients.

Analysis of long non-coding RNA expression in hemophilia A patients.

Objectives: Hemophilia A (HA) is an inherited and rare X-linked bleeding disorder which is caused by mutations of the factor VIII gene (FVIII). Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-protein coding sequence transcripts containing more than 200 nucleotides and have potential in diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancers and inherited bleeding disorders like thalassemia. The goal of this study was to determine the relationship between the expression of lncRNAs and the incidence of hemophilia A in Iranian population.

Human platelet antigens polymorphisms; association to the development of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Recently, human platelet antigens (HPAs) polymorphisms are found to play a role in susceptibility to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and fibrosis progression. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the possible association between the HPAs polymorphisms with liver fibrosis progression in HCV patients. HPAs polymorphisms genotyping was performed in HCV patients (n = 71) by Sequence-specific primers-polymerase chain reaction.

Prediction of cross-clade HIV-1 T-cell epitopes using immunoinformatics analysis.

Epitope mapping has emerged as a powerful tool to develop peptide vaccines against hypervariable viruses such as HIV. This method has led to stimulate a specific immune response and achieve advanced vaccine formulations. In this study, we identified peptides that were potentially immunostimulatory and highly conserved in HIV-1 main group.

Acute changes in cardiac function by direct acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C-infected patients with thalassemia.

Background: Patients with thalassemia may also have cardiac abnormalities due to congenital problems, anemia, and increased burden of iron in their myocardium. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapy on the cardiac function of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients with thalassemia.

Method: HCV-infected thalassemia patients were enrolled to this prospective evaluation.

Polymorphisms in the TGF-β1 (rs1982037) and IL-2 (rs2069762, rs4833248) genes are not associated with inhibitor development in Iranian patients with hemophilia A.

Objectives Development of neutralizing antibodies against factor VIII is the major complication in hemophilia care which makes replacement therapies ineffective. The reports showed that inflammatory cytokines play an important role in inhibitor production. In the present study, the relationship between inhibitor development and the polymorphisms of two cytokine genes was studied in severe hemophiliac patients from Iran.

Recommendations for the Clinical Management of Hepatitis C in Iran: A Consensus-Based National Guideline.

Context: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health issue worldwide, including Iran. The new direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) with high efficacy have changed the landscape of HCV treatment. This guideline provides updated recommendations for clinical management of HCV infection in Iran.

Physicochemical properties of polymers: An important system to overcome the cell barriers in gene transfection.

Delivery of the macromolecules including DNA, miRNA, and antisense oligonucleotides is typically mediated by carriers due to the large size and negative charge. Different physical (e.g.