Designing a Multiepitope Vaccine against Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus: Immunoinformatics and Computational Approaches.

ACS Omega

Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea.

Published: January 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) poses a serious risk to humans and animals, causing severe brain inflammation with no current antiviral treatments or vaccines available.
  • Researchers designed a potential vaccine using immunoinformatics to identify ten safe and effective epitopes from the EEEV polyprotein, which could stimulate a strong immune response.
  • The study emphasizes the urgent need for preventive strategies against EEEV, especially as climate change may increase its spread, making this vaccine development a significant advancement in public health.

Article Abstract

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a significant threat to human and animal populations, causing severe encephalitis, often leading to long-term neurological complications and even mortality. Despite this, no approved antiviral treatments or EEEV human vaccines currently exist. In response, we utilized immunoinformatics and computational approaches to design a multiepitope vaccine candidate for EEEV. By screening the structural polyprotein of EEEV, we predicted both T-cell and linear B-cell epitopes. These epitopes underwent comprehensive evaluations for their antigenicity, toxicity, and allergenicity. From these evaluations, we selected ten epitopes highly suitable for vaccine design, which were connected with adjuvants using a stable linker. The resulting vaccine construct demonstrated exceptional antigenic, nontoxic, nonallergenic, and physicochemical properties. Subsequently, we employed molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations to reveal a stable interaction pattern between the vaccine candidate and Toll-like receptor 5. Besides, computational immune simulations predicted the vaccine's capability to induce robust immune responses. Our study addresses the urgent need for effective EEEV preventive strategies and offers valuable insights for EEEV vaccine development. As EEEV poses a severe threat with potential spread due to climate change, our research provides a crucial step in enhancing public health defenses against this menacing zoonotic disease.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10785064PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c07322DOI Listing

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