Evaluation of the Immunogenic Properties of Trypanosoma cruzi Consensus Enolase Using a Bioinformatics Approach

Abstract

Purpose: Currently, there is no vaccine for American Trypanosomiasis, a disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, this disease is highly endemic in Latin America. The aim of this work is proposing an enolase consensus sequence from different T. cruzi strains for its use as a vaccine, initially evaluating its immunogenic properties using a bioinformatics tools. Methods & Materials: From specialized databases, 15 enolase sequences were downloaded, after that alignment was done, a consensus sequence was obtained, this was modeled by homology, the enolase consensus model was evaluated and validated through different programs and bioinformatics platforms to know its physicochemical properties, immunogenic potential, as well as the most representative MHC and the prediction of epitopes for B and T cells; Subsequently, molecular docking was performed with membrane-associated receptors TLR-2 and 4, to visualize the interactions at level of innate immune response that could exist. Finally, a chimeric peptide was designed with the most immunological representative epitopes for the Latin American population. Results: The enolase consensus model shows 429 amino acid, also were identified high immunogenic potential epitopes with six for MHC-I, and seven epitopes for MHC-II, all of them highly representative to population of Latin America, as well as five epitopes for B cells. Regarding the molecular docking assays with the receptors, a high affinity was shown with TLR-2 and TLR-4, this could indicate an activation of innate immune response adequate to help in the elimination of the parasite. Moreover, an immunogenic epitopes construction was realized, the bioinformatics assays show that is highly immunogenic. Conclusion: The enolase consensus sequence shows by in silico assays their potential to be immunogenic and moreover is specific for all strains of T. cruzi. These results are promising to initiate an experimental approach in order to obtain a vaccine against T. cruzi.