Prediction of Putative Epitope Peptides against BaeR Associated with TCS Adaptation in <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> Using an In Silico Approach
A. S. Smiline Girija,
Shoba Gunasekaran,
Saman Habib,
Mohammed Aljeldah,
Basim R. Al Shammari,
Ahmad A. Alshehri,
Ameen S. S. Alwashmi,
Safaa A. Turkistani,
Abdulsalam Alawfi,
Amer Alshengeti,
Mohammed Garout,
Sara Alwarthan,
Roua A. Alsubki,
Nouran M. Moustafa,
Ali A. Rabaan
Affiliations
A. S. Smiline Girija
Department of Microbiology, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences [SIMATS], Saveetha University, P.H. Road, Chennai 600077, India
Shoba Gunasekaran
Department of Biotechnology, DG Vaishnav College, Chennai 600106, India
Saman Habib
Department of Medical Education, King Edward Medical University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Mohammed Aljeldah
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafr Al Batin 39831, Saudi Arabia
Basim R. Al Shammari
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafr Al Batin 39831, Saudi Arabia
Ahmad A. Alshehri
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Najran University, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia
Ameen S. S. Alwashmi
Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia
Safaa A. Turkistani
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Fakeeh College for Medical Science, Jeddah 21134, Saudi Arabia
Abdulsalam Alawfi
Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Taibah University, Al-Madinah 41491, Saudi Arabia
Amer Alshengeti
Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Taibah University, Al-Madinah 41491, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Garout
Department of Community Medicine and Health Care for Pilgrims, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia
Sara Alwarthan
Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia
Roua A. Alsubki
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11362, Saudi Arabia
Nouran M. Moustafa
Basic Medical Science Department, College of Medicine, Dar Al Uloom University, Riyadh 12922, Saudi Arabia
Background and Objectives: The BaeR protein is involved in the adaptation system of A. baumannii and is associated with virulence factors responsible for systemic infections in hospitalized patients. This study was conducted to characterize putative epitope peptides for the design of vaccines against BaeR protein, using an immune-informatic approach. Materials and Methods: FASTA sequences of BaeR from five different strains of A. baumannii were retrieved from the UNIPROT database and evaluated for their antigenicity, allergenicity and vaccine properties using BepiPred, Vaxijen, AlgPred, AntigenPro and SolPro. Their physio-chemical properties were assessed using the Expasy Protparam server. Immuno-dominant B-cell and T-cell epitope peptides were predicted using the IEDB database and MHC cluster server with a final assessment of their interactions with TLR-2. Results: A final selection of two peptide sequences (36aa and 22aa) was made from the 38 antigenic peptides. E1 was considered a soluble, non-allergenic antigen, and possessed negative GRAVY values, substantiating the hydrophilic nature of the proteins. Further analysis on the T-cell epitopes, class I immunogenicity and HLA allele frequencies yielded T-cell immuno-dominant peptides. The protein–peptide interactions of the TLR-2 receptor showed good similarity scores in terms of the high number of hydrogen bonds compared to other protein-peptide interactions. Conclusions: The two epitopes predicted from BaeR in the present investigation are promising vaccine candidates for targeting the TCS of A. baumannii in systemic and nosocomial infections. This study also demonstrates an alternative strategy to tackling and mitigating MDR strains of A. baumannii and provides a useful reference for the design and construction of novel vaccine candidates against this bacteria.
