A Putative Prophylactic Solution for COVID-19: Development of Novel Multiepitope Vaccine Candidate against SARS-COV-2 by Comprehensive Immunoinformatic and Molecular Modelling Approach
Hafiz Muzzammel Rehman,
Muhammad Usman Mirza,
Mian Azhar Ahmad,
Mahjabeen Saleem,
Matheus Froeyen,
Sarfraz Ahmad,
Roquyya Gul,
Huda Ahmed Alghamdi,
Muhammad Shahbaz Aslam,
Muhammad Sajjad,
Munir Ahmad Bhinder
Affiliations
Hafiz Muzzammel Rehman
Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
Muhammad Usman Mirza
Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Medicinal Chemistry, University of Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Mian Azhar Ahmad
Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
Mahjabeen Saleem
Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
Matheus Froeyen
Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Medicinal Chemistry, University of Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Sarfraz Ahmad
Drug Design and Development Research Group (DDDRG), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Roquyya Gul
Faculty of Life Sciences, Gulab Devi Educational Complex, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
Huda Ahmed Alghamdi
Department of Biology, College of Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia
Muhammad Shahbaz Aslam
Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
Muhammad Sajjad
School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid e Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
Munir Ahmad Bhinder
Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
The outbreak of 2019-novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes severe respiratory infection (COVID-19) has spread in China, and the World Health Organization has declared it a pandemic. However, no approved drug or vaccines are available, and treatment is mainly supportive and through a few repurposed drugs. The urgency of the situation requires the development of SARS-CoV-2-based vaccines. Immunoinformatic and molecular modelling are time-efficient methods that are generally used to accelerate the discovery and design of the candidate peptides for vaccine development. In recent years, the use of multiepitope vaccines has proved to be a promising immunization strategy against viruses and pathogens, thus inducing more comprehensive protective immunity. The current study demonstrated a comprehensive in silico strategy to design stable multiepitope vaccine construct (MVC) from B-cell and T-cell epitopes of essential SARS-CoV-2 proteins with the help of adjuvants and linkers. The integrated molecular dynamics simulations analysis revealed the stability of MVC and its interaction with human Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which trigger an innate and adaptive immune response. Later, the in silico cloning in a known pET28a vector system also estimated the possibility of MVC expression in Escherichia coli. Despite that this study lacks validation of this vaccine construct in terms of its efficacy, the current integrated strategy encompasses the initial multiple epitope vaccine design concepts. After validation, this MVC can be present as a better prophylactic solution against COVID-19.