Immunoinformatics-Aided Design of a Peptide Based Multiepitope Vaccine Targeting Glycoproteins and Membrane Proteins against Monkeypox Virus
Nahid Akhtar,
Vikas Kaushik,
Ravneet Kaur Grewal,
Atif Khurshid Wani,
Chonticha Suwattanasophon,
Kiattawee Choowongkomon,
Romina Oliva,
Abdul Rajjak Shaikh,
Luigi Cavallo,
Mohit Chawla
Affiliations
Nahid Akhtar
School of Bio-Engineering and Bio-Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, India
Vikas Kaushik
School of Bio-Engineering and Bio-Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, India
Ravneet Kaur Grewal
Department of Research and Innovation, STEMskills Research and Education Lab Private Limited, Faridabad 121002, India
Atif Khurshid Wani
School of Bio-Engineering and Bio-Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, India
Chonticha Suwattanasophon
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, 50 Ngam Wong Wan Rd, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand
Kiattawee Choowongkomon
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, 50 Ngam Wong Wan Rd, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand
Romina Oliva
Department of Sciences and Technologies, University Parthenope of Naples, Centro Direzionale Isola C4, I-80143 Naples, Italy
Abdul Rajjak Shaikh
Department of Research and Innovation, STEMskills Research and Education Lab Private Limited, Faridabad 121002, India
Luigi Cavallo
Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, Kaust Catalysis Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Mohit Chawla
Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, Kaust Catalysis Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
Monkeypox is a self-limiting zoonotic viral disease and causes smallpox-like symptoms. The disease has a case fatality ratio of 3–6% and, recently, a multi-country outbreak of the disease has occurred. The currently available vaccines that have provided immunization against monkeypox are classified as live attenuated vaccinia virus-based vaccines, which pose challenges of safety and efficacy in chronic infections. In this study, we have used an immunoinformatics-aided design of a multi-epitope vaccine (MEV) candidate by targeting monkeypox virus (MPXV) glycoproteins and membrane proteins. From these proteins, seven epitopes (two T-helper cell epitopes, four T-cytotoxic cell epitopes and one linear B cell epitopes) were finally selected and predicted as antigenic, non-allergic, interferon-γ activating and non-toxic. These epitopes were linked to adjuvants to design a non-allergic and antigenic candidate MPXV-MEV. Further, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations predicted stable interactions between predicted MEV and human receptor TLR5. Finally, the immune-simulation analysis showed that the candidate MPXV-MEV could elicit a human immune response. The results obtained from these in silico experiments are promising but require further validation through additional in vivo experiments.
