Dengue virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae and its four serotypes are responsible for dengue infections, which extend over 60 countries in tropical and subtropical areas of the world including Pakistan. During the ongoing dengue outbreak in Pakistan (2022), over 30,000 cases have been reported, and over 70 lives have been lost. The only commercialized vaccine against DENV, Dengvaxia, cannot be administered as a prophylactic measure to cure this infection due to various complications. Using machine learning and reverse vaccinology approaches, this study was designed to develop a tetravalent modified nucleotide mRNA vaccine using NS1, prM, and EIII sequences of dengue virus from Pakistani isolates. Based on high antigenicity, non-allergenicity, and toxicity profiling, B-cell epitope, cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), and helper T lymphocyte (HTL) putative vaccine targets were predicted. Molecular docking confirmed favorable interactions between T-cell epitopes and their respective HLA alleles, while normal mode analysis validated high-affinity interactions of vaccine proteins with immune receptors. In silico immune simulations confirmed adequate immune responses to eliminate the antigen and generate memory. Codon optimization, physicochemical features, nucleotide modifications, and suitable vector availability further ensured better antigen expression and adaptive immune responses. We predict that this vaccine construct may prove to be a good vaccinal candidate against dengue virus in vitro as well.
Aspergillus flavus was used to produce alkaline protease. Solid state fermentation (SSF) strategy was adopted to explore the most favorable physical and nutritional conditions for enzyme production. Maximum production was achieved at pH 6.0 and a temperature of 30 °C after 84 h of growth period. For the optimization of the chemical parameters, different carbon and nitrogen sources were used including glucose, fructose, sucrose, ammonium sulphate, and urea. Maximum production was observed with 0.3% concentration of all the compounds. Ammonium sulphate salting out and gel chromatography was used to purify the enzyme. The enzyme was completely precipitated out at 80% saturation. The value of Vmax was 3.9 U/mL, while the value of Km was 1.9 mg/mL. The enzyme was tested for its compatibility with a few famous detergents available on the market. With the alkaline protease under study, the enzyme displayed a maximum retention of its activity i.e. 80.8% in the presence of commercial detergent Surf excel. The activity dropped down to 61.5% when the enzyme was allowed to work in the presence of another locally used detergent, i.e., Bonus. Protease production from A. flavus was carried out on rice bran and wheat bran and the wheat bran gave better results.
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