Design, evaluation, and immune simulation of potentially universal multi-epitope mpox vaccine candidate: focus on DNA vaccine

Abstract

Monkeypox (mpox) is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by the mpox virus. Mpox symptoms are similar to smallpox with less severity and lower mortality. As yet mpox virus is not characterized by as high transmissibility as some severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants, still, it is spreading, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM). Thus, taking preventive measures, such as vaccination, is highly recommended. While the smallpox vaccine has demonstrated considerable efficacy against the mpox virus due to the antigenic similarities, the development of a universal anti-mpox vaccine remains a necessary pursuit. Recently, nucleic acid vaccines have garnered special attention owing to their numerous advantages compared to traditional vaccines. Importantly, DNA vaccines have certain advantages over mRNA vaccines. In this study, a potentially universal DNA vaccine candidate against mpox based on conserved epitopes was designed and its efficacy was evaluated via an immunoinformatics approach. The vaccine candidate demonstrated potent humoral and cellular immune responses in silico, indicating the potential efficacy in vivo and the need for further research.

Efficacy of smallpox vaccines against Mpox infections in humans

“…While vaccination against MPXV infection has relied on the use of smallpox virus-specific vaccines, those that specifically target MPXV are in experimental development. These include DNA-based vaccines encoding several conserved MPXV epitopes [ 41 ] or recombinant vaccines containing MPXV structural proteins [ 42 , 43 ]. Furthermore, the recombinant vaccines were shown to provide protection against Mpox in experimentally infected mice or macaques [ 42 , 43 ].…”