Development of a novel multi-epitope mRNA vaccine candidate to combat HMPV virus

Abstract

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is one of the main pathogens causing severe respiratory infections in children, as a common cause of immunodeficiency-related deaths in children and elderly individuals, the prevalence of HMPV has been showing an increasing trend during the last years. However, no vaccines or effective treatment plans are available currently. In this present, based on candidate proteins highly associated with viral virulence and has promising protective potential, we screened for immunodominant cytotoxic T cells, helper T cells, and Linear B-cell epitopes from the most promising candidate Fusion protein, together with G, SH, M, and M2. All epitopes were predicted to have strong antigenicity by Vaxijen and pose no potential toxicity, allergenicity, or hormonology to human proteins by Toxinpred, Allerpred, and Blast analysis, meanwhile, high conservancy is demanded to cover different subtypes. adjuvants β-defensin II and Pam2Cys was attached with EAAAK linkers to improve vaccine’s efficiency. Then, calculation of physicochemical properties proved the protein vaccine as a product can stably exist in the human body. Besides, we assessed the docking between the vaccine and immune receptors to evaluate its ability to stimulate immune responses, and the dynamic simulation further confirmed that the vaccine can tightly bind with immune receptors, which approved that the construction has the potential to induce strong humoral and cellular immune response. Finally, the vaccine was constructed into a multi-epitope mRNA vaccine, the immune simulations suggest that this is a vaccine candidate for controlling HMPV infection.

Multi-epitope mRNA vaccine candidate to combat HMPV virus: Comment

“…We would like to discuss on the publication “Development of a novel multi-epitope mRNA vaccine candidate to combat HMPV virus. 1 ” The research largely relies on in-silico predictions and simulations. While these methods are beneficial for preliminary screening of possible epitopes, they do not guarantee their efficacy as vaccine candidates.…”

Epidemiology and diagnosis technologies of human metapneumovirus in China: a mini review

“…HMPV has been widely prevalent worldwide and continuously brings a significant medical burden to the local area, as effective vaccine or antiviral drug for treating or preventing HMPV infection is not licensed [14]. For instance, HMPV infection is associated with nearly one million outpatient clinic visits with clinical symptoms of ARTIs, and the disease caused by HMPV infection poses huge threats to the health of more than 86% of children aged below 5 years worldwide [15,16].…”