Multi-Epitope-Based Vaccine Candidate for Monkeypox: An In Silico Approach

Abstract

Currently, there are limited treatment options available for the monkeypox disease. We used a computational strategy to design a specific antigenic vaccine against pathogens. After using various immunoinformatic tools and filters, cytotoxic T-cell lymphocyte (CTL)-, helper T-cell lymphocyte (HTL)-, and interferon gamma (IFN-γ)-inducing epitopes, which comprised the vaccine, in addition to other parameters, such as antigenic and allergic profiles, were assessed to confirm the safety of the vaccine. However, vaccine interaction and stability with Toll-like receptors (TLRs) were assessed by dynamic simulation methods, and it was found that the constructed vaccine was stable. In addition, C-IMMSIM tools were used to determine the immune-response-triggering capabilities of the vaccine. These immunoinformatic findings reveal that constructed vaccine candidates may be capable of triggering an efficient immune response for monkeypox viral infections. However, experimental evaluation is required to verify the safety and immunogenic profile of constructed vaccines.

Identification of B and T Cell Epitopes to Design an Epitope-Based Peptide Vaccine against the Cell Surface Binding Protein of Monkeypox Virus: An Immunoinformatics Study

“…The T cell epitope “ILFLMSQRY” was suggested as the best vaccine candidate in this study based on the antigenicity score, nonallergenic and nontoxic qualities. In our study, the antigenicity of the vaccine candidate was predicted by the VaxiJen 2.0 server to be 1.0469 which is significantly higher than the vaccine candidate studied by Khan et al [ 61 ] and Abdi et al [ 63 ]. Antigenic scores of the selected 3 epitopes for vaccine designing according to the in silico study of Khan et al [ 61 ] were reported to be 0.52, 0.56, and 0.76, respectively.…”

“…Antigenic scores of the selected 3 epitopes for vaccine designing according to the in silico study of Khan et al [61] were reported to be 0.52, 0.56, and 0.76, respectively. The constructed vaccine studied by Abdi et al [63] had an antigenicity score of 0.685. epitope was found to interact with 4 MHC I molecules including HLA-B * 15:01, HLA-A * 30:02, HLA-A * 03:01 and HLA-A * 32:01. Immune receptor molecules and antigenic molecules must interact for an immune response to be effectively activated.…”

Molecular recognition of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with three essential partners: exploring possible immune escape mechanisms of viral mutants

“…Epitope prediction appeared in the eyes of vaccine developers as early as the outbreak of MERS-CoV, breaking through the stagnant research and development process and providing new vaccine candidates [ 119 ]. This technology is still in continuous application and development, and has been used in a variety of research and development of specific vaccines in recent years, such as monkeypox vaccine [ 120 ] and orthohantavirus vaccine [ 121 ]. Among them, multi-epitope vaccine is an effective way to deal with the continuous mutation of the virus, which brings good news for the future development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.…”

Computational Purposing Phytochemicals against Cysteine Protease of Monkeypox Virus: An In-silico Approach

“…Since MPXV is so very similar to the smallpox virus, vaccinations and antiviral treatments developed for smallpox can be used successfully against monkeypox. 1,13,14 Cross-immunity against poxviruses, however, has been on the wane worldwide ever since smallpox vaccination campaigns were abandoned. That is why in 2022, when monkeypox broke out in various parts of the world, public health officials began to worry about the possibility of a new global pandemic.…”