Designing a Multi-Epitope Vaccine against Toxoplasma gondii: An Immunoinformatics Approach

Hammed-Akanmu, M; Mim, M; Osman, AY; Sheikh, AM; Behmard, E; Rabaan, AA; Suppain, R; Hajissa, K

Abstract

Infection with the intracellular apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii causes serious clinical outcomes in both human and veterinary settings worldwide. Although approximately onethird of the world's population is infected with T. gondii, an effective human vaccine for this disease remains unavailable. We aimed to design a potential T. gondii vaccine candidate that consisted of the B- and T-lymphocyte epitopes of three parasite immunogenic antigens. Firstly, the immunodominant epitopes expressed within the ROP2, MIC3, and GRA7 proteins of T. gondii were identified. Subsequently, six B-cell epitopes, five CTL epitopes, and five HTL epitopes were combined to generate a multi-epitope vaccine, and the 50S ribosomal protein L7/L12 was added as an adjuvant to boost the vaccine's immunogenicity. All these epitopes were found to be antigenic, nonallergenic, nontoxic, and nonhuman homologs. The designed vaccine construct has a molecular weight of 51 kDa, an antigenicity score of 0.6182, and a solubility of 0.903461. Likewise, the candidate vaccine was immunogenic, nonallergenic, and stable. Molecular docking analysis revealed stable interactions between the vaccine construct and the TLR-4 immune receptor. Meanwhile, the stability of the developed vaccine was validated using molecular dynamics simulation. In silico, the vaccine construct was able to trigger primary immune responses. However, further laboratory-based assessments are needed to confirm its efficacy and safety.

Citation

Hammed-Akanmu, M., Mim, M., Osman, A., Sheikh, A., Behmard, E., Rabaan, A., …Hajissa, K. (2022). Designing a Multi-Epitope Vaccine against Toxoplasma gondii: An Immunoinformatics Approach. Vaccines, 10(9), https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10091389

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 16, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Aug 25, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Aug 9, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 9, 2023
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 9
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10091389
• Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii; epitopes; in silico; immunoinformatics; vaccine; molecular docking; immune simulation; FUSION PROTEIN; EXPRESSION; INFECTION; CANDIDATE; CYCLE