1st International and 10th National Iranian Conference on Bioinformatics
Home Accepted Papers
Computational Design of a Candidate Vaccine to Increase Immune Responses against Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant
Paper ID : 1145-ICB10
Authors:
Babak Elyasi Far1, shiva Mohammadi *2, Nahid Rezaei3, Motahare Mahi Birjand4
1Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Iran
2Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran
3Department of Medical Immunology, School of Medicine, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran
4School of Pharmacy, Infectious Diseases Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
Abstract:
Background: SARS-CoV-2 has been emerging in the form of different variants since its first emergence in 2019. A new Variant named the Omicron variant was reported. This variant has many mutations in the Spike, membrane, envelope, and nucleocapsid proteins[1]. Immuno-informatics tools are cost-effective methods to accelerate the design of a suitable candidate vaccine against Omicron variant. The employment of vaccines has been demonstrated to be a promising immunization approach against viruses due to the induction of long-term protective immunity[2].
Methods: In the study, a computational approach was conducted to design a vaccine composed of cytotoxic T lymphocyte and helper T lymphocyte epitopes of Spike and Envelope proteins. The potential viral peptides as the candidate vaccine were screened regarding convenient features like hydrophilicity, flexibility, and antigenicity. The final assembled construct was fused with the assistance of suitable linkers and cloned in a pET28a expression vector for the production of the vaccine in a bacterial host.
Results: After validation of the final construct in terms of its efficacy, stability, and exposure ability, molecular docking analysis was carried out to reveal its interaction with toll-like receptor 4. The molecular simulations by iMODS software confirmed the stability of the binding interface. Additionally, the computational cloning of the assembled vaccine in pET28a plasmid showed the possibility of producing a vaccine construct in E. coli.
Conclusion: The computational analysis showed that this construct could be a potent vaccine candidate against Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant once its effectiveness is verified by experimental studies.
Keywords:
Immuno-informatics, Vaccine, Envelope protein, Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant, Spike protein.
Status : Paper Accepted (Poster Presentation)