1st International and 10th National Iranian Conference on Bioinformatics
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In silico Design of a Candidate Vaccine to Hasten Immune Responses against Group B Streptococcus Bacteria
Paper ID : 1146-ICB10
Authors:
Babak Elyasi Far1, shiva Mohammadi *2
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.
Abstract:
Background: Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus) is a pathogen, that asymptomatically colonizes the genitourinary tract of healthy adults. Nevertheless, Group B Streptococcus carriage in pregnant women can lead to several health issues in newborns causing life-threatening infections, for example, pneumonia, sepsis, or meningitis[1]. Immuno-informatics servers are cost-effective methods to boost the design of a skilled candidate vaccine against Streptococcus agalactiae. The use of vaccines has been confirmed to be a hopeful immunization approach against bacteria due to the induction of long-term protective immunity[2].
Methods: In the study, a complete in silico approach was conducted to design a vaccine composed of cytotoxic T lymphocyte and helper T lymphocyte epitopes of Sip (surface immunogenic protein) and Alp proteins. The potential bacterial peptides as the candidate vaccine were screened regarding convenient features like hydrophilicity, flexibility, and antigenicity. The final construct was fused with the assistance of suitable linkers and cloned in a pET28a vector for the production of the vaccine in a bacterial host.
Results: After validation of the vaccine construct in terms of its efficacy, stability, and exposure ability, molecular docking analysis was carried out to show its interaction with toll-like receptor 4. The molecular simulations by iMODS server confirmed the stability of the binding interface. Additionally, the in silico cloning of the assembled vaccine in pET28a showed the possibility of producing a vaccine construct in E. coli.
Conclusion: The in silico analysis indicated that the construct could be a potent candidate vaccine against Group B Streptococcus once its effectiveness is verified by experimental studies.
Keywords:
Alp proteins, Candidate Vaccine, Group B Streptococcus, In silico, Sip protein
Status : Paper Accepted (Poster Presentation)