Immunoinformatics approach for multi-epitope vaccine design against P. falciparum malaria

• Published in: Infection, genetics and evolution Vol. 92; p. 104875
• Main Authors: Maharaj, Leah, Adeleke, Victoria T., Fatoba, Abiodun J., Adeniyi, Adebayo A., Tshilwane, Selaelo I., Adeleke, Matthew A., Maharaj, Rajendra, Okpeku, Moses
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-08-2021
• Subjects: Computational Biology; Epitope prediction; Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte - immunology; Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte - immunology; Humans; Immunoinformatics; Infectious disease; Malaria; Malaria Vaccines - chemistry; Malaria, Falciparum - prevention & control; Plasmodium falciparum - immunology; Vaccine; Infectious disease; Vaccine; Malaria; Epitope prediction; Immunoinformatics
• ISSN: 1567-1348; 1567-7257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2021.104875

Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) is a leading causative agent of malaria, an infectious disease that can be fatal. Unfortunately, control measures are becoming less effective over time. A vaccine is needed to effectively control malaria and lead towards the total elimination of the disease. There have been multiple attempts to develop a vaccine, but to date, none have been certified as appropriate for wide-scale use. In this study, an immunoinformatics method is presented to design a multi-epitope vaccine construct predicted to be effective against P. falciparum malaria. This was done through the prediction of 12 CD4+ T-cell, 10 CD8+ T-cell epitopes and, 1 B-cell epitope which were assessed for predicted high antigenicity, immunogenicity, and non-allergenicity through in silico methods. The Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) population coverage showed that the alleles associated with the epitopes accounted for 78.48% of the global population. The CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes were docked to HLA-DRB1*07:01 and HLA-A*32:01 successfully. Therefore, the epitopes were deemed to be suitable as components of a multi-epitope vaccine construct. Adjuvant RS09 was added to the construct to generate a stronger immune response, as confirmed by an immune system simulation. Finally, the structural stability of the predicted multi-epitope vaccine was assessed using molecular dynamics simulations. The results show a promising vaccine design that should be further synthesised and assessed for its efficacy in an experimental laboratory setting.
•Malaria control by vaccination is an important step in elimination.•Immunoinformatics is a cost-effective way to identify T- and B-cell epitopes.•The vaccine construct is made of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes, and B-cell epitope.•Adjuvants and linkers were incorporated into the final design.•The vaccine construct is promising and needs to be experimentally validated.