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Mubarak AS, Ameen ZS, Hassan AS, Ozsahin DU. Enhancing tuberculosis vaccine development: a deconvolution neural network approach for multi-epitope prediction. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10375. [PMID: 38710737 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59291-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) poses a significant threat to human life, and current BCG vaccinations only provide sporadic protection, therefore there is a need for developing efficient vaccines. Numerous immunoinformatic methods have been utilized previously, here for the first time a deep learning framework based on Deconvolutional Neural Networks (DCNN) and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (DCNN-BiLSTM) was used to predict Mtb Multiepitope vaccine (MtbMEV) subunits against six Mtb H37Rv proteins. The trained model was used to design MEV within a few minutes against TB better than other machine learning models with 99.5% accuracy. The MEV has good antigenicity, and physiochemical properties, and is thermostable, soluble, and hydrophilic. The vaccine's BLAST search ruled out the possibility of autoimmune reactions. The secondary structure analysis revealed 87% coil, 10% beta, and 2% alpha helix, while the tertiary structure was highly upgraded after refinement. Molecular docking with TLR3 and TLR4 receptors showed good binding, indicating high immune reactions. Immune response simulation confirmed the generation of innate and adaptive responses. In-silico cloning revealed the vaccine is highly expressed in E. coli. The results can be further experimentally verified using various analyses to establish a candidate vaccine for future clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Auwalu Saleh Mubarak
- Operational Research Centre in Healthcare, Near East University, TRNC Mersin 10, Nicosia, 99138, Turkey
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Kano, Nigeria
| | - Zubaida Said Ameen
- Operational Research Centre in Healthcare, Near East University, TRNC Mersin 10, Nicosia, 99138, Turkey
- Department of Biochemistry, Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano, Nigeria
| | - Abdurrahman Shuaibu Hassan
- Department of Electrical Electronics and Automation Systems Engineering, Kampala International University, Kampala, Uganda.
| | - Dilber Uzun Ozsahin
- Operational Research Centre in Healthcare, Near East University, TRNC Mersin 10, Nicosia, 99138, Turkey.
- Department of Medical Diagnostic Imaging, College of Health Science, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.
- Research Institute for Medical and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.
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2
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To Affinity and Beyond: A Personal Reflection on the Design and Discovery of Drugs. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27217624. [DOI: 10.3390/molecules27217624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Faced with new and as yet unmet medical need, the stark underperformance of the pharmaceutical discovery process is well described if not perfectly understood. Driven primarily by profit rather than societal need, the search for new pharmaceutical products—small molecule drugs, biologicals, and vaccines—is neither properly funded nor sufficiently systematic. Many innovative approaches remain significantly underused and severely underappreciated, while dominant methodologies are replete with problems and limitations. Design is a component of drug discovery that is much discussed but seldom realised. In and of itself, technical innovation alone is unlikely to fulfil all the possibilities of drug discovery if the necessary underlying infrastructure remains unaltered. A fundamental revision in attitudes, with greater reliance on design powered by computational approaches, as well as a move away from the commercial imperative, is thus essential to capitalise fully on the potential of pharmaceutical intervention in healthcare.
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3
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Khan Z, Ualiyeva D, Amissah OB, Sapkota S, Hameed HMA, Zhang T. Insight Into Novel Anti-tuberculosis Vaccines by Using Immunoinformatics Approaches. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:866873. [PMID: 35722321 PMCID: PMC9201507 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.866873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease, has been a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for decades. The causative agent of TB is the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) which can infects various parts of the body, mainly the lungs in pulmonary TB cases. Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG) is the only approved vaccine for TB, but its efficiency to combat pulmonary TB is limited. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB and extensive drug-resistant (XDR) TB requires the evolution of more potent vaccines. Therefore, this research aims to generate a universal TB subunit vaccine using advanced immunoinformatics techniques. In generating a novel multiepitope subunit vaccine, we selected the conserved and experimentally confirmed antigens Rv0058, Rv0101, and Rv3343. After a rigorous evaluation, the top candidates from predicted Helper T-lymphocytes (HTL), Cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL), and B-cell epitopes were considered potential vaccine candidates. Immunogenicity was enhanced by the addition of an adjuvant to the ultimate construct of the vaccine. B-cell epitopes predictions guaranteed the eventual induction of a humoral response. Thereafter, dynamics simulations and molecular docking validated the vaccine-receptor complex’s stability and high affinity for the immune receptor TLR-3. Also, immune simulations revealed the significantly elevated levels of immunoglobulins such as IgM, cytokines such as interleukin-2, helper T (Th) cells, and cytotoxic T-cell populations. These results agreed with the actual inflammatory response and showed rapid antigen clearance after manifold exposure. Finally, the E. coli K12 strain was confirmed via in-silico cloning for quality expression. Nevertheless, in vivo experiments should be performed to validate the safety of the proposed vaccine and its inherent ability to prevent TB infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zafran Khan
- State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory of Respiratory Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou, China.,China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, Guangzhou, China
| | - Daniya Ualiyeva
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China.,Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
| | - Obed Boadi Amissah
- State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Sanjeep Sapkota
- State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory of Respiratory Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou, China.,China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, Guangzhou, China
| | - H M Adnan Hameed
- State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory of Respiratory Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou, China.,China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, Guangzhou, China
| | - Tianyu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory of Respiratory Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou, China.,China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, Guangzhou, China
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Bibi S, Ullah I, Zhu B, Adnan M, Liaqat R, Kong WB, Niu S. In silico analysis of epitope-based vaccine candidate against tuberculosis using reverse vaccinology. Sci Rep 2021; 11:1249. [PMID: 33441913 PMCID: PMC7807040 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-80899-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 12/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) kills more individuals in the world than any other disease, and a threat made direr by the coverage of drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the single TB vaccine licensed for use in human beings and effectively protects infants and children against severe military and meningeal TB. We applied advanced computational techniques to develop a universal TB vaccine. In the current study, we select the very conserved, experimentally confirmed Mtb antigens, including Rv2608, Rv2684, Rv3804c (Ag85A), and Rv0125 (Mtb32A) to design a novel multi-epitope subunit vaccine. By using the Immune Epitopes Database (IEDB), we predicted different B-cell and T-cell epitopes. An adjuvant (Griselimycin) was also added to vaccine construct to improve its immunogenicity. Bioinformatics tools were used to predict, refined, and validate the 3D structure and then docked with toll-like-receptor (TLR-3) using different servers. The constructed vaccine was used for further processing based on allergenicity, antigenicity, solubility, different physiochemical properties, and molecular docking scores. The in silico immune simulation results showed significant response for immune cells. For successful expression of the vaccine in E. coli, in-silico cloning and codon optimization were performed. This research also sets out a good signal for the design of a peptide-based tuberculosis vaccine. In conclusion, our findings show that the known multi-epitope vaccine may activate humoral and cellular immune responses and maybe a possible tuberculosis vaccine candidate. Therefore, more experimental validations should be exposed to it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaheen Bibi
- College of Life Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China
- Lanzhou Center for Tuberculosis Research and Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Evidence Based Medicine and Clinical Translation, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
- Institute of Pathogen Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China
| | - Inayat Ullah
- Lanzhou Center for Tuberculosis Research and Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Evidence Based Medicine and Clinical Translation, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
- Institute of Pathogen Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China
| | - Bingdong Zhu
- Lanzhou Center for Tuberculosis Research and Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Evidence Based Medicine and Clinical Translation, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
- Institute of Pathogen Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, China
| | - Muhammad Adnan
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 99 Lincheng west Road, Guanshan Lake District, Guiyang, 550081, Guizhou, China
| | - Romana Liaqat
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Wei-Bao Kong
- College of Life Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China
| | - Shiquan Niu
- College of Life Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, Gansu, China.
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5
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Rehman HM, Mirza MU, Ahmad MA, Saleem M, Froeyen M, Ahmad S, Gul R, Alghamdi HA, Aslam MS, Sajjad M, Bhinder MA. A Putative Prophylactic Solution for COVID-19: Development of Novel Multiepitope Vaccine Candidate against SARS-COV-2 by Comprehensive Immunoinformatic and Molecular Modelling Approach. BIOLOGY 2020; 9:E296. [PMID: 32962156 PMCID: PMC7563440 DOI: 10.3390/biology9090296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2020] [Revised: 09/04/2020] [Accepted: 09/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The outbreak of 2019-novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes severe respiratory infection (COVID-19) has spread in China, and the World Health Organization has declared it a pandemic. However, no approved drug or vaccines are available, and treatment is mainly supportive and through a few repurposed drugs. The urgency of the situation requires the development of SARS-CoV-2-based vaccines. Immunoinformatic and molecular modelling are time-efficient methods that are generally used to accelerate the discovery and design of the candidate peptides for vaccine development. In recent years, the use of multiepitope vaccines has proved to be a promising immunization strategy against viruses and pathogens, thus inducing more comprehensive protective immunity. The current study demonstrated a comprehensive in silico strategy to design stable multiepitope vaccine construct (MVC) from B-cell and T-cell epitopes of essential SARS-CoV-2 proteins with the help of adjuvants and linkers. The integrated molecular dynamics simulations analysis revealed the stability of MVC and its interaction with human Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which trigger an innate and adaptive immune response. Later, the in silico cloning in a known pET28a vector system also estimated the possibility of MVC expression in Escherichia coli. Despite that this study lacks validation of this vaccine construct in terms of its efficacy, the current integrated strategy encompasses the initial multiple epitope vaccine design concepts. After validation, this MVC can be present as a better prophylactic solution against COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hafiz Muzzammel Rehman
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan; (H.M.R.); (M.S.A.)
- Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan; (M.A.A.); (M.A.B.)
| | - Muhammad Usman Mirza
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Medicinal Chemistry, University of Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; (M.U.M.); (M.F.)
| | - Mian Azhar Ahmad
- Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan; (M.A.A.); (M.A.B.)
- Department of Health, Government of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Mahjabeen Saleem
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan; (H.M.R.); (M.S.A.)
| | - Matheus Froeyen
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Medicinal Chemistry, University of Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; (M.U.M.); (M.F.)
| | - Sarfraz Ahmad
- Drug Design and Development Research Group (DDDRG), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia;
| | - Roquyya Gul
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Gulab Devi Educational Complex, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan;
| | - Huda Ahmed Alghamdi
- Department of Biology, College of Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Muhammad Shahbaz Aslam
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan; (H.M.R.); (M.S.A.)
| | - Muhammad Sajjad
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid e Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan;
| | - Munir Ahmad Bhinder
- Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Health Sciences, Lahore 54590, Punjab, Pakistan; (M.A.A.); (M.A.B.)
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6
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Chauhan V, Rungta T, Rawat M, Goyal K, Gupta Y, Singh MP. Excavating SARS-coronavirus 2 genome for epitope-based subunit vaccine synthesis using immunoinformatics approach. J Cell Physiol 2020; 236:1131-1147. [PMID: 32643158 PMCID: PMC7361924 DOI: 10.1002/jcp.29923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Revised: 06/25/2020] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome‐coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) in December 2019 in China, there has been an upsurge in the number of deaths and infected individuals throughout the world, thereby leading to the World Health Organization declaration of a pandemic. Since no specific therapy is currently available for the same, the present study was aimed to explore the SARS‐CoV‐2 genome for the identification of immunogenic regions using immunoinformatics approach. A series of computational tools were applied in a systematic way to identify the epitopes that could be utilized in vaccine development. The screened‐out epitopes were passed through several immune filters, such as promiscuousity, conservancy, antigenicity, nonallergenicity, population coverage, nonhomologous to human proteins, and affinity with human leukocyte antigen alleles, to screen out the best possible ones. Further, a construct comprising 11 CD4, 12 CD8, 3 B cell, and 3 interferon‐γ epitopes, along with an adjuvant β‐defensin, was designed in silico, resulting in the formation of a multiepitope vaccine. The in silico immune simulation and population coverage analysis of the vaccine sequence showed its capacity to elicit cellular, humoral, and innate immune cells and to cover up a worldwide population of more than 97%. Further, the interaction analysis of the vaccine construct with Toll‐like receptor 3 (immune receptor) was carried out by docking and dynamics simulations, revealing high affinity, constancy, and pliability between the two. The overall findings suggest that the vaccine may be highly effective, and is therefore required to be tested in the lab settings to evaluate its efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Varun Chauhan
- Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India
| | - Tripti Rungta
- Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India
| | - Manmeet Rawat
- Department of Internal Medicine (GI), Health Science Centre, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
| | - Kapil Goyal
- Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India
| | - Yash Gupta
- Department of Internal Medicine, Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Mini P Singh
- Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India
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7
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West Nile Virus Vaccine Design by T Cell Epitope Selection: In Silico Analysis of Conservation, Functional Cross-Reactivity with the Human Genome, and Population Coverage. J Immunol Res 2020; 2020:7235742. [PMID: 32258174 PMCID: PMC7106935 DOI: 10.1155/2020/7235742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
West Nile Virus (WNV) causes a debilitating and life-threatening neurological disease in humans. Since its emergence in Africa 50 years ago, new strains of WNV and an expanding geographical distribution have increased public health concerns. There are no licensed therapeutics against WNV, limiting effective infection control. Vaccines represent the most efficacious and efficient medical intervention known. Epitope-based vaccines against WNV remain significantly underexploited. Here, we use a selection protocol to identify a set of conserved prevalidated immunogenic T cell epitopes comprising a putative WNV vaccine. Experimentally validated immunogenic WNV epitopes and WNV sequences were retrieved from the IEDB and West Nile Virus Variation Database. Clustering and multiple sequence alignment identified a smaller subset of representative sequences. Protein variability analysis identified evolutionarily conserved sequences, which were used to select a diverse set of immunogenic candidate T cell epitopes. Cross-reactivity and human leukocyte antigen-binding affinities were assessed to eliminate unsuitable epitope candidates. Population protection coverage (PPC) quantified individual epitopes and epitope combinations against the world population. 3 CD8+ T cell epitopes (ITYTDVLRY, TLARGFPFV, and SYHDRRWCF) and 1 CD4+ epitope (VTVNPFVSVATANAKVLI) were selected as a putative WNV vaccine, with an estimated PPC of 97.14%.
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8
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Bettencourt P. Current Challenges in the Identification of Pre-Erythrocytic Malaria Vaccine Candidate Antigens. Front Immunol 2020; 11:190. [PMID: 32153565 PMCID: PMC7046804 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasmodium spp.-infected mosquitos inject sporozoites into the skin of a mammalian host during a blood meal. These enter the host's circulatory system and establish an infection in the liver. After a silent metamorphosis, merozoites invade the blood leading to the symptomatic and transmissible stages of malaria. The silent pre-erythrocytic malaria stage represents a bottleneck in the disease which is ideal to block progression to clinical malaria, through chemotherapeutic and immunoprophylactic interventions. RTS,S/AS01, the only malaria vaccine close to licensure, although with poor efficacy, blocks the sporozoite invasion mainly through the action of antibodies against the CSP protein, a major component of the pellicle of the sporozoite. Strikingly, sterile protection against malaria can be obtained through immunization with radiation-attenuated sporozoites, genetically attenuated sporozoites or through chemoprophylaxis with infectious sporozoites in animals and humans, but the deployability of sporozoite-based live vaccines pose tremendous challenges. The protection induced by sporozoites occurs in the pre-erythrocytic stages and is mediated mainly by antibodies against the sporozoite and CD8+ T cells against peptides presented by MHC class I molecules in infected hepatocytes. Thus, the identification of malaria antigens expressed in the sporozoite and liver-stage may provide new vaccine candidates to be included, alone or in combination, as recombinant protein-based, virus-like particles or sub-unit virally-vectored vaccines. Here I review the efforts being made to identify Plasmodium falciparum antigens expressed during liver-stage with focus on the development of parasite, hepatocyte, mouse models, and resulting rate of infection in order to identify new vaccine candidates and to improve the efficacy of the current vaccines. Finally, I propose new approaches for the identification of liver-stage antigens based on immunopeptidomics.
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9
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Flower DR. Drug Discovery: Today and Tomorrow. Bioinformation 2020; 16:1-3. [PMID: 32025152 PMCID: PMC6986934 DOI: 10.6026/97320630016001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Drug discovery continues to underperform relative to unmet medical need. Driven by profit not societal need, the search for new drugs is neither properly funded nor sufficiently systematic. Many innovative approaches are significantly underused yet extant methodology is replete with problems. In and of itself, technical innovation is unlikely to fulfill the potential of drug discovery if the supporting infrastructure remains unchanged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren R Flower
- Independent Interdisciplinary Consultant, Oxford, United Kingdom
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10
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Quinzo MJ, Lafuente EM, Zuluaga P, Flower DR, Reche PA. Computational assembly of a human Cytomegalovirus vaccine upon experimental epitope legacy. BMC Bioinformatics 2019; 20:476. [PMID: 31823715 PMCID: PMC6905002 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-019-3052-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 08/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a ubiquitous herpesvirus affecting approximately 90% of the world population. HCMV causes disease in immunologically naive and immunosuppressed patients. The prevention, diagnosis and therapy of HCMV infection are thus crucial to public health. The availability of effective prophylactic and therapeutic treatments remain a significant challenge and no vaccine is currently available. Here, we sought to define an epitope-based vaccine against HCMV, eliciting B and T cell responses, from experimentally defined HCMV-specific epitopes. Results We selected 398 and 790 experimentally validated HCMV-specific B and T cell epitopes, respectively, from available epitope resources and apply a knowledge-based approach in combination with immunoinformatic predictions to ensemble a universal vaccine against HCMV. The T cell component consists of 6 CD8 and 6 CD4 T cell epitopes that are conserved among HCMV strains. All CD8 T cell epitopes were reported to induce cytotoxic activity, are derived from early expressed genes and are predicted to provide population protection coverage over 97%. The CD4 T cell epitopes are derived from HCMV structural proteins and provide a population protection coverage over 92%. The B cell component consists of just 3 B cell epitopes from the ectodomain of glycoproteins L and H that are highly flexible and exposed to the solvent. Conclusions We have defined a multiantigenic epitope vaccine ensemble against the HCMV that should elicit T and B cell responses in the entire population. Importantly, although we arrived to this epitope ensemble with the help of computational predictions, the actual epitopes are not predicted but are known to be immunogenic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica J Quinzo
- Faculty of Medicine, University Complutense of Madrid, Pza Ramon y Cajal, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Esther M Lafuente
- Faculty of Medicine, University Complutense of Madrid, Pza Ramon y Cajal, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pilar Zuluaga
- Faculty of Medicine, University Complutense of Madrid, Pza Ramon y Cajal, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Darren R Flower
- School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK
| | - Pedro A Reche
- Faculty of Medicine, University Complutense of Madrid, Pza Ramon y Cajal, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
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11
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Michel-Todó L, Reche PA, Bigey P, Pinazo MJ, Gascón J, Alonso-Padilla J. In silico Design of an Epitope-Based Vaccine Ensemble for Chagas Disease. Front Immunol 2019; 10:2698. [PMID: 31824493 PMCID: PMC6882931 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.02698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi infection causes Chagas disease, which affects 7 million people worldwide. Two drugs are available to treat it: benznidazole and nifurtimox. Although both are efficacious against the acute stage of the disease, this is usually asymptomatic and goes undiagnosed and untreated. Diagnosis is achieved at the chronic stage, when life-threatening heart and/or gut tissue disruptions occur in ~30% of those chronically infected. By then, the drugs' efficacy is reduced, but not their associated high toxicity. Given current deficiencies in diagnosis and treatment, a vaccine to prevent infection and/or the development of symptoms would be a breakthrough in the management of the disease. Current vaccine candidates are mostly based on the delivery of single antigens or a few different antigens. Nevertheless, due to the high biological complexity of the parasite, targeting as many antigens as possible would be desirable. In this regard, an epitope-based vaccine design could be a well-suited approach. With this aim, we have gone through publicly available databases to identify T. cruzi epitopes from several antigens. By means of a computer-aided strategy, we have prioritized a set of epitopes based on sequence conservation criteria, projected population coverage of Latin American population, and biological features of their antigens of origin. Fruit of this analysis, we provide a selection of CD8+ T cell, CD4+ T cell, and B cell epitopes that have <70% identity to human or human microbiome protein sequences and represent the basis toward the development of an epitope-based vaccine against T. cruzi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Michel-Todó
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pedro Antonio Reche
- Laboratory of Immunomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pascal Bigey
- Université de Paris, UTCBS, CNRS, INSERM, Paris, France.,PSL University, ChimieParisTech, Paris, France
| | - Maria-Jesus Pinazo
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joaquim Gascón
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Julio Alonso-Padilla
- Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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12
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Pritam M, Singh G, Swaroop S, Singh AK, Singh SP. Exploitation of reverse vaccinology and immunoinformatics as promising platform for genome-wide screening of new effective vaccine candidates against Plasmodium falciparum. BMC Bioinformatics 2019; 19:468. [PMID: 30717656 PMCID: PMC7394322 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-018-2482-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2018] [Accepted: 11/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In the current scenario, designing of world-wide effective malaria vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum remain challenging despite the significant progress has been made in last few decades. Conventional vaccinology (isolate, inactivate and inject) approaches are time consuming, laborious and expensive; therefore, the use of computational vaccinology tools are imperative, which can facilitate the design of new and promising vaccine candidates. Results In current investigation, initially 5548 proteins of P. falciparum genome were carefully chosen for the incidence of signal peptide/ anchor using SignalP4.0 tool that resulted into 640 surface linked proteins (SLP). Out of these SLP, only 17 were predicted to contain GPI-anchors using PredGPI tool in which further 5 proteins were considered as malarial antigenic adhesins by MAAP and VaxiJen programs, respectively. In the subsequent step, T cell epitopes of 5 genome derived predicted antigenic adhesins (GDPAA) and 5 randomly selected known malarial adhesins (RSKMA) were analysed employing MHC class I and II tools of IEDB analysis resource. Finally, VaxiJen scored T cell epitopes from each antigen were considered for prediction of population coverage (PPC) analysis in the world-wide population including malaria endemic regions. The validation of the present in silico strategy was carried out by comparing the PPC of combined (MHC class I and II) predicted epitope ensemble among GDPAA (99.97%), RSKMA (99.90%) and experimentally known epitopes (EKE) of P. falciparum (97.72%) pertaining to world-wide human population. Conclusions The present study systematically screened 5 potential protective antigens from P. falciparum genome using bioinformatics tools. Interestingly, these GDPAA, RSKMA and EKE of P. falciparum epitope ensembles forecasted to contain highly promiscuous T cell epitopes, which are potentially effective for most of the world-wide human population with malaria endemic regions. Therefore, these epitope ensembles could be considered in near future for novel and significantly effective vaccine candidate against malaria. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12859-018-2482-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manisha Pritam
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus, Lucknow, 226028, India
| | - Garima Singh
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus, Lucknow, 226028, India
| | - Suchit Swaroop
- Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, 226007, India
| | - Akhilesh Kumar Singh
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus, Lucknow, 226028, India
| | - Satarudra Prakash Singh
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus, Lucknow, 226028, India.
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Abstract
With the rise in novel infectious agents and disease pandemics, a new era of vaccine discovery is necessary. To address this, the new field of immunomics is described, which is synergistically powered by integrating bioinformatics methodologies with technological advances in biology and high-throughput instrumentation. By incorporating biological data from immunology and molecular biology with current genomics and proteomics, immunomics is geared to deliver an insight into immune function, optimal stimulation of immune responses and precise mapping and rational selection of immune targets that cover antigenic diversity. These efforts are expected to contribute towards the development of new generation of vaccines, tailored to both the genetic make-up of the human population and of the pathogen. Vaccine technologies are also being explored for prevention or control of non-communicable diseases.
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Sánchez-Ramón S, Conejero L, Netea MG, Sancho D, Palomares Ó, Subiza JL. Trained Immunity-Based Vaccines: A New Paradigm for the Development of Broad-Spectrum Anti-infectious Formulations. Front Immunol 2018; 9:2936. [PMID: 30619296 PMCID: PMC6304371 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2018] [Accepted: 11/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Challenge with specific microbial stimuli induces long lasting epigenetic changes in innate immune cells that result in their enhanced response to a second challenge by the same or unrelated microbial insult, a process referred to as trained immunity. This opens a new avenue in vaccinology to develop Trained Immunity-based Vaccines (TIbV), defined as vaccine formulations that induce training in innate immune cells. Unlike conventional vaccines, which are aimed to elicit only specific responses to vaccine-related antigens, TIbV aim to stimulate broader responses. As trained immunity is generally triggered by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), TIbV should be formulated with microbial structures containing suitable PRR-ligands. The TIbV concept we describe here may be used for the development of vaccines focused to promote host resistance against a wide spectrum of pathogens. Under the umbrella of trained immunity, a broad protection can be achieved by: (i) increasing the nonspecific effector response of innate immune cells (e.g., monocyte/macrophages) to pathogens, (ii) harnessing the activation state of dendritic cells to enhance adaptive T cell responses to both specific and nonrelated (bystander) antigens. This capacity of TIbV to promote responses beyond their nominal antigens may be particularly useful when conventional vaccines are not available or when multiple coinfections and/or recurrent infections arise in susceptible individuals. As the set of PRR-ligands chosen is essential not only for stimulating trained immunity but also to drive adaptive immunity, the precise design of TIbV will improve with the knowledge on the functional relationship among the different PRRs. While the TIbV concept is emerging, a number of the current anti-infectious vaccines, immunostimulants, and even vaccine adjuvants may already fall in the TIbV category. This may apply to increase immunogenicity of novel vaccine design approaches based on small molecules, like those achieved by reverse vaccinology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Sánchez-Ramón
- Department of Clinical Immunology and IdISSC, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Immunology, ENT and Ophthalmology, Complutense University School of Medicine, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Mihai G Netea
- Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands.,Department for Genomics and Immunoregulation, Life and Medical Sciences Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - David Sancho
- Immunobiology Laboratory, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares, Madrid, Spain
| | - Óscar Palomares
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Chemistry, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Murphy D, Reche P, Flower DR. Selection-based design of in silico dengue epitope ensemble vaccines. Chem Biol Drug Des 2018; 93:21-28. [DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.13357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2018] [Revised: 05/29/2018] [Accepted: 06/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David Murphy
- School of Life and Health Sciences; Aston University; Birmingham UK
| | - Pedro Reche
- Immunomedicine Group; Departamento de Inmunología; Facultad de Medicina; Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Madrid Spain
| | - Darren R. Flower
- School of Life and Health Sciences; Aston University; Birmingham UK
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16
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In silico design of Mycobacterium tuberculosis epitope ensemble vaccines. Mol Immunol 2018; 97:56-62. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molimm.2018.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Revised: 03/08/2018] [Accepted: 03/10/2018] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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