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Nasir SN, Iftikhar A, Zubair F, Alshammari A, Alharbi M, Alasmari AF, Khan A, Waseem M, Ali SS, Ali L, Waheed Y, Wei DQ. Structural vaccinology-based design of multi-epitopes vaccine against Streptococcus gordonii and validation using molecular modeling and immune simulation approaches. Heliyon 2023; 9:e16148. [PMID: 37234653 PMCID: PMC10208844 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Revised: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/07/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus gordonii is an oral bacterium colonizing the dental cavity and leading to plaque formation. This pervasive colonizer is also the etiologic agent of bacterial endocarditis and has a major role in infective endocarditis. The bacteria reach the heart through oral bleeding, leading to inflammation of cardiovascular valves. Over the past 50 years, it has shown a significant pathogenic role in immunocompromised and neutropenic patients. Since antibiotic resistance has created prophylaxis failure towards infective endocarditis, a potent therapeutic candidate is needed. Therefore, multi-epitopes vaccine offers advantages over the other approaches. Thus, herein, numerous molecular-omics tools were exploited to mine immunogenic peptides, i.e., T-cell and B-cell epitopes, and construct a vaccine sequence. Our findings revealed a total of 24 epitopes, including CTL, HTL, and B-cell are responsible for imparting immune responses, which were combined with the help of different linkers, and MEVC was constructed. Multifactorial validation of the candidate vaccine was performed to minimize the risk factors. The final sequence was docked with TLR2 to validate its conformation compatibility with receptor and long-term interactions stability. Our analysis revealed that the vaccine construct is immunogenic and non-allergenic. The construct also established various contacts with the immune receptor. Finally, the vaccine sequence was reverse-translated, optimized for codon usage, and analyzed for expression in the Escherichia coli K12 strain. Maximum expression was noted with a CAI score of 0.95. In silico immune simulation revealed that the antigen was neutralized on the 3rd day after injection. In conclusion, the current study warrants validation of the vaccine construct both in in vitro and in vivo models for accurate therapeutic intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syed Nouman Nasir
- National Center for Bioinformatics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Ayesha Iftikhar
- Government Khwaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College, Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Farukh Zubair
- Rashid Latif Medical College, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Abdulrahman Alshammari
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Post Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Metab Alharbi
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Post Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdullah F. Alasmari
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Post Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abbas Khan
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, PR China
- Zhongjing Research and Industrialization Institute of Chinese Medicine, Zhongguancun Scientific Park, Meixi, Nayang, Henan, 473006, PR China
| | - Muhammad Waseem
- Faculty of Rehabilitation and Allied Health Science, Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Syed Shujait Ali
- National Center for Bioinformatics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Liaqat Ali
- Fisch College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA
| | - Yasir Waheed
- Office of Research, Innovation, and Commercialization (ORIC), Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan
- Gilbert and Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, 1401, Lebanon
| | - Dong-Qing Wei
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, PR China
- Zhongjing Research and Industrialization Institute of Chinese Medicine, Zhongguancun Scientific Park, Meixi, Nayang, Henan, 473006, PR China
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Similar genomic patterns of clinical infective endocarditis and oral isolates of Streptococcus sanguinis and Streptococcus gordonii. Sci Rep 2020; 10:2728. [PMID: 32066773 PMCID: PMC7026040 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59549-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus gordonii and Streptococcus sanguinis belong to the Mitis group streptococci, which mostly are commensals in the human oral cavity. Though they are oral commensals, they can escape their niche and cause infective endocarditis, a severe infection with high mortality. Several virulence factors important for the development of infective endocarditis have been described in these two species. However, the background for how the commensal bacteria, in some cases, become pathogenic is still not known. To gain a greater understanding of the mechanisms of the pathogenic potential, we performed a comparative analysis of 38 blood culture strains, S. sanguinis (n = 20) and S. gordonii (n = 18) from patients with verified infective endocarditis, along with 21 publicly available oral isolates from healthy individuals, S. sanguinis (n = 12) and S. gordonii (n = 9). Using whole genome sequencing data of the 59 streptococci genomes, functional profiles were constructed, using protein domain predictions based on the translated genes. These functional profiles were used for clustering, phylogenetics and machine learning. A clear separation could be made between the two species. No clear differences between oral isolates and clinical infective endocarditis isolates were found in any of the 675 translated core-genes. Additionally, random forest-based machine learning and clustering of the pan-genome data as well as amino acid variations in the core-genome could not separate the clinical and oral isolates. A total of 151 different virulence genes was identified in the 59 genomes. Among these homologs of genes important for adhesion and evasion of the immune system were found in all of the strains. Based on the functional profiles and virulence gene content of the genomes, we believe that all analysed strains had the ability to become pathogenic.
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Whole genome sequencing as a tool for phylogenetic analysis of clinical strains of Mitis group streptococci. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2016; 35:1615-25. [PMID: 27325438 DOI: 10.1007/s10096-016-2700-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2016] [Accepted: 06/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Identification of Mitis group streptococci (MGS) to the species level is challenging for routine microbiology laboratories. Correct identification is crucial for the diagnosis of infective endocarditis, identification of treatment failure, and/or infection relapse. Eighty MGS from Danish patients with infective endocarditis were whole genome sequenced. We compared the phylogenetic analyses based on single genes (recA, sodA, gdh), multigene (MLSA), SNPs, and core-genome sequences. The six phylogenetic analyses generally showed a similar pattern of six monophyletic clusters, though a few differences were observed in single gene analyses. Species identification based on single gene analysis showed their limitations when more strains were included. In contrast, analyses incorporating more sequence data, like MLSA, SNPs and core-genome analyses, provided more distinct clustering. The core-genome tree showed the most distinct clustering.
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