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Zhang J, Sun B, Shen W, Wang Z, Liu Y, Sun Y, Zhang J, Liu R, Wang Y, Bai T, Ma Z, Luo C, Qiao X, Zhang X, Yang S, Sun Y, Jiang D, Yang K. In Silico Analyses, Experimental Verification and Application in DNA Vaccines of Ebolavirus GP-Derived pan-MHC-II-Restricted Epitopes. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1620. [PMID: 37897022 PMCID: PMC10610722 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11101620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 10/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
(1) Background and Purpose: Ebola virus (EBOV) is the causative agent of Ebola virus disease (EVD), which causes extremely high mortality and widespread epidemics. The only glycoprotein (GP) on the surface of EBOV particles is the key to mediating viral invasion into host cells. DNA vaccines for EBOV are in development, but their effectiveness is unclear. The lack of immune characteristics resides in antigenic MHC class II reactivity. (2) Methods: We selected MHC-II molecules from four human leukocyte antigen II (HLA-II) superfamilies with 98% population coverage and eight mouse H2-I alleles. IEDB, NetMHCIIpan, SYFPEITHI, and Rankpep were used to screen MHC-II-restricted epitopes with high affinity for EBOV GP. Further immunogenicity and conservation analyses were performed using VaxiJen and BLASTp, respectively. EpiDock was used to simulate molecular docking. Cluster analysis and binding affinity analysis of EBOV GP epitopes and selected MHC-II molecules were performed using data from NetMHCIIpan. The selective GP epitopes were verified by the enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay using splenocytes of BALB/c (H2d), C3H, and C57 mice after DNA vaccine pVAX-GPEBO immunization. Subsequently, BALB/c mice were immunized with Protein-GPEBO, plasmid pVAX-GPEBO, and pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO, which encoded EBOV GP. The dominant epitopes of BALB/c (H-2-I-AdEd genotype) mice were verified by the enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay. It is also used to evaluate and explore the advantages of pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO and the reasons behind them. (3) Results: Thirty-one HLA-II-restricted and 68 H2-I-restricted selective epitopes were confirmed to have high affinity, immunogenicity, and conservation. Nineteen selective epitopes have cross-species reactivity with good performance in MHC-II molecular docking. The ELISpot results showed that pVAX-GPEBO could induce a cellular immune response to the synthesized selective peptides. The better immunoprotection of the DNA vaccines pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO coincides with the enhancement of the MHC class II response. (4) Conclusions: Promising MHC-II-restricted candidate epitopes of EBOV GP were identified in humans and mice, which is of great significance for the development and evaluation of Ebola vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junqi Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Baozeng Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
- Yingtan Detachment, Jiangxi Corps, Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, Yingtan 335000, China
| | - Wenyang Shen
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Zhenjie Wang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yang Liu
- Institute of AIDS Prevention and Control, Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xi’an 710054, China;
| | - Yubo Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Jiaxing Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Ruibo Liu
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yongkai Wang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Tianyuan Bai
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Zilu Ma
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Cheng Luo
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Xupeng Qiao
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Xiyang Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Shuya Yang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yuanjie Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Dongbo Jiang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
- Institute of AIDS Prevention and Control, Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xi’an 710054, China;
| | - Kun Yang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
- The Key Laboratory of Bio-Hazard Damage and Prevention Medicine, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China
- Department of Rheumatology, Tangdu Hospital, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710038, China
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