Aziz MH, Shabbir MZ, Ali MM, Asif Z, Ijaz MU. Immunoinformatics Approach for Epitope Mapping of Immunogenic Regions (N, F and H Gene) of Small Ruminant Morbillivirus and Its Comparative Analysis with Standard Vaccinal Strains for Effective Vaccine Development.
Vaccines (Basel) 2022;
10:vaccines10122179. [PMID:
36560589 PMCID:
PMC9785197 DOI:
10.3390/vaccines10122179]
[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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Outbreaks of small ruminant morbillivirus (SRMV) are regularly occurring in Pakistan despite vaccine availability. This study was designed to identify substitutions within the immunogenic structural and functional regions of the nucleocapsid, fusion, and hemagglutinin genes of SRMV and their comparison with vaccinal strains of Nigerian and Indian origin.
METHODS
Swabs and tissue samples were collected from diseased animals. RT-PCR was used to characterize selected genes encoded by viral RNA. The study's N, F, and H protein sequences and vaccinal strains were analyzed for B and T cell epitope prediction using ABCpred, Bipred, and IEDB, respectively.
RESULTS
Significant substitutions were found on the C terminus of the nucleocapsid, within the fusion motif region of the fusion gene and in the immunoreactive region of the hemagglutinin gene.
CONCLUSION
Our results emphasize the need for the development of effective vaccines that match the existing variants of SRMV strains circulating in Pakistan.
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