Epitope-Based Vaccine Design for Tuberculosis HIV Infection Through in silico Approach

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Vaccinology
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of death in people with HIV, with weakened immune systems increasing susceptibility.
• The current Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine may be ineffective or harmful in immunocompromised individuals, including those with HIV.
• HIV-infected individuals are 15-22 times more likely to develop TB.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a novel epitope-based vaccine specifically for individuals living with HIV.
• To address the limitations of the current BCG vaccine in immunocompromised populations.
• To develop a vaccine targeting both Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Human immunodeficiency virus.

Main Methods:

• Epitope selection from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (polysaccharide-protein) and Human immunodeficiency virus (protein envelope).
• Prediction of B cell epitopes using BepiPred 2.0.
• Prediction of T cell epitopes using SMM, both tools sourced from the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB).

Main Results:

• Designed vaccine combinations targeting specific epitopes and pathogen types.
• Achieved >85% world population coverage for MHC class I epitopes.
• Achieved >99% world population coverage for MHC class II epitopes.

Conclusions:

• Epitope selection was based on strong HLA binding affinity and broad HLA binding capacity.
• The *in silico* approach provides a strong foundation for vaccine design.
• *In vivo* testing is necessary to validate the efficacy of the designed epitope-based vaccine.