Designing a broad-spectrum multi-epitope subunit vaccine against leptospirosis using immunoinformatics and structural...

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Vaccinology
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Leptospirosis, caused by Leptospira interrogans, is a neglected zoonotic disease with global health implications.
• Antimicrobial resistance and vaccine inefficacy necessitate novel preventive strategies for leptospirosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a broad-spectrum multi-epitope subunit vaccine (MESV) against leptospirosis using an immunoinformatics approach.
• To computationally evaluate the vaccine's physicochemical properties, structural integrity, and potential immunogenicity.

Main Methods:

• Selected B-cell, CTL, and HTL epitopes from key Leptospira proteins.
• Constructed MESV with HBHA adjuvant and linkers, assessed properties, modeled 3D structure.
• Performed molecular docking, MD simulations, MM-GBSA, immune simulations, and in silico cloning.

Main Results:

• MESV exhibited high antigenicity, immunogenicity, non-allergenicity, and conservation.
• T-cell epitopes showed significant HLA interactions, covering 95.7% of the global population.
• Strong binding to TLR2/TLR4 confirmed, with robust B and T cell responses predicted.

Conclusions:

• The designed MESV is a promising candidate for leptospirosis prevention due to its broad coverage and predicted efficacy.
• Further in vivo studies are required to validate the vaccine's efficacy and safety in preclinical models.