Immunoinformatics driven multi-epitope vaccine design targeting clade IIb Mpox variant

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Immunology
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Monkeypox virus (MPXV) poses a global health threat, with Clade IIb lineages prominent in the 2022 outbreak.
• The B21R glycoprotein is crucial for MPXV virulence and immune evasion, featuring lineage-specific substitutions.
• B21R's unique characteristics make it a significant target for vaccine development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a multi-epitope vaccine (MEV) targeting the MPXV B21R glycoprotein using an immunoinformatics and molecular dynamics approach.
• To identify and assemble potent B-cell, helper T-lymphocyte (HTL), and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes.
• To develop a strain-adapted vaccine design framework addressing viral evolution and immune escape.

Main Methods:

• Integrated immunoinformatics pipeline for epitope prediction and selection.
• Molecular dynamics simulations to assess vaccine construct stability and immune receptor interactions.
• In silico screening for immunogenicity, non-allergenicity, and cytotoxicity.

Main Results:

• A rationally engineered MEV construct targeting MPXV B21R was designed.
• The modeled vaccine demonstrated favorable conformational integrity and potential affinity for immune receptors.
• Molecular simulations indicated the vaccine's flexibility and compactness are conducive to immune activation.

Conclusions:

• The study presents a computational vaccinology framework for rapid and cost-effective mpox vaccine design.
• The designed MEV shows potential for addressing contemporary MPXV strains, including immune escape variants.
• Further experimental validation is necessary to confirm the efficacy of this computational approach.