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Updated: Sep 9, 2026
High-throughput Gene Tagging in Trypanosoma brucei
Published on: August 12, 2016
Immunoinformatics Approach for the Designing of a Novel mRNA Vaccine Candidate Against Trypanosoma brucei
Monira Swapna Nil1,2, Shupriti Khandker1,3, Samia Sadaf1,4
1Bioinformatics Laboratory (BioLab), Noakhali, 3814, Bangladesh.
Background:
Trypanosoma brucei causes Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), which has a devastating impact on an individual's health. Currently, there is no FDA-approved vaccine for HAT prevention. Therefore, reverse vaccinology approaches were utilized to design an mRNA vaccine candidate.
Methods:
Variant surface glycoprotein, heat shock protein 70, and vacuolar transporter chaperone complex of T. brucei were targeted to predict immunogenic, non-allergenic, and non-toxic peptides. The vaccine candidate was evaluated for population coverage, biophysical attributes, structural stability, and refinement. Molecular docking, MD simulation, and MM-GBSA analyses evaluate receptor binding and complex stability. Codon optimization and in-silico cloning were conducted in Escherichia coli (strain K12) using pET-28a( +). Immune simulations predicted humoral and cellular responses, while mRNA integrity was evaluated through MFE analysis.
Results:
The vaccine candidate achieved 100% global population coverage. Biophysical attributes indicated aliphaticity 71.23, and GRAVY score -0.719. Predicted tertiary structure (TM-score 0.65 ± 0.13, and C-score -0.50) was refined with stable validation metrics (Ramachandran score 86.8%, and Z-score -5.26). Docking predicted significant binding with TLR-2 and TLR-4 (energy scores -1013.5 and -1002.8 kJ/mol), validated through MD simulation, PCA, DCCM, MM-GBSA analyses. Codon optimization (CAI 0.9688; GC 44.70%) indicated high expression potential, and immune simulation exhibits robust antibody and cell-mediated responses, including elevated B lymphocyte, T lymphocyte levels, and IgM, IgG titers. Finally, the structural integrity of mRNA was predicted by MFE values.
Conclusion:
This in-silico designed vaccine demonstrated strong structural stability, receptor interactions, and immunogenic potential against T. brucei. Experimental validation and in-vivo studies are required to verify safety and efficacy of vaccine candidate.
