AUTHOR=Huang Sichao , Zhang Congcong , Li Jianing , Dai Zongmao , Huang Jingjing , Deng Fengzhen , Wang Xumeng , Yue Xinxin , Hu Xinnan , Li Yuxuan , Deng Yushu , Wang Yanhang , Zhao Wenran , Zhong Zhaohua , Wang Yan TITLE=Designing a multi-epitope vaccine against coxsackievirus B based on immunoinformatics approaches JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.933594 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2022.933594 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

Coxsackievirus B (CVB) is one of the major viral pathogens of human myocarditis and cardiomyopathy without any effective preventive measures; therefore, it is necessary to develop a safe and efficacious vaccine against CVB. Immunoinformatics methods are both economical and convenient as in-silico simulations can shorten the development time. Herein, we design a novel multi-epitope vaccine for the prevention of CVB by using immunoinformatics methods. With the help of advanced immunoinformatics approaches, we predicted different B-cell, cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), and helper T lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes, respectively. Subsequently, we constructed the multi-epitope vaccine by fusing all conserved epitopes with appropriate linkers and adjuvants. The final vaccine was found to be antigenic, non-allergenic, and stable. The 3D structure of the vaccine was then predicted, refined, and evaluated. Molecular docking and dynamics simulation were performed to reveal the interactions between the vaccine with the immune receptors MHC-I, MHC-II, TLR3, and TLR4. Finally, to ensure the complete expression of the vaccine protein, the sequence of the designed vaccine was optimized and further performed in-silico cloning. In conclusion, the molecule designed in this study could be considered a potential vaccine against CVB infection and needed further experiments to evaluate its safety and efficacy.