Designing of a potent multi-epitope-based vaccine targeting the monkeypox virus using immunoinformatics

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease characterized by the monkeypox virus (MPXV). It poses a serious risk to public health due to the potential for severe outbreaks in humans. The medical community currently lacks effective vaccines against monkeypox. This study has been designed and developed to create a multi-epitope vaccine against MPXV, specifically targeting a cell-surface protein to induce the desired immune response. The A35R protein sequence was obtained from the NCBI database, and a comprehensive analysis of its physiological properties and antigenicity was performed. The identified potential epitopes were then subjected to an extensive prediction and sorting process, taking into account multiple factors, including antigenicity, allergenicity, and IC50 values. Three epitopes were identified as B-cell epitopes. Furthermore, 20 epitopes were identified as T-cell MHC class I epitopes, and 40 epitopes were identified as T-cell MHC class II epitopes. The MHC class-1 and class-2 epitopes show potential for vaccine development, with 74.9% global coverage for MHC class-1 epitopes and 76.8% for MHC class-2 epitopes. The MOE software was used to dock a vaccine component with TLR-4. This revealed a complex with high-affinity bindings at sites I, II, and III on the TLR-4 receptor. This study will help develop appropriate therapeutics and prompt the development of future vaccines against MPXV. Currently, vaccine options are limited and rational and calculated strategies are needed to prioritise candidate antigens for further evaluation.. In this study, we employed an in silico immunoinformatics pipeline to design and prioritize multi-epitope vaccine constructs targeting the A35R protein of monkeypox virus.