Key result
An in silico multi-epitope vaccine against Cryptococcus neoformans was designed using mannoprotein epitopes, demonstrating promising predicted antigenicity, safety, and immune receptor binding affinity.
Why the study?
Cryptococcus neoformans causes serious meningoencephalitis in immunocompromised individuals, creating an essential need for a vaccine generating targeted antibodies against mannoproteins to prevent fungal illness.
An immunoinformatic-designed multi-epitope vaccine against C. neoformans shows promising predicted safety, stability, and immunogenicity profiles in silico, warranting further experimental validation.
May inform cryptococcal vaccine antigen selection; leaves open efficacy in immunocompromised hosts pending trials.
BACKGROUND: Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that can cause serious meningoencephalitis in individuals with compromised immune systems due to HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), liver cirrhosis, and transplantation. Mannoproteins (MPs), glycoproteins in the C. neoformans capsule, crucially impact virulence by mediating adhesion to lung cells and modulating immune response via cytokine induction and phagocytosis influence. Therefore, creating a vaccine that can generate targeted antibodies to fight infection and prevent fungal illnesses is essential. RESULTS: This research aims to create a unique, stable, and safe vaccine through bioinformatics methodologies, aiming at epitopes of T and B cells found in the MP of C. neoformans. Based on toxicity, immunogenicity, and antigenicity, this research predicted novel T cells (GNPVGGNVT, NPVGGNVTT, QTSYARLLS, TSVGNGIAS, WVMPGDYTN, AAATGSSSSGSTGSG, GSTGSGSGSAAAGST, SGSTGSGSGSAAAGS, SSGSTGSGSGSAAAG, and SSSGSTGSGSGSAAA) and B cell (ANGSTSTFQQRYTGTYTNGDGSLGTWTQGETVTPQTAYSTPATSNCKTYTSVGNGIASLALSNAGSNSTAAATNSSSGGASAAATGSSSSGSTGSGSGSAAAGSTAAASSSGDSSSSTSAAMSNGI, HGATGLGNPVGGNVTT, TMGPTNPSEPTLGTAI, GNPVGGNVTTNATGSD, and NSTAAATNSSSGGASA) epitopes for a multiple-epitope vaccine and constructed a vaccine subunit with potential immunogenic properties. The present study used four linkers (AAY, GPGPG, KK, and EAAAK linkers) to connect the epitopes and adjuvant. After constructing the vaccine, it was confronted with receptor docking and simulation analysis. Subsequently, the vaccine was cloned into the vector of Escherichia coli pET-28a ( +) by ligation process for the expression using the SnapGene tool, which confirmed a significant immune response. To assess the constructed vaccine's properties, multiple computational tools were employed. Based on the MP sequence, the tools evaluated the antigenicity, immunogenicity, cytokine-inducing capacity, allergenicity, toxicity, population coverage, and solubility. CONCLUSION: Eventually, the results revealed a promising multi-epitope vaccine as a potential candidate for addressing global C. neoformans infection, particularly in immunocompromised patients. Yet, additional in vitro and in vivo investigations are necessary to validate its safety and effectiveness.
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Elalouf et al. (2023) studied Cryptococcus neoformans infection. In silico multi-epitope vaccine against Cryptococcus neoformans was evaluated on In silico prediction of antigenicity, immunogenicity, toxicity, and binding affinity. An in silico multi-epitope vaccine against Cryptococcus neoformans was designed using mannoprotein epitopes, demonstrating promising predicted antigenicity, safety, and immune receptor binding affinity.
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