Peptide-based vaccine design against Hendra virus through immunoinformatics approach

• Published in: Veterinary immunology and immunopathology 2025-02, Vol.280, p.110869, Article 110869
• Main Authors: Sarfraz, Asifa, Chaudhary, Irfa, Arshad, Fizza, Shehroz, Muhammad, Perveen, Asia, Nishan, Umar, Ali, Abid, Ullah, Riaz, Shahat, Abdelaaty A., Zaman, Aqal, Shah, Mohibullah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bat; Epitope; Horse; Reverse Vaccinology; Zoonotic
• ISSN: 0165-2427; 1873-2534; 1873-2534
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2024.110869

The Hendra virus (HeV) has resulted in epidemics of respiratory and neurological illnesses in animals. Humans have contracted diseases with high fatality rates as a result of infected domestic animals, but effective vaccinations and therapies are currently not available against HeV. Herein, we analyzed the proteome of HeV and constructed an effective and innovative multi-epitope vaccine using immunoinformatics techniques. The vaccine construct was generated, targeting one matrix protein, with the help of the five selected B and T cell epitopes, linkers, and adjuvants and evaluated for their immunogenic properties. In-silico analysis revealed that the epitopes were able to interact with immune receptors and had high antigenic qualities. The post-translational modifications (PTMs), globular, disordered regions, and the active site of the vaccine were predicted, and the strong interactions between the vaccine and Toll-like receptor 5 were observed in molecular docking, indicating their potential significance in the immune response to the designed vaccine. The structural and dynamic stability of the vaccine were ensured by the molecular dynamic simulations. The results of the immune simulations indicated that the designed vaccine might activate B and T cells, which produce high levels of antibodies and cytokines to fight HeV infection. The developed vaccine is useful due to its non-toxicity, non-sensitization, good immunogenicity, non-allergic, and antigenic properties, accessed by various tools; however, experimental verification is needed to confirm the findings of the current study. [Display omitted] •The whole proteome sequences of Hendra virus which are utilized in this study were obtained from the NCBI (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/guide/proteins/) and then saved in FASTA format for additional analyses.•Only one protein named matrix protein was identified as possible candidates after the physiochemical analysis of whole proteome.•The candidate proteins were subjected to reverse vaccinology.•Vaccine construct was prepared and interactions with the human Toll-like receptor 5 were analyzed.•Binding affinity and Stability of the vaccine with TLR5 was further confirmed through MD simulation analysis.