Multi-epitope based vaccine design against Sarcoptes scabiei paramyosin using immunoinformatics approach

Abstract

Scabies is a parasitic skin infestation caused by mite Sarcoptes scabiei and is listed as one of the top 50 epidemic diseases known to affect >200 million people globally. The scabies mites have shown resistance to the many of currently available chemotherapeutics, a prerequisite to identify potential targets for vaccine development. Paramyosin has been identified as a potential vaccine candidate for parasite control and appears as an important immunogen in S. scabiei. In the present study, we used different immune-informatics tools to analyze S. scabiei paramyosin sequence and screen potential B and T cells epitopes. Epitope prioritization was done based on reference allele coverage, antigenicity, high antigenicity, adhesive ability, non-allergenicity and potential of binding to the DRB*0101 allele. Further, it was ensured that the selected candidates were feasible for experimental cloning and expression analysis. The predicted epitopes were also used in multi-peptide vaccine construction to maximize immunogenicity and efficient recognition and processing by the host immune system. Host immune system dynamics in response to the vaccine construct antigen were also elaborated in silico, revealing robust cellular and humoral immunity. To understand cellular interaction mechanisms, molecular docking followed by molecular dynamic simulation was performed to probe the predominant binding mode of the vaccine construct to the innate immune receptor TLR5. Estimation of binding free energy for the final construct was accomplished and revealed the system highly stable with enriched electrostatic and van der Waals energy. In summary, this study provides a gateway to understand the protein function analysis of a potential vaccine candidate for S. scabiei.