Identification by immunoinformatics of the B and T epitopes in F and HN proteins of Newcastle disease viruses isolated in Madagascar

Although conventional vaccines are widely used, outbreaks of Newcastle disease (ND) are still observed in Madagascar. This situation encourages the search for a more effective vaccine against this disease. Therefore, this study aims to develop a "multi-epitopic vaccine" based on circulating strains of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). To achieve this, it focuses on identifying B and T epitopes present in the F and HN proteins of 12 NDV strains isolated in Madagascar, using immunoinformatics methods. The sequences of F and HN proteins are extracted from the NCBI database and analyzed using specialized servers such as Bepipred v2.0, NetMHIIpan 4.0, and NetCTL v1.2 to predict the epitopes. These epitopes are then evaluated for antigenicity, non-allergenicity, and localization in exo-membrane regions, using tools such as VaxiJen 2.0, AllerTop v2.0, and TMHMM v2.0. The results reveal the presence of 52 epitopes in the F proteins and 68 epitopes in the HN proteins, all located in the exo-membrane regions of NDV. These epitopes prove to be antigenic and non-allergenic, offering promising potential for the development of a multi-epitopic vaccine.