Design of a novel multiple epitope-based vaccine: An immune-informatics approach to combat Dengue virus

Dengue fever is a vector-borne viral disease that is responsible for 25,000 people deaths per year globally. Elimination of the virus from the bloodstream of affected individuals is the primary goal of the treatment. However, there is no successful dengue vaccine candidate that can prevent this virus to date. The purpose of this study was to develop a potential vaccine by targeting B cell and T cell epitopes of DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4 serotypes by using bioinformatics approaches. Epitopes were predicted from envelopes protein of DENV-1, DENV-2, and DENV-4 and polyprotein of DENV-3. These epitopes were analyzed and selected by layer-by-layer filtration method based on different bioinformatics approaches. DENV-BkS8 and DENV-BkS10 passed all filtration criteria, among all 21 constructed vaccine models. All selected epitope candidates showed good results in worldwide population coverage. DENV-BkS8 and DENV-BkS10 showed good docking properties against TLR 2, TLR4, HLA- A*02:01, and HLA- DRB1*01:01 and promising immunomodulation properties. Vaccine constructs were cloned into PET28a (+) vector for expression study in Escherichia coli . DENV-BkS8 and DENV-BkS10 proved effective in various computer-based immune response analyses. Laboratory-based studies and clinical trials will be needed for further confirmation of the efficacy and safety of vaccines.