Multi-epitope based vaccine design and analysis against bovine viral diarrhea virus using immunoinformatics approaches

Abstract

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is an important cattle virus that causes considerable losses to the farmers in the cattle industry. This paper discusses the development of multi epitope vaccine (MEV) against BVDV using immuneinformatics tools. We identified 24 cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes, 5 helper T lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes and 9 B cell epitopes from viral poly-proteins. These epitopes were chosen due to their strong antigenic activity and non-malignant properties. A particular linker was used, and the adjuvant was incorporated to enhance immunogenicity of the MEV. The 655 amino acids that made up the final MEV vaccine are proven stable, hydrophilic and antigenic. The immune simulation analysis of the vaccine also showed good immune response in the host including the titre values of the antibodies, B-cell and T-cell activities. Conventional vaccines were outperformed by MEV regarding the breadth of recognized antigens because MEV is aimed at universal conserved sequences that span different BVDV genotypes, which significantly simplifies the challenge of the antigen heterogeneity. However, further in vitro confirmations are required to validate the computational results. The specific areas of concern include the safety, efficacy and functional feasibility of MEVs which should be tested both in the lab as well as animals. In this research, we present MEV as a more secure and effective approach to current vaccines against BVDV. The vaccine may be considered as a progressive tool for combating BVDV and decreasing the losses in cattle production.