Immunoinformatics Evaluation of a Fusion Protein Composed of Leishmania infantum LiHyV and Phlebotomus kandelakii Apyrase as a Vaccine Candidate against Visceral Leishmaniasis

• Published in: Iranian journal of parasitology Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 145 - 158
• Main Authors: Fayaz, Shima, Bahrami, Fariborz, Fard-Esfahani, Pezhman, Parvizi, Parviz, Bahramali, Golnaz, Ajdary, Soheila
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2022
• Subjects: Apyrase; Immunoinformatics; Leishmania infantum; Original; Parasitic diseases; Phlebotomus kandelakii; Proteins; Vaccine; Vaccines
• ISSN: 1735-7020; 2008-238X
• DOI: 10.18502/ijpa.v17i2.9530

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a lethal parasitic disease, transmitted by sand fly vectors. Immunomodulatory properties of sand fly saliva proteins and their protective effects against Leishmania infection in pre-exposed animals suggest that a combination of an antigenic salivary protein along with a Leishmania antigen can be considered for designing a vaccine against leishmaniasis Methods: Three different fusion forms of L. infantum hypothetical protein (LiHyV) in combination with Phlebotomus kandelakii salivary apyrase (PkanAp) were subjected to in-silico analyses. Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I and II epitopes in both humans and BALB/c mice were predicted. Antigenicity, immunogenicity, epitope conservancy, toxicity, and population coverage were also evaluated. Results: Highly antigenic promiscuous epitopes consisting of truncated LiHyV (10-285) and full-length PkanAp (21-329) were identified in human and was named Model 1. This model contained 25 MHC-I and 141 MHC-II antigenic peptides which among them, MPANSDIRI and AQSLFDFSGLALDSN were fully conserved. LALDSNATV, RCSSALVSI, ALVSINVPL, SAVESGALF of MHC-I epitopes, and 28 MHC-II binding epitopes showed 60% conservancy among various clades. A population coverage with a rate of >75% in the Iranian population and >70% in the whole world was also identified. Conclusion: Based on this in-silico approach, the predicted Model 1 could potentially be used as a vaccine candidate against VL.