Bioinformatic Analysis of Immunodominant Peptides of Rabies Virus (<i>Rabies lyssavirus, Rhabdoviridae</i>)

Abstract

There is a need to develop a new generation of anti-rabies vaccines that provide a protective level of antibodies after a single injection. Prospects for solving this problem are opened by the latest developments in the field of “reverse vaccinology”. The main parameter that determines the effectiveness of recombinant vaccines is the design of the antigen-coding sequence. In this regard, the aim of the work was to conduct a bioinformatic analysis of rabies virus (Rabies lyssavirus, Rhabdoviridae) peptides to identify immunogenic epitopes.Materials and methods. Analysis of 5 candidate protein sequences of more than 100 strains and epizootic isolates of the rabies virus was performed using standard in silico prediction methods using Immune Epitope Database (IEDB) (NIH, USA).Results and discussion. As a result of the analysis of primary amino acid sequences, carried out using the most commonly used bioinformatics tools, the number of immunogenic epitopes and the types of immune response detected (T- and B-cell epitopes, class I MHCbinding epitopes) were established for viral proteins: glycoprotein (G), nucleoprotein (N), phosphoprotein (P), matrix protein (M), RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (L). In the amino acid structure of these proteins, N- and O-glycosylation sites, signal peptides, and transmembrane domains were additionally identified. In order to predict the safety and efficacy of these proteins as components of recombinant vaccines, an in silico assessment of their physicochemical properties was carried out. Despite the fact that the predominant number of epitopes is concentrated in the structure of the glycoprotein, the epitopes of other proteins, ranging according to the level of antigenicity and conservatism, may also be of interest as components of preventive drugs or diagnostics. The presented data can be used in the design of the insert during the construction of a candidate virus-vector vaccine or control positive samples in diagnostic methods based on the indication of viral genome fragments.