Abstract
Aim and Objective:
Nipah virus (NiV) is a zoonotic virus of the paramyxovirus family
that sporadically breaks out from livestock and spreads in humans through breathing resulting in an
indication of encephalitis syndrome. In the current study, T cell epitopes with the NiV W protein
antigens were predicted.
Materials and Methods:
Modelling of unavailable 3D structure of W protein followed by docking
studies of respective Human MHC - class I and MHC - class II alleles predicted was carried out for
the highest binding rates. In the computational analysis, epitopes were assessed for
immunogenicity, conservation, and toxicity analysis. T – cell-based vaccine development against
NiV was screened for eight epitopes of Indian - Asian origin.
Results:
Two epitopes, SPVIAEHYY and LVNDGLNII, have been screened and selected for
further docking study based on toxicity and conservancy analyses. These epitopes showed a
significant score of -1.19 kcal/mol and 0.15 kcal/mol with HLA- B*35:03 and HLA- DRB1 * 07:03,
respectively by using allele - Class I and Class II from AutoDock. These two peptides predicted by
the reverse vaccinology approach are likely to induce immune response mediated by T – cells.
Conclusion:
Simulation using GROMACS has revealed that LVNDGLNII epitope forms a more
stable complex with HLA molecule and will be useful in developing the epitope-based Nipah virus
vaccine.