Finding epitopes of outer membrane protein-K17 (OMPK17) and introducing a 25-mer peptide of it as a vaccine candidate.

UNLABELLED

No approved vaccine exists for yet. Outer membrane protein-K17 (OMPK17) is involved in pathogenesis. No information has been found about OMPK17 dominant epitopes in the literature. Therefore, this study aimed to predict both T cell and B cell epitopes of OMPK17 via immunoinformatics approaches. Both T cell (class-I and II) and B cell (linear and discontinuous) epitopes of OMPK17 were predicted. Several screening analyses were performed including clustering, immunogenicity, human similarity, toxicity, allergenicity, conservancy, docking, and structural/physicochemical suitability. The results showed that some regions of OMPK17 have more potential as epitopes. The most possible epitopes were found via several analyses including the selection of higher-scoring epitopes, the epitopes predicted with more tools, more immunogenic epitopes, the epitopes capable of producing interferon-gamma, the epitopes with more dissimilarity to human peptides, and non-toxic and non-allergenic epitopes. By comparing the best T cell and B cell epitopes, we reached a 25-mer peptide containing both T cell (class-I and class-II) and B cell (linear) epitopes and comprising appropriate physicochemical characteristics that are required for vaccine development. The in vitro/in vivo study of this peptide is recommended to clarify its actual efficiency and efficacy.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11756-023-01371-0.