Tang Ding, Wu Siwen, Wang Youchun, Huang Weijin
Division of HIV/AIDS and Sex-Transmitted Virus Vaccines, Institute for Biological Product Control, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC), Beijing 102629, China.
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100006, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jun 30;26(13):6313. doi: 10.3390/ijms26136313.
In the current global health environment, the spread of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) and the persistent threat of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have become critical public health challenges. Since 2022, MPXV has rapidly disseminated worldwide, and nearly half of MPXV-infected individuals are co-infected with HIV. This complex situation calls for innovative preventive strategies. In this study, an innovative multi-epitope vaccine was designed using bioinformatics and immunoinformatic approaches. Ten HIV proteins and nine MPXV proteins were used to predict potential epitopes. Non-allergenic, highly antigenic, IFN-γ-inducible, and non-toxic epitopes were selected to construct the multi-epitope vaccine. It was found that the designed vaccine construct was highly antigenic, soluble, and had acceptable physicochemical properties. Based on molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation (MDs) analyses, the vaccine construct demonstrated stable and robust interactions with Toll-like receptors (TLR2, TLR3, and TLR4). Although no actual animal experiments have been conducted to evaluate the vaccine's effectiveness, immune simulations showed that the vaccine could elicit potent humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. Overall, this study provides a promising vaccine candidate against MPXV and HIV co-infection and emphasizes innovative strategies to interrupt the international transmission of these two viruses.
在当前的全球卫生环境中，猴痘病毒（MPXV）的传播以及人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）的持续威胁已成为重大的公共卫生挑战。自2022年以来，MPXV已在全球迅速传播，近一半的MPXV感染者同时感染了HIV。这种复杂情况需要创新的预防策略。在本研究中，利用生物信息学和免疫信息学方法设计了一种创新的多表位疫苗。使用十种HIV蛋白和九种MPXV蛋白来预测潜在表位。选择无致敏性、高抗原性、可诱导γ干扰素且无毒的表位来构建多表位疫苗。结果发现，所设计的疫苗构建体具有高抗原性、可溶性且具有可接受的物理化学性质。基于分子对接和分子动力学模拟（MDs）分析，该疫苗构建体与Toll样受体（TLR2、TLR3和TLR4）表现出稳定而强劲的相互作用。尽管尚未进行实际动物实验来评估该疫苗的有效性，但免疫模拟显示该疫苗可引发强烈的体液免疫和细胞介导免疫反应。总体而言，本研究提供了一种有前景的针对MPXV和HIV合并感染的候选疫苗，并强调了中断这两种病毒国际传播的创新策略。
