ISSN : 2663-2187

The antigenicity potential of multi-epitope peptide vaccine candidate in Cryptosporidium hominis infection

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Abstract

Cryptosporidiosis caused by the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium hominis. This parasite causes a significant diarrheal disease in humans. This study was designed to find a multi-epitope peptide vaccine candidate targeting the 60-kDa glycoprotein (60 gp) of C. hominis. Bioinformatics approaches were employed to evaluate the antigenicity of the 60 gp sequence, identify conserved antigenic regions, and predict MHC class I and II epitopes. Five antigenic regions were identified, and two were selected for epitope mapping based on high antigenicity scores. The predicted epitopes were further evaluated for their antigenicity and binding affinities to MHC molecules through molecular docking simulations. Two multi-epitope vaccine constructs were designed by combining selected MHC class I and II epitopes, exhibiting high antigenicity scores of 0.6906 and 0.7197, respectively. Molecular docking revealed favorable interactions between the epitopes and their respective MHC molecules. These findings provide a promising foundation for the development of an effective multi-epitope peptide vaccine against C. hominis and offer potential therapeutic settings against cryptosporidiosis. Experimental validation, including in vivo studies and clinical trials, is necessary to assess the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of the proposed vaccine candidates.

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