Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025305 (Poster 033) | Published: 30 Jul 2025
Elijah Kolawole Oladipo1,2,3,4,&, Boluwatife Ayobami Irewolede1,2, Stephen Feranmi Adeyemo1, Omotayo Hezekiah Afolabi1, Temitope Michael Akinleye1, Oluwatomi Jeremiah Dada1, Esther Oluwadarasimi Adaramola2, Mary Funmilayo Ikuomola1, Glory Jesudara Oluwasanya1,2, Opeyemi Hammed1, Bamidele Abiodun Iwalokun5
1Division of Vaccine and Pharmacotherapies Design and Development, Helix Biogen Institute, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria, 2Division of Genome and Molecular Sciences, Helix Biogen Institute, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria, 3Department of Microbiology, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Immunology and Bioinformatics, Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria, 4Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B12 2TT, United Kingdom, 5Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria
&Corresponding author: Elijah Kolawole Oladipo, Division of Vaccine and Pharmacotherapies Design and Development, Helix Biogen Institute, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. Email: koladipo2k3@yahoo.co.uk
Received: 30 Apr 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 30 Jul 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Vaccine Development
Keywords: Lassa virus, immunoinformatics, mRNA vaccine, molecular-docking, in-silico
©Elijah Kolawole Oladipo et al Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Elijah Kolawole Oladipo et al., Immunoinformatics-guided design of a multiepitope mRNA vaccine candidate against Lassa virus. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00177. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00177
Lassa fever remains a persistent public health challenge in West Africa, characterized by high morbidity and mortality. Despite its endemicity, no licensed vaccines are currently available, underscoring the urgent need for innovative vaccine strategies. This study implements immunoinformatics-guided approaches that enable the rapid identification of immunogenic epitopes, facilitating the rational design of mRNA-based vaccines that are safe, effective, and tailored to target specific viral proteins.
Protein sequences of the Lassa virus (LASV) glycoprotein complex (GPC), L-protein, and polymerase protein were retrieved from the NCBI database. HTL, CTL, and B-cells epitope predictions were performed using NetMHCpan-4.1, IEDB, and BepiPred 2.0. server, respectively. Predicted epitopes were assessed for antigenicity, allergenicity, toxicity, interleukins, and IFN-γ. High-scoring epitopes were assembled into a multiepitope construct linked by the appropriate linker, adjuvants, and translational regions. Secondary and tertiary structure predictions of the mRNA construct were refined, validated, and docked with human TLR-4 and TLR-7.
The mRNA construct shows broad population coverage, particularly in West Africa. The physicochemical properties from ExpasyProtParam server compute a molecular weight of 140.44kDa, with lengths of 1,283 amino acids, an aliphatic index of 83.52, an instability index of 38.70, and a GRAVY score of -0.101. The Ramachandran plot for the validation of the tertiary construct shows that >90% of the amino acids are in the most favored region. The docking complexes scores with TLR-4 and TLR-7 result in -299.56 and -299.77, respectively, showing strong immunogenic potential. In-silico cloning into an mRNA expression vector demonstrated compatibility for mRNA synthesis and efficient antigen expression.
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