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Volume 25, Issue 3
  • ISSN: 1871-5265
  • E-ISSN: 2212-3989

Abstract

Background

Toxoplasmosis is a cosmopolitan infectious disease in warm-blooded mammals that poses a serious worldwide threat due to the lack of effective medications and vaccines.

Aims

The purpose of this study was to design a multi-epitope vaccine using several bioinformatics approaches against the antigens of ().

Methods

Three proteins of , including ROP18, MIC4, and SAG1 were analyzed to predict the most dominant B- and T-cell epitopes. Finally, we designed a chimeric immunogen RMS (ROP18, MIC4, and SAG1) using some domains of ROP18 (N377-E546), MIC4 (D302-G471), and SAG1 (T130-L299) linked by rigid linker A (EAAAK) A. Physicochemical properties, secondary and tertiary structure, antigenicity, and allergenicity of RMS were predicted utilizing immunoinformatic tools and servers.

Results

RMS protein had 545 amino acids with a molecular weight (MW) of 58,833.46 Da and a theoretical isoelectric point (IP) of 6.47. The secondary structure of RMS protein contained 21.28% alpha-helix, 24.59% extended strand, and 54.13% random coil. In addition, evaluation of antigenicity and allergenicity showed the protein to be an immunogen and non-allergen. The results of the Ramachandran plot indicated that 76.4%, 12.9%, and 10.7% of amino acid residues were incorporated in the favored, allowed, and outlier regions respectively. ΔG of the best-predicted mRNA secondary structure was −593.80 kcal/mol which indicates a stable loop is not formed at the 5′ end. .

Conclusion

Finally, the accuracy and precision of the analysis must be confirmed by successful heterologous expression and experimental studies.

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2024-09-30
2025-04-15

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/content/journals/iddt/10.2174/0118715265332103240911113422
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Structural Prediction and Antigenic Analysis of ROP18, MIC4, and SAG1 Proteins to Improve Vaccine Design against Toxoplasma gondii: An In silico Approach
Infect. Disord. Drug Targets 25, E18715265332103 (2025); https://doi.org/10.2174/0118715265332103240911113422
/content/journals/iddt/10.2174/0118715265332103240911113422
/content/journals/iddt/10.2174/0118715265332103240911113422
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  • Article Type:     Research Article
Keyword(s): in silico; MIC4; ROP18; SAG1; Toxoplasma gondii; vaccine

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