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Biology
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Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)—Antigen Interactions in Vaccine Development
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Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)—Antigen Interactions in Vaccine Development

A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 3053

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Apostolos P. Georgopoulos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Neuroscience, Brain Sciences Center, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Interests: human leukocyte antigen; vaccines against pathogens; vaccines against SARS-CoV-2; vaccines against cancer; human herpes and other viruses; cancer neoantigens
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vaccines are widely used to prevent illness by pathogens and, more recently, kill cancer cells. In both cases, vaccines contain the antigens of pathogens (e.g., viral proteins) or antigens of cancers (e.g., cancer neoantigens), and are administered to healthy people (for prevention of infection) or patients (for cancer therapy). The success of vaccines in prevention or therapy depends critically on the ability of the host to make antibodies against the antigen(s) of the vaccines: if antibodies cannot be made, the vaccine will not be effective. The successful mounting of antibodies against specific antigens critically depends on the host's HLA Class II genetic makeup. The focus of this Special Issue lies in the interactions of vaccine antigen(s) and HLA Class II molecules binding together to initiate antibody production. This matter is of major scientific, medical and public health importance. For this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews in biological, biophysical, evolutionary, computational, clinical, epidemiological and theoretical research areas are welcome, that may include (but not limited to) the following as representative examples:

  • Biological: Evaluation of the role of HLA in antibody production for specific vaccine targets (pathogens, cancer neoantigens).
  • Biophysical: Modeling of biophysical aspects of antigen–HLA molecule binding.
  • Evolutionary: Investigation of the parallel evolution of pathogens and HLA.
  • Computational: In silico estimation of antigen–HLA binding aaffinities.
  • Clinical: Investigation of the dependence of cancer vaccine therapy on the patients’ HLA makeup.
  • Epidemiological: Investigation of HLA makeup as a factor in the clinical efficacy of vaccines within populations.
  • Theoretical: Exploring aspects of antigen–HLA interactions for future optimal vaccine design.   

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Apostolos P. Georgopoulos
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • HLA
  • vaccine
  • antigen
  • antibody
  • cancer
  • binding affinity
  • biophysical modeling
  • lymphocytes

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3661 KiB  
Article
Targeting Polyprotein to Design Potential Multiepitope Vaccine against Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (OHFV) by Evaluating Allergenicity, Antigenicity, and Toxicity Using Immunoinformatic Approaches
by Abdullah M. Alnuqaydan and Alaa Abdulaziz Eisa
Biology 2024, 13(9), 738; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13090738 - 20 Sep 2024
Viewed by 970
Abstract
Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (OHFV) is an RNA virus with a single-stranded, positive-sense genome. It is classified under the Flaviviridae family. The genome of this virus is 98% similar to the Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus (AHFV), which belongs to the same family. Cases [...] Read more.
Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever Virus (OHFV) is an RNA virus with a single-stranded, positive-sense genome. It is classified under the Flaviviridae family. The genome of this virus is 98% similar to the Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus (AHFV), which belongs to the same family. Cases of the virus have been reported in various regions of Saudi Arabia. Both OHFV and AHFV have similarities in pathogenic polyprotein targets. No effective and licensed vaccines are available to manage OHFV infections. Therefore, an effective and safe vaccine is required that can activate protective immunity against OHFV. The current study aimed to design a multiepitope subunit vaccine against the OHFV utilizing several immunoinformatic tools. The polyprotein of OHFV was selected and potent antigenic, non-allergenic, and nontoxic cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL), helper T-lymphocyte (HTL), and linear B-lymphocyte (LBL) epitopes were chosen. After screening, eight (8) CTL, five (5) HTL, and six (6) B cell epitopes were joined with each other using different linkers. Adjuvant human beta defensin-2 was also linked to the epitopes to increase vaccine antigenic and immunogenic efficiency. The designed vaccine was docked with Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) as it activates and induces primary and secondary immune responses against OHFV. Codon optimization was carried out, which resulted in a CAI value of 0.99 and 53.4% GC contents. In addition, the construct was blindly docked to the TLR4 immune receptor and subjected to conformational dynamics simulation analysis to interpret the intricate affinity and comprehend the time-dependent behavior. Moreover, it was predicted that immune responses to the developed vaccine construct reported formation of strong humoral and cellular immune cells. Therefore, the proposed vaccine may be considered in experimental assays to combat OHFV infections. Laboratory experiments for the above predictions are essential in order to evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and protective properties of the subject in question. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)—Antigen Interactions in Vaccine Development)
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25 pages, 6967 KiB  
Article
Reverse Vaccinology Approach to Identify Novel and Immunogenic Targets against Streptococcus gordonii
by Aneeqa Abid, Badr Alzahrani, Shumaila Naz, Amina Basheer, Syeda Marriam Bakhtiar, Fahad Al-Asmari, Syed Babar Jamal and Muhammad Faheem
Biology 2024, 13(7), 510; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13070510 - 9 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1648
Abstract
Streptococcus gordonii is a gram-positive, mutualistic bacterium found in the human body. It is found in the oral cavity, upper respiratory tract, and intestines, and presents a serious clinical problem because it can lead to opportunistic infections in individuals with weakened immune systems. [...] Read more.
Streptococcus gordonii is a gram-positive, mutualistic bacterium found in the human body. It is found in the oral cavity, upper respiratory tract, and intestines, and presents a serious clinical problem because it can lead to opportunistic infections in individuals with weakened immune systems. Streptococci are the most prevalent inhabitants of oral microbial communities, and are typical oral commensals found in the human oral cavity. These streptococci, along with many other oral microbes, produce multispecies biofilms that can attach to salivary pellicle components and other oral bacteria via adhesin proteins expressed on the cell surface. Antibiotics are effective against this bacterium, but resistance against antibodies is increasing. Therefore, a more effective treatment is needed. Vaccines offer a promising method for preventing this issue. This study generated a multi-epitope vaccine against Streptococcus gordonii by targeting the completely sequenced proteomes of five strains. The vaccine targets are identified using a pangenome and subtractive proteomic approach. In the present study, 13 complete strains out of 91 strains of S. gordonii are selected. The pangenomics results revealed that out of 2835 pan genes, 1225 are core genes. Out of these 1225 core genes, 643 identified as non-homologous proteins by subtractive proteomics. A total of 20 essential proteins are predicted from non-homologous proteins. Among these 20 essential proteins, only five are identified as surface proteins. The vaccine construct is designed based on selected B- and T-cell epitopes of the antigenic proteins with the help of linkers and adjuvants. The designed vaccine is docked against TLR2. The expression of the protein is determined using in silico gene cloning. Findings concluded that Vaccine I with adjuvant shows higher interactions with TLR2, suggesting that the vaccine has the ability to induce a humoral and cell-mediated response to treat and prevent infection; this makes it promising as a vaccine against infectious diseases caused by S. gordonii. Furthermore, validation of the vaccine construct is required by in vitro and in vivo trials to check its actual potency and safety for use to prevent infectious diseases caused by S. gordonii. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)—Antigen Interactions in Vaccine Development)
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