Developing a novel multi-epitope vaccine against Dengue virus targeting the Envelope protein using an Immunoinformatics approach

Abstract

Every year during the rainy season in Bangladesh severe Dengue infection is widespread throughout the country. Aedes aegypti and Ae. Albopictus are the two vectors that are responsible for the transmission of the virus. Thousands of lives including infants, adults, and old people die and many suffer painful fever due to this infection. In some severe cases, the patients experience a drastic decrease in their platelet count which sometimes causes hemorrhage and eventually leads to death. To protect lives against the Dengue virus, vaccination is an effective method. In our study, we have designed a vaccine against the Dengue virus by reverse vaccinology method. We have developed our vaccine targeting the envelope protein since it is highly conserved and immunogenic. Our study was mainly focused on predicting the right B cell epitopes, Cytotoxic T cell epitopes, and Helper T cell epitopes. These epitopes will be the key component of the vaccine. Stimulation of these cells in the body will help to acquire both Humoral and Cell-mediated immunity. As our study followed a immunoinformatics approach we employed various online bioinformatics tools and servers for epitope prediction.