An immunoinformatics approach to design a Novel mRNA vaccine against West Nile Virus

Abstract

The West Nile Virus ( WNV) is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that causes a variety of ailments, from mild febrile illnesses to potentially lethal neuroinvasive encephalitis (Caren Chancey 1, 2015). The virus, which was initially discovered in Africa in 1937 , has spread widely over the world in recent years, leading to recurrent outbreaks . There are currently no clinical vaccinations despite the virus's considerable economic burden, death and morbidity (Jaclyn A Kaiser 1, 2019). Major challenges for conventional vaccine development tactics include low efficacy , the need for numerous doses , reversion to pathogenic strain and high cost (Jaclyn A Kaiser 1, 2019). mRNA vaccine provides a feasible alternative to conventional vaccine techniques in such a scenario due to their high potency , rapid development , potential for low manufacture and promise for safe administration (Norbert Pardi 1, mRNA vaccines - a new era in vaccinology , 2018) (Rishi R Goel # 1 2, 2021) . With the discovery of immunoinformatics , a new age of vaccine development has begun where efficient Computational methods are being used to anticipate the proper antigens , epitopes , carriers and adjuvants (Mokhtar Nosrati 1, 2019) (Alba Grifoni 1, 2020) (Syed Faraz Ahmed 1, 2020). The epitopes were put through a filtering pipeline that included assessments of antigenicity , toxicity , allergenicity and cytokine inducibility with the aim choosing epitopes capable of choosing both T and B cell mediated immune responses. The epitopes and the associated MHC molecules underwent molecular docking modelling . To design the vaccine , epitopes, highly immunogenic adjuvant, components for optimum sub cellular trafficking , secretion booster and suitable linkers were combined . The vaccine was discovered to be antigenic , nearly neutral at physiological pH, non- toxic, non- allergenic , capable of eliciting a potent immune response and having a respectable level of global population coverage . This design can be regarded as a promising option for a WNV vaccine based on these parameters.