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针对爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒结构蛋白和非结构蛋白的广谱多表位疫苗整体化计算设计

Rational Design of a Multi-Epitope Vaccine for Epstein-Barr Virus: Targeting Lytic and Latent Proteins for Broad Immunological Coverage

  • 摘要: 爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒(Epstein-Barr Virus, EBV)目前已感染超过90%的人口,被认为是一种与多种淋巴瘤和实体瘤相关的致癌因子。EBV感染已造成了沉重的医疗负担,但目前尚无获批的预防性疫苗用于临床。长期以来,疫苗研发的重点在于诱导针对少数结构抗原的中和抗体,这不仅忽略了潜在的有效抗原,也限制了清除感染细胞的可能性,而清除感染细胞正是EBV相关肿瘤发生的关键驱动因素。为了克服上述局限性,本研究采用计算机模拟辅助策略,设计了一种新的EBV疫苗。本研究系统筛选了1型或2型代表性毒株编码的结构蛋白和非结构蛋白,基于免疫原性、有效性和安全性,评估候选表位在体液免疫和细胞免疫中的作用,重点关注了具有保守性和免疫优势的候选表位。基于构建选定的表位,本研究生成了候选疫苗,并对其进行了多项评估。最后,筛选出 6 个 B 细胞表位、8 个 HTL 表位和 9 个 CTL 表位。基于不同的佐剂,构建了四种候选疫苗,分别命名为EBV-1、EBV-2、EBV-3和EBV-4。免疫模拟验证了这些候选疫苗能够产生强效且广谱的免疫反应,这表明计算机辅助设计的候选疫苗具有良好的有效性,有望成为治疗EBV病毒相关疾病的潜在候选疫苗。通过这些多项评估标准,EBV-1 被选为最有希望的候选病毒,它在理化和结构特征方面表现出理想的行为,与 TLR2、TLR3 和 TLR4 的对接非常稳定,表现出最强烈的免疫反应,稳定性指数为 35.69,并且与 TLR2 的结合能最低(-1371.81 KJ/mol)。随后,本研究在大肠杆菌表达系统成功实现了EBV疫苗重组蛋白的表达,并通过镍柱亲和层析纯化。分析结果表明诱导洗脱液中出现了符合预期的目的条带。但是洗脱液中还存在部分非特异性条带,提示后续需要进一步优化。综上所述,本研究通过计算机辅助设计策略成功预测并初步验证了一种理想的爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒候选疫苗,展现了治疗EBV相关恶性肿瘤的潜力。

     

    Abstract: Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infects more than 90% of human population and was identified as an oncogenic agent associated with a panel of lymphomas and solid tumors. Although EBV infection leads to a high burden of medical care, no vaccine is approved in clinic to serve the prevention. This situation is largely due to the long-standing focus on the induction of neutralizing antibody to target a few structural antigens, which excluded potentially effective antigens and restrained the possibility to eliminate infected cells, the major driven force of lateral oncogenesis. To overcome such limitation, we carried out a new design of EBV vaccine via in silico approaches, in which we ascertain structural and non-structural proteins encoded by representative strains of either Type 1 or 2 were taken into consideration. Candidate epitopes were then screened for both humoral and cellular immunity, in which the ones with conservancy and immunodominance were then highlighted in balance of effectiveness and safety. After assembly of selected epitopes, vaccine candidates were generated and subjected to multiple evaluations. Robust and extensive immune responses were then demonstrated via immune simulation, which suggested the effectiveness of in silico designed vaccine candidate which may serve as a potential candidate for treatment of diseases caused by Epstein–Barr virus.

     

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