Work

Design and validation of a chimeric vaccine against Trypanosoma evansi ISG75: An in silico study

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Vaccination remains the most effective practical approach for controlling the spread of infections and alleviating the adverse health effects of diseases. Surra, caused by Trypanosoma evansi , affects various hosts, enabling the disease's continual transmission between its wildlife reservoir and domesticated or working animals. Furthermore, parasites utilize mechanisms such as antigenic variation to circumvent both innate and adaptive immune responses, thereby complicating the development and effectiveness of an anti-trypanosome vaccine. We used an in silico method to design a novel vaccine consisting of a chimeric protein that incorporates predicted epitopes of Invariant Surface Glycoprotein 75 (ISG75) of T. evansi to stimulate an immune response against the parasitic infection. The assessment of predictions was conducted utilizing VaxiJen and ANTIGENpro to facilitate the identification of four epitopes with antigenic properties. In the selected ISG75 sequences, we obtained scores between 0.7 and 1.4 on VaxiJen and between 0.15 and 0.57 with ANTIGENpro. The analysis of immunoinformatics, physicochemical characteristics of the chimeric protein, and molecular simulations indicate that the multiepitope vaccine may be efficacious and appropriate for in vitro evaluation, aiming to develop a peptide vaccine against T. evansi infection. Supplementary validation analyses utilizing ProSA and ERRAT affirmed the structural integrity of the chimeric model, while molecular interaction assessments conducted with ClusPro and BIOVIA Discovery Studio Visualizer bolstered its conformational stability and receptor-ligand compatibility, thereby enhancing its viability as a promising immunogenic construct. The effectiveness of ISG75 as a vaccine candidate has been validated by multiple previous in silico experimental trials. Consequently, we propose an alternative multiepitope ISG75 vaccine for immunization against T. evansi . No chimeric protein has previously been evaluated against any salivarian trypanosomes.

Source: In Silico Research in Biomedicine

DOI: 10.1016/j.insi.2026.100173

Authors: Gabriella Bassi das Neves, Renato Simões Moreira, Emanuelle Lemos Alves, Eduarda Karolyne Scheffer, Luiz Claudio Miletti

Institutions: Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Santa Catarina

Language: English

Topic: vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,000