In silico design of an epitope-based vaccine against PspC in Streptococcus pneumoniae using reverse vaccinology

摘要: BackgroundStreptococcus pneumoniae is a major pathogen that poses a significant hazard to global health, causing a variety of infections including pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains has increased the difficulty of conventional antibiotic treatment, highlighting the need for alternative therapies such as multi-epitope vaccines. In this study, immunoinformatics algorithms were used to identify potential vaccine candidates based on the extracellular immunogenic protein Pneumococcal surface protein C (PspC).MethodThe protein sequence of PspC was retrieved from NCBI for the development of the multi-epitope vaccine (MEV), and potential B cell and T cell epitopes were identified. Linkers including EAAAK, AAY, and CPGPG were used to connect the epitopes. Through molecular docking, molecular dynamics, and immunological simulation, the affinity between MEV and …