Immunoinformatics Analysis and In-silico Design of Multi- Epitopes Vaccine Against Lassa Virus

Abstract Lassa virus, an arenavirus, represents the most prevalent human pathogen causing viral haemorrhagic fever. It is endemic in Nigeria and other West African countries. Despite the high burden of the disease, limited treatments are available and no approved vaccine for the prevention of this disease is available. In this study, an immunoinformatics approach was used to predict response of B and T cells from the Lassa virus proteome (GPC, NP, L and Z). The designed chimeric vaccine was modeled, refined, validated and docked with the RIG-I receptor. The docked complex of vaccine-RIG-I was subjected to dynamic stability test and the results suggest that the complex is stable. Validation of the final vaccine construct was done through in silico cloning using E. coli as host. A CAI value of 0.99 suggests that the vaccine construct expressed properly in the host. Immune simulation predicted significantly high levels of IgG1, T-helper, T-cytotoxic cells, INF-γ and IL-2. This theoretical study suggests infection control by creating an effective immunological memory against Lassa virus infections. However, both in vitro and in vivo experiments are needed to validate the immunogenicity and safety of the chimeric vaccine.