A vaccine candidate of zika virus (ZIKV) from polyvalent conserved b-cell epitope on viral glycoprotein: In silico approach

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the Flaviviridae family. This virus is spread and carried by mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus). ZIKV belongs to the Flavivirusgenus, enveloped, and positive-sense RNAthat encodes structural (E) and non-structural (NS) proteins. the envelope glycoprotein of ZIKV interact with the Axl receptor to fuse the host cells. Thus, the glycoprotein molecule is an important target for the design of antiviral and vaccine candidates. Up until today, the ZIKV vaccine has not been found, so it is necessary to develop a vaccine. In silico studies such as the ZIKV vaccine design have previously been carried out, based on the conserved regions, but have not explained how many peptides are used. Moreover, researchers have not explained the possibility of peptides being recognized by B-cell receptors (BCR) as epitopes and have antigenicity to trigger direct immune responses. Thus, this study aims to develop a method for selecting candidate vaccine peptides through of polyvalent conserved regions in ZIKV glycoprotein, prediction of B cell immunogenicity, and molecular simulation of peptide interactions with BCR, biological pathways prediction of immune responses mediated by these receptors. The results showed that there were five conserved region domains in ZIKV glycoprotein as antigens. Interestingly, from the five domains, vaccine candidate peptides were obtained which could potentially be recognized by Fab/BCR. There is a functional amino acid residue position in BCR which is predicted to possibly interacting with vaccine candidate peptides, specifically Asp152 and Ser153, which have played in the activity of these receptors thus triggering protein interactions that have a role in the regulation of immune response.