Identification of Conserved Peptide Containing HLA Restricted Epitopes of Puumala Orthohantavirus Nucleocapsid Protein

Abstract

Puumala orthohantavirus is a re-emerging zoonotic virus distributed primarily in Europe and Russia that causes nephropathia epidemica, a mild form of Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) that infects thousands of individuals annually. The demand for a vaccine against the Orthohantavirus is on the rise due to the lack of enduring treatment and vaccination. This study focuses on design of multiepitope peptides as a vaccine candidate against Puumala orthohantavirus using various immunoinformatic approach. Five conserved (90% conservancy) peptides of nucleocapsid protein of PUUV were identified. Three conserved peptides containing multiple T and B cell epitopes were selected with the usage of different computational epitope prediction tools. Molecular docking (HPEP dock server) of epitopes of selected reveal good binding interaction with HLA alleles (ten alleles for each class I and II HLA). IEDB population coverage analysis showed more than 90 % average population coverage of identified peptides across six continental regions (Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Australia). Collectively, these immunoinformatics analysis support the immunogenic potential of these peptides which may be considered as vaccine candidate against PUUV.