title: Conserved peptides containing overlapping CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes in the H1N1 influenza virus: an immunoinformatics approach.
abstract: Pandemic threats of the H1N1 influenza virus have drawn attention to developing a universal vaccine against circulating and future strains of this virus. An immunoinformatics study was conducted to identify conserved peptides containing CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes from all the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) protein sequences available until February 2013 to cover the seasonal as well as the pandemic strains of the H1N1 virus. In the present study, six different immunoinformatics prediction programs were used in order to define the epitopes. Five conserved peptides of HA and six of NA protein were obtained that contained overlapping CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes. These identified peptides have a binding affinity for a large number of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles. WHGSNRPWVSF of NA protein is a new peptide whose T-cell response has not been previously reported. Population coverage studies have shown that these peptide fragments have the capacity to induce a potent immune response among individuals from different populations around the world. Hence, these HA and NA peptides may be considered as interesting candidates for vaccine design.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Thapar University , Patiala, India .
authors.forename: Neha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lohia
authors.forename: Manoj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baranwal
mesh_terms: D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D019295:Computational Biology; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000276:immunology*; D009439:Neuraminidase / Q000276:immunology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D019267:Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus; D014764:Viral Proteins; C487630:NA protein, influenza A virus; D009439:Neuraminidase