title: Discovering a vaccine against neosporosis using computers: is it feasible?
abstract: A vaccine is urgently needed to prevent cattle neosporosis. This infectious disease is caused by the parasite Neospora caninum, a complex biological system with multifaceted life cycles. An in silico vaccine discovery approach attempts to transform digital abstractions of this system into adequate knowledge to predict candidates. Researchers need current information to implement such an approach, such as understanding evasion mechanisms of the immune system, type of immune response to elicit, availability of data and prediction programs, and statistical models to analyze predictions. Taken together, an in silico approach involves assembly of an intricate jigsaw of interdisciplinary and interdependent knowledge. In this review, we focus on the approach influencing vaccine development against Neospora caninum, which can be generalized to other pathogenic apicomplexans.
authors.affiliation: School of Medical and Molecular Biosciences at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), 15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Goodswen
authors.affiliation: School of Software, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology and the Centre for Quantum Computation and Intelligent Systems at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), 15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.affiliation: School of Medical and Molecular Biosciences at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), 15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia. Electronic address: John.Ellis@uts.edu.au.
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Ellis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003201:Computers; D018688:Neospora; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines
keywords: Apicomplexa; Neospora caninum; in silico vaccine discovery; neosporosis; reverse vaccinology; vaccinomics