title: In-silico screening, identification and validation of a novel vaccine candidate in the fight against Plasmodium falciparum.
abstract: With the enormous genetic plasticity of malaria parasite, the challenges of developing a potential malaria vaccine candidate with highest efficacy still remain. This study has incorporated a bioinformatics-based screening approach to explore potential vaccine candidates in Plasmodium falciparum proteome. A systematic strategy was defined to screen proteins from the Malaria Parasite Metabolic Pathways (MPMP) database, on the basis of surface exposure, non-homology with host proteome, orthology with related Plasmodium species, and MHC class I and II binding promiscuity. The approach reported PF3D7_1428200, a putative metabolite transporter protein, as a novel vaccine candidate. RaptorX server was used to generate the 3D model of the protein and was validated by PROCHECK. Furthermore, the predicted B cell and T cell epitopes with the highest score were subjected to energy minimization by molecular dynamics simulation to examine their stability within a solvent system. Results from this study could facilitate selection of proteins for entry into vaccine production pipeline in future.
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 751024, India.
authors.forename: Sandeep Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Panda
authors.affiliation: School of Biotechnology, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 751024, India. rmahapatra@kiitbiotech.ac.in.
authors.forename: Rajani Kanta
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Mahapatra
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D003198:Computer Simulation; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D017780:Malaria Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology*; D020543:Proteome; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D017780:Malaria Vaccines; D020543:Proteome; D015800:Protozoan Proteins
keywords: Molecular dynamics simulation; Plasmodium falciparum; Proteome; Structure prediction; Vaccine