Predicting Promiscuous T Cell Epitopes for Designing a Vaccine Against Streptococcus pyogenes

Ebrahimi, Samira; Mohabatkar, Hassan; Behbahani, Mandana

One of the most dangerous human pathogens with high prevalence worldwide is Streptococcus pyogenes, which has major impacts on global morbidity and mortality. A major challenge for S. pyogenes vaccine development is the detection of epitopes that confer protection from infection by multiple S. pyogenes types. Our aim was to identify the most conserved and immunogenic antigens of S. pyogenes, which can be a potential candidate for vaccine design in the future. Eight important surface proteins were analyzed. Using different prediction servers, strongest epitopes were selected. They had the ability to stimulate the humoral and cell-mediated immune system. Molecular docking was performed for measuring free-binding energy of selected epitopes. Seven epitopes from three surface proteins were selected as potential candidates for vaccine development. Conservation of selected epitopes among different Streptococcus types was checked. Further in vitro and in vivo tests are required to validate the suitability of the epitopes for vaccine design.