Abstract
The emergence of variants and the reports of co-infection caused by Candida auris in COVID-19 patients adds a further complication to the global pandemic situation. To date, no effective therapy is available for C. auris infections. Thus, characterization of therapeutic targets and designing effective vaccine candidates using subtractive proteomics and immune-informatics approaches is useful tool in controlling the emerging infections associated with SARS-CoV-2. In the current study, subtractive proteomics-assisted annotation of the vaccine targets was performed, which revealed seven vaccine targets. An immunoinformatic-driven approach was then employed to map protein-specific and proteome-wide immunogenic peptides (CTL, B cell, and HTL) for the design of multi-epitope vaccine candidates (MEVCs). The results demonstrated that the vaccine candidates possess strong antigenic features (>0.4 threshold score) and are classified as non-allergenic. Validation of the designed MEVCs through molecular docking, in-silico cloning, and immune simulation further demonstrated the efficacy of the vaccines by producing immune factor titers (ranging from 2500 to 16000 au/mL) i.e., IgM, IgG, IL-6, and Interferon-α. In conclusion, the current study provides a strong impetus in designing anti-fungal strategies against Candida auris.
Keywords: COVID-19; Candida auris; Immune simulation; Subtractive proteomics; Vaccines.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Vaccines, Candida auris, Immune simulation, Subtractive proteomics, 【초록키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, IgG, IgM, proteomics, Efficacy, Vaccine, IL-6, variant, Infection, interferon, molecular docking, variants, immune, B cell, global pandemic, infections, validation, Co-infection, peptides, vaccine candidate, target, targets, proteome, in-silico, threshold, CTL, therapeutic targets, Immune simulation, Multi-epitope vaccine, Interferon-α, COVID-19 patient, Candida, therapeutic target, characterization, antigenic, non-allergenic, candidate, effective therapy, vaccine candidates, approach, feature, effective, Seven, caused, was performed, provide, demonstrated, producing, the vaccine, HTL, immunogenic peptide, 【제목키워드】 proteomics, Vaccine, immune response, Candida, therapeutic target,