An outer membrane protein-derived peptide as Klebsiellapneumoniae vaccine candidate

Background and Aim : There is no approved vaccine for Klebsiella pneumoniae yet. Outermembrane protein-K۱۷ (OMPK۱۷) is involved in K. pneumoniae pathogenesis and itsimmunogenicity has been shown in animal models. However, no information has been found aboutOMPK۱۷ dominant immunogenic regions (epitopes) in the literature. Therefore, this study aimedto predict both T cell and B cell epitopes of K. pneumoniae OMPK۱۷ via immunoinformaticsapproaches and find the best epitopic region as vaccine candidate.Methods : Applying several prediction tools, both T cell and B cell epitopes of OMPK۱۷ werepredicted and followed by several screening steps including clustering, human similarity,immunogenicity, allergenicity, toxicity, conservancy, docking, and structural/physicochemicalsuitability.Results : The results showed that there are some regions of OMPK۱۷ that have more potential asepitopes. Comparing the best T cell and B cell epitopes led to a ۲۵-mer peptide containing both Tcell (class-I and class-II) and B cell (linear) epitopes that posses an appropriate physicochemicaland structural characteristics that are required for K. pneumoniae vaccine development.Conclusion : The in vitro/in vivo study of this peptide is recommended to clarify its actualefficiency and efficacy.

کلیدواژه ها:

Epitope ، Immunoinformatics ، Klebsiella pneumoniae ، Outer membrane protein-K۱۷ ، Physicochemical characteristics