In-silico epitope prediction against the Lassa virus glycoprotein

The Lassa virus (LASV) is an ambisense RNA virus that causes severe hemorrhagic fever with a high fatality rate in humans in West and Central Africa. No FDA approved drugs or vaccines are available for the treatment of LASV as of now. Molecular details can be helpful in creating drugs that disrupt the life-cycle of the virus. A potential target for vaccines is the LASV glycoprotein complex (GP) situated on the virion envelope that plays key roles in LASV growth, cell tropism, host range, and pathogenicity. Using various molecular computational tools, we have identified LASV GP major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and II T cell epitopes. Prediction tools based upon both structure and sequence allowed us to identify LASV GP B cell epitopes which were further filtered based on a consensus approach. The strongly binding alleles to the MHC-I T-cell epitopes were used for molecular docking simulations and the complexes were relaxed with molecular dynamics simulations to investigate on the atomic level the interaction and dynamics of the epitope-allele complexes. Such studies may provide guidance in the design and development of LASV vaccines and further experimental validation of these epitopes will help in facilitating stimulation of T and B cell antibodies against LASV.