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Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV), a group of retroviruses belonging to the oncovirus family, has long been associated with various inflammatory and immunosuppressive disorders. At present, there is no approved vaccine capable of effectively combating all the highly pathogenic strains of HTLV that makes this group of viruses a potential threat to human health. To combat the devastating impact of any potential future outbreak caused by this virus group, our study employed a reverse vaccinology approach to design a novel polyvalent vaccine targeting the highly virulent subtypes of HTLV. Moreover, we comprehensively analyzed the molecular interactions between the designed vaccine and corresponding Toll-like receptors (TLRs), providing valuable insights for future research on preventing and managing HTLV-related diseases and any possible outbreaks. The vaccine was designed by focusing on the envelope glycoprotein gp62, a crucial protein involved in the infectious process and immune mechanisms of HTLV inside the human body. Epitope mapping identified T cell and B cell epitopes with low binding energies, ensuring their immunogenicity and safety. Linkers and adjuvants were incorporated to enhance the vaccine's stability, antigenicity, and immunogenicity. Initially, two vaccine constructs were formulated, and among them, vaccine construct-2 exhibited superior solubility and structural stability. Molecular docking analyses also revealed strong binding affinity between the vaccine construct-2 and both targeted TLR2 and TLR4. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated enhanced stability, compactness, and consistent hydrogen bonding within TLR-vaccine complexes, suggesting a strong binding affinity. The stability of the complexes was further corroborated by contact, free energy, structure, and MM-PBSA analyses. Consequently, our research proposes a vaccine targeting multiple HTLV subtypes, offering valuable insights into the molecular interactions between the vaccine and TLRs. These findings should contribute to developing effective preventive and treatment approaches against HTLV-related diseases and preventing possible outbreaks. However, future research should focus on in-depth validation through experimental studies to confirm the interactions identified in silico and to evaluate the vaccine's efficacy in relevant animal models and, eventually, in clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The group of human coronaviruses (HCoVs) consists of some highly pathogenic viruses that have caused several outbreaks in the past. The newly emerged strain of HCoV, the SARS-CoV-2 is responsible for the recent global pandemic that has already caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people due to the lack of effective therapeutic options. In this study, immunoinformatics methods were used to design epitope-based polyvalent vaccines which are expected to be effective against four different pathogenic strains of HCoV i.e., HCoV-OC43, HCoV-SARS, HCoV-MERS, and SARS-CoV-2. The constructed vaccines consist of highly antigenic, non-allergenic, nontoxic, conserved, and non-homologous T-cell and B-cell epitopes from all the four viral strains. Therefore, they should be able to provide strong protection against all these strains. Protein-protein docking was performed to predict the best vaccine construct. Later, the MD simulation and immune simulation of the best vaccine construct also predicted satisfactory results. Finally, in silico cloning was performed to develop a mass production strategy of the vaccine. If satisfactory results are achieved in further in vivo and in vitro studies, then the vaccines designed in this study might be effective as preventative measures against the selected HCoV strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Snakehead fishes have significant economic importance in Bangladesh as food due to their exquisite taste. Some species of snakeheads are considered in threatened categories due to their population decline and loss of habitats. DNA Barcoding has been considered as a global bio-identification system for freshwater and marine fishes in recent years. In the present study, four snakehead species: Channa gachua, C. marulius, C. punctata and C. striata were investigated using both morphological methods and molecular identification with mitochondrial Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. Our study confirms that no C. orientalis existing in Bangladesh and all the older reports are pertaining to C. gachua. Phylogenetic relationships, the divergence of sequences between species was determined using Kimura 2-parameter distance model, and a Maximum Likelihood tree was generated in which the COI sequences for each of the four species could clearly be discriminated. The average interspecies genetic divergence was 26.90%. The study strongly validated the efficacy of COI as an ideal marker for DNA barcoding of Bangladeshi freshwater fishes and identification of specific species that necessitate further taxonomic study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]