IDENTIFICATION OF CTL EPITOPES IN CBPA AND PSPA OF STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE USING IMMUNOINFORMATICS APPROACH.

Pneumococcal infections range from simple respiratory tract mucosal infections as otitis media and sinusitis to more severe diseases including pneumonia, septicemia and meningitis. There is a need for enhanced vaccines as a result of its epidemic outbreak and the lack of potential medications. In this study, epitope-based peptide vaccine components based on the Choline-binding protein A and Pneumococcal surface protein A of Streptococcus pneumoniae were developed using the reverse vaccinology method. These proteins were examined for cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes using immunoinformatics tools. Common epitopes predicted by various methods were chosen and evaluated for immunogenicity score, toxicity, antigenicity, and allergenicity assessment. Two potent CTL epitopes in Choline binding protein A were identified as TENEGATQV and TKKRHTITV and one epitope in Pneumococcal surface protein A of Streptococcus pneumonia as KLQYEISTL. These predicted epitopes were conserved across different stains sequences. These discovered epitopes were expected to have a high potential for eliciting an immune response in the development of a Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine components. Although, more experimental validation is required for final confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]