Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) has caused infection in different parts of the world, especially in Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. HHV8 is a gamma-2 class herpesvirus and its genome contains 26 open reading frames. K1 is a highly variable glycoprotein and can be used as a vaccine candidate. The aim of this study was to design a new vaccine by using immunoinformatics analysis and adding approved adjuvants. In this study, several computational programs were employed to define the most capable region in K1-based immunologic properties; also, different possible adjuvants and universal T-helper agonists were added to the new construct. The construc... More
Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) has caused infection in different parts of the world, especially in Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. HHV8 is a gamma-2 class herpesvirus and its genome contains 26 open reading frames. K1 is a highly variable glycoprotein and can be used as a vaccine candidate. The aim of this study was to design a new vaccine by using immunoinformatics analysis and adding approved adjuvants. In this study, several computational programs were employed to define the most capable region in K1-based immunologic properties; also, different possible adjuvants and universal T-helper agonists were added to the new construct. The construct was examined to define the 3D structure, physicochemical properties and immunologic features. In addition, docking analysis was done to define the ability of the new construct to attach to mTLR. A region (155–170) was selected to be used in the new proposed vaccine; in addition, two TLR agonist adjuvants and two universal T-helpers were added to boost the immune response. Analysis of the new construct showed that the designed protein was able to be used as a vaccine and be expressed in the host. Moreover, the high energy value in docking analysis showed the high ability of this vaccine to induce immune system. The designed vaccine is expected to be capable of generating humoral and cellular responses that are crucial to protect against HHV8 as well as the vaccine has appropriate physicochemical properties and acceptable stability in different host cells.
