TY - JOUR
T1 - Integrated reiterative pipeline for rapid epitope-based pan-alphavirus vaccines
AU - Freitas Versiani, Alice
AU - McCaffrey, Peter
AU - Ribeiro-Filho, Helder V.
AU - Silva, Natalia I.O.
AU - Lopes-de-Oliveira, Paulo S.
AU - Carrera, Jean Paul
AU - Nogueira, Mauricio L.
AU - Marques, Rafael E.
AU - Rossi, Shannan
AU - Vasilakis, Nikos
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
copyright © 2026 the Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. no claim to original U.S. Government Works. distributed under a creative commons Attribution license 4.0 (cc BY).
PY - 2026/3/11
Y1 - 2026/3/11
N2 - The vast diversity of the virosphere underscores the need for rapid, adaptable vaccine development infrastructures. Arthropod-borne zoonotic alphaviruses, in particular, continue to pose substantial threats to human and animal health. We present a fast, multitarget vaccine design pipeline integrating machine learning–based epitope prediction, protein modeling, and docking to prioritize viral peptides by immunogenicity, allele coverage, solubility, and stability. T cell epitopes were validated using peptide microarrays and molecular dynamics simulations, confirming receptor binding accuracy. Flow cytometry of murine and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells demonstrated robust T cell activation and cytokine secretion (IFN-γ, TNF-α, or IL-2), dependent on species and HLA allele. Final candidates were selected by composite immunogenicity scores. While this study primarily validates the T cell–specific arm of our predictive pipeline, complementary B cell epitope analyses are ongoing. Our findings support the development of broadly protective pan-alphaviral vaccines and the establishment of efficient, tunable processes for global vaccine development.
AB - The vast diversity of the virosphere underscores the need for rapid, adaptable vaccine development infrastructures. Arthropod-borne zoonotic alphaviruses, in particular, continue to pose substantial threats to human and animal health. We present a fast, multitarget vaccine design pipeline integrating machine learning–based epitope prediction, protein modeling, and docking to prioritize viral peptides by immunogenicity, allele coverage, solubility, and stability. T cell epitopes were validated using peptide microarrays and molecular dynamics simulations, confirming receptor binding accuracy. Flow cytometry of murine and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells demonstrated robust T cell activation and cytokine secretion (IFN-γ, TNF-α, or IL-2), dependent on species and HLA allele. Final candidates were selected by composite immunogenicity scores. While this study primarily validates the T cell–specific arm of our predictive pipeline, complementary B cell epitope analyses are ongoing. Our findings support the development of broadly protective pan-alphaviral vaccines and the establishment of efficient, tunable processes for global vaccine development.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105033324277
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105033324277#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1126/sciadv.aeb2066
DO - 10.1126/sciadv.aeb2066
M3 - Article
C2 - 41811958
AN - SCOPUS:105033324277
SN - 2375-2548
VL - 12
JO - Science Advances
JF - Science Advances
IS - 11
M1 - eaeb2066
ER -