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<p><i>Mycobacterium ulcerans</i>, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, is a neglected tropical pathogen for which an effective and long-lasting vaccine remains unavailable, and current treatments are insufficient for sustained disease control. This study applied a pangenome-guided reverse vaccinology and immunoinformatics strategy to design and evaluate a broad-spectrum multi-epitope vaccine against <i>M. ulcerans</i>. Four complete genomes were analyzed to identify conserved, antigenic, non-allergenic, and non-homologous proteins. Predicted B-cell, cytotoxic T-cell, and helper T-cell epitopes were combined into a chimeric vaccine construct incorporating β-defensin-3 as an adjuvant. The vaccine candidate was evaluated for antigenicity, allergenicity, physicochemical properties, population coverage, structural stability, receptor interactions, molecular dynamics stability, immune responses, and in silico cloning feasibility. The construct was predicted to be a probable immunogen with a prediction probability of 100% by VaxiJen v3.0, was non-allergenic, and exhibited an instability index of 14.43, indicating high structural stability. The selected epitopes provided an estimated global population coverage of 98.11%. Molecular docking indicated strong binding to innate immune receptors, with weighted docking scores of −988.8 for TLR2 and −1321.7 for TLR4, while molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated favourable vaccine–receptor interactions. Immune simulations predicted strong humoral and cellular immune responses together with the development of immune memory. Overall, the proposed multi-epitope vaccine demonstrated favorable immunological and structural properties and warrants further experimental evaluation.</p>

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Design of a multi-epitope vaccine candidate against Mycobacterium ulcerans for the prevention of Buruli ulcer

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月20日

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  • Muhammad Asim,
  • Ramy S. Yehia,
  • Hotaf Hassan Makki,
  • Ahmed M. Ismail

摘要

Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, is a neglected tropical pathogen for which an effective and long-lasting vaccine remains unavailable, and current treatments are insufficient for sustained disease control. This study applied a pangenome-guided reverse vaccinology and immunoinformatics strategy to design and evaluate a broad-spectrum multi-epitope vaccine against M. ulcerans. Four complete genomes were analyzed to identify conserved, antigenic, non-allergenic, and non-homologous proteins. Predicted B-cell, cytotoxic T-cell, and helper T-cell epitopes were combined into a chimeric vaccine construct incorporating β-defensin-3 as an adjuvant. The vaccine candidate was evaluated for antigenicity, allergenicity, physicochemical properties, population coverage, structural stability, receptor interactions, molecular dynamics stability, immune responses, and in silico cloning feasibility. The construct was predicted to be a probable immunogen with a prediction probability of 100% by VaxiJen v3.0, was non-allergenic, and exhibited an instability index of 14.43, indicating high structural stability. The selected epitopes provided an estimated global population coverage of 98.11%. Molecular docking indicated strong binding to innate immune receptors, with weighted docking scores of −988.8 for TLR2 and −1321.7 for TLR4, while molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated favourable vaccine–receptor interactions. Immune simulations predicted strong humoral and cellular immune responses together with the development of immune memory. Overall, the proposed multi-epitope vaccine demonstrated favorable immunological and structural properties and warrants further experimental evaluation.