Veterinary Research Forum
Vet Res Forum

Designing a vaccine candidate against egg drop syndrome virus: an in silico approach

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Javad Najafian 1
Abasalt Hosseinzadeh Colagar 1
Ali Mostafaie 2

1 Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Faculty of Basic Science, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

2 Medical Biology Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30466/vrf.2025.2041492.4466
Abstract
Today, a combination of immunological and bioinformatics tools has become common for vaccine design, making vaccine production affordable. Considering the importance of recombinant protein purification for vaccine production in a cost-effective way, our study aimed to in silico design a fusion protein vaccine against egg drop syndrome virus (EDSV) with a higher isoelectric point for more affordable purification. The in silico design of fusion protein, including egg white lysozyme and fiber protein as an antigen from egg drop syndrome virus, was performed. In addition to isoelectric point changing, lysozyme probably helps the antigenicity by increasing the size of the antigen. Also, lysozyme can act as a preservative. The physicochemical characteristics, stability, secondary and tertiary structure, epitope prediction, antigenicity, and mRNA structure were analyzed using computational and bioinformatics tools. The results showed that the isoelectric point of the gene construct was 8.87, which can be purified by ion exchange chromatography. Validation of the Ramachandran plot showed that the predicted model was accurate and suitable. The tertiary structure of the fusion protein was modeled as well, and its trimer structure, being required for immunogenicity, was preserved. The antigenicity of the target construct was also suitable. Protein was stable and hydrophilic based on aliphatic index and grand average of hydropathicity, which can be a good candidate for a vaccine. After experimental studies, this fusion protein may be used as a vaccine against EDSV.

Keywords

Egg drops syndrome virus
Fiber protein
Fusion protein
Lysozyme
Vaccine

Subjects

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Veterinary Research Forum
Volume 16, Issue 11
November 2025
Pages 655-665

  • Receive Date 19 September 2024
  • Revise Date 21 December 2024
  • Accept Date 01 February 2025

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