Integrated reiterative pipeline for rapid epitope-based pan-alphavirus vaccines

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.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science Advances
Published
2026-03-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeb2066
Primary Topic
vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
Type
article
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article

Integrated reiterative pipeline for rapid epitope-based pan-alphavirus vaccines

Paulo S Lopes-de-Oliveira, Rafael Elias Marques, Shannan L. Rossi, Peter McCaffrey et al.
Science Advances
vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
article

Integrated reiterative pipeline for rapid epitope-based pan-alphavirus vaccines

Paulo S Lopes-de-Oliveira, Rafael Elias Marques, Shannan L. Rossi, Peter McCaffrey, Maurício Lacerda Nogueira, Ribeiro-Filho, Helder Veras, 1988-, Alice F. Versiani, Jean-Paul Carrera, Natalia I. O. Silva, Nikos Vasilakis
article en

Abstract

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.

Science AdvancesVol. 12(11)
Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud (PA), Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto (BR), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (BR), Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (BR), The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (US)
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Openalex Percentile: Top 25%
vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
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