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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Frontiers in Bioinformatics

Rational design of a multi-epitope vaccine targeting the stress-associated proteins for Mycoplasma fermentans via immunoinformatics

  • Jinjiang He1
  • Jing Mi2
  • Hongmei Tang1
  • Ziyi Zhang1
  • Zhixi Chen1,3
  1. 1Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Basic Medical School, Hengyang Medical College, Key Laboratory of Special Pathogen Prevention and Control of Hunan Province, University of South China, Hengyang, China
  2. 2Infection Control Department, The First Affiliated Hospital, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan, China
  3. 3Department of Blood Transfusion, The First Affiliated Hospital, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan, China
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Abstract

Mycoplasma fermentans: (M. fermentans) is a clinically important opportunistic pathogen with intrinsic antibiotic resistance, highlighting the need for targeted intervention strategies. To address this, we applied immunoinformatics and reverse vaccinology to develop a multi-epitope vaccine (MEV) directed against its heat shock proteins (HSPs). The final construct comprised six computationally predicted linear B-cell epitopes, four cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes, and five helper T lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes, sequentially joined by the specific linkers KK, AAY, and GPGPG. For improved antigen presentation, the vaccine was further equipped with a beta-defensin at the N-terminus and a dendritic cell-targeting signal peptide at the C-terminus. The MEV demonstrated promising antigenicity, as well as favorable structural stability and solubility. In silico cloning into pET-28a (+) indicated that efficient heterologous expression is feasible. Immune simulations predicted that a three-dose immunization schedule would trigger a robust and long-lasting secondary immune response. Additionally, the predicted mRNA secondary structure exhibited high thermodynamic stability, supporting the feasibility of the proposed construct for further expression evaluation. Although experimental validation and clinical evaluation are still required, these computational results strongly support the vaccine candidate’s potential.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{he2026rational,
  title = {{Rational design of a multi-epitope vaccine targeting the stress-associated proteins for Mycoplasma fermentans via immunoinformatics}},
  author = {Jinjiang He and Jing Mi and Hongmei Tang and Ziyi Zhang and Zhixi Chen},
  journal = {Frontiers in Bioinformatics},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3389/fbinf.2026.1994081},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fbinf.2026.1994081},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Rational design of a multi-epitope vaccine targeting the stress-associated proteins for Mycoplasma fermentans via immunoinformatics
AU  - Jinjiang He
AU  - Jing Mi
AU  - Hongmei Tang
AU  - Ziyi Zhang
AU  - Zhixi Chen
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/21
JO  - Frontiers in Bioinformatics
DO  - 10.3389/fbinf.2026.1994081
UR  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fbinf.2026.1994081
AB  - Mycoplasma fermentans: (M. fermentans) is a clinically important opportunistic pathogen with intrinsic antibiotic resistance, highlighting the need for targeted intervention strategies. To address this, we applied immunoinformatics and reverse vaccinology to develop a multi-epitope vaccine (MEV) directed against its heat shock proteins (HSPs). The final construct comprised six computationally predicted linear B-cell epitopes, four cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes, and five helper T lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes, sequentially joined by the specific linkers KK, AAY, and GPGPG. For improved antigen presentation, the vaccine was further equipped with a beta-defensin at the N-terminus and a dendritic cell-targeting signal peptide at the C-terminus. The MEV demonstrated promising antigenicity, as well as favorable structural stability and solubility. In silico cloning into pET-28a (+) indicated that efficient heterologous expression is feasible. Immune simulations predicted that a three-dose immunization schedule would trigger a robust and long-lasting secondary immune response. Additionally, the predicted mRNA secondary structure exhibited high thermodynamic stability, supporting the feasibility of the proposed construct for further expression evaluation. Although experimental validation and clinical evaluation are still required, these computational results strongly support the vaccine candidate’s potential.
SN  - 2673-7647
ER  -