Identification of T-Cell epitopes in structural proteins of tick borne encephalitis virus for vaccine development.

ABSTRACT

Tickborne encephalitis (TBE) is a human viral infectious disease caused by tickborne encephalitis virus (TBEV). It is transmitted by the bite of an infected tick and also initiated the swelling of brain (encephalitis) and spinal cord. There is a pressing need to develop potent and sufficient amount of drugs and vaccines for control of TBE. We have selected the structural proteins such as anchored core protein C, core protein C, premembrane, matrix and envelope proteins of TBEV for identification of T-cell epitopes using immunoinformatics tools. These epitopes were showed the highest binding affinity with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and II molecules. These finding may be used as an immunodiagnostic agent and also development of peptide based novel vaccines.