23 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jgeb.2025.100489 English eng Ahmadifar, Fatemeh Contributor <div id="as010" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: ElsevierGulliver, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><h3 class="u-h4 u-margin-m-top u-margin-xs-bottom" id="st015" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-top: 24px !important; margin-bottom: 8px !important; font-size: 20px !important; line-height: 30px !important;">Purpose</h3><div class="u-margin-s-bottom" id="sp0010" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px !important;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate a multiepitope <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/peptide-vaccine" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); word-break: break-word; text-decoration: underline 1px rgb(31, 31, 31); color: rgb(31, 31, 31); text-underline-offset: 1px;">peptide vaccine</a> against Human papillomavirus (</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/wart-virus" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); word-break: break-word; text-decoration: underline 1px rgb(31, 31, 31); color: rgb(31, 31, 31); text-underline-offset: 1px;">HPV</a></span></span>) and <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/candida-albicans" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); word-break: break-word; text-decoration: underline 1px rgb(31, 31, 31); color: rgb(31, 31, 31); text-underline-offset: 1px;">Candida albicans</a></span></span> (<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">C. albicans</em>) on human dendritic cells (<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em>).</div></div><div id="as015" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: ElsevierGulliver, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><h3 class="u-h4 u-margin-m-top u-margin-xs-bottom" id="st020" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-top: 24px !important; margin-bottom: 8px !important; font-size: 20px !important; line-height: 30px !important;">Methods</h3><div class="u-margin-s-bottom" id="sp0015" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px !important;">To determine the antigenic epitopes for <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">C. albicans</em> and <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">HPV</em>, the FASTA format of protein targets was extracted from NCBI. Then, all epitopes were analyzed using ABCpred, Vaxijen, AllerTOP, ToxinPred, and molecular docking. Then, selected peptides were first synthesized using the solid phase method, mixed with cationic lipids, and characterized by DLS, Zetasizer, and nanodrop at 280 nm. In the next step, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em>s were obtained from peripheral blood and confirmed by flow cytometry. Then, they were exposed to vaccine candidates at 1 mg/mL. Next, the activation of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em> was checked by the expression and concentration of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interferon-ɣ (IFN-ɣ). Also, the functionality of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em>s and antigen-loaded <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em>s was evaluated by their ability to induce the proliferation of allogeneic T cells by mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). Finally, antibody titration against vaccine candidates was investigated on Syrian male mice using the ELISA method.</div></div><div id="as020" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: ElsevierGulliver, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><h3 class="u-h4 u-margin-m-top u-margin-xs-bottom" id="st025" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-top: 24px !important; margin-bottom: 8px !important; font-size: 20px !important; line-height: 30px !important;">Results</h3><div class="u-margin-s-bottom" id="sp0020" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px !important;">Here, KDIDLDLQEL, GPVLALNVAL, and KDIDLDLQELKKKGPVLALNVAL peptides were selected as E7, HYR1, and merged E7-HYR1 peptides, respectively. We found that more than 85 % of the isolated <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em>s were positive for HLA-DR, CD86, and CD209 and less than 5 % were positive for CD14. After treatment of <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em>s with vaccine candidates, we found that peptides E7, HYR1, and merged E7-HYR1 could stimulate <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em>s to express IL-12 and IFN-ɣ and when the selected peptides integrated into nanoliposomes, they were significantly more capable to stimulate <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em> (P < 0.05). Also, we found that the stimulation index of vaccine-loaded <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em>s was higher than unloaded <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em>s. The antibody titer in mice exposed to nanoliposomes was significantly higher than in mice exposed to specific peptide vaccines. <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">a</span> P < 0.05 compared with other groups.</div></div><div id="as025" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(31, 31, 31); font-family: ElsevierGulliver, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, STIXGeneral, "Cambria Math", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "Microsoft Sans Serif", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Arial Unicode MS", serif, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><h3 class="u-h4 u-margin-m-top u-margin-xs-bottom" id="st030" style="margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-top: 24px !important; margin-bottom: 8px !important; font-size: 20px !important; line-height: 30px !important;">Conclusion</h3><div class="u-margin-s-bottom" id="sp0025" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin-bottom: 16px !important;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Here, a multiepitope <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/peptide-vaccine" class="topic-link" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); word-break: break-word; text-decoration: underline 1px rgb(31, 31, 31); color: rgb(31, 31, 31); text-underline-offset: 1px;">peptide vaccine</a> against </span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">HPV</em> and <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">C. albicans</em> was designed and evaluated on <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">hDC</em>. Real efficacy and side effects of this vaccine must be analyzed in future studies.</div></div> Elsevier June 2025 pdf Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology The evaluation of a novel multi-epitope vaccine against human papillomavirus and Candida albicans mixed material Elsevier