Proteome Screening, Identification and Designing of Potent Antigenic Peptides of Neisseria Meningitides: A Cause of Meningitis

Author Name(s): *Suman Mishra, Pritam Kumar Panda, Subhashree Hota, Piyus Pritam, Samaya Chakra Pradhan, Biswajit Satapathy
Author Email: *sumanmishra2615@gmail.com

Abstract

Meningitis is an acute inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. Meningitis can be life-threatening because of the inflammation’s proximity to the brain and spinal cord; therefore, the condition is classified as a medical emergency. The scope of the current work is to predict and design a potent antigenic peptide of the bacteria Neisseria Meningitides so as to develop a potential vaccine. The bacterial proteome is collected from NCBI database followed by the screening for the foreign proteins. The proteins were further screened for the identification of most antigenic sites within them. The selected antigenic peptides were designed using Argus Lab software followed by the geometry optimization and energy evaluation. Based on the energy values the best antigenic peptides were selected and can be further processed for the production of potential vaccine to eradicate the disease.

Keywords

PVS Server, Antigenic Emboss, Peptide Designing.

Introduction

Meningitis is an acute inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs. Meningitis can be life-threatening because of the inflammation’s proximity to the brain and spinal cord; therefore, the condition is classified as a medical emergency.
The most common symptoms of meningitis are headache and neck stiffness associated with fever, confusion or altered consciousness, vomiting, and an inability to tolerate light (photophobia) or loud noises (phonophobia). Children often exhibit only nonspecific symptoms, such as irritability and drowsiness. If a rash is present, it may indicate a particular cause of meningitis; for instance, meningitis caused by meningococcal bacteria may be accompanied by a characteristic rash.
A lumbar puncture diagnoses or excludes meningitis. A needle is inserted into the spinal canal to extract a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that envelops the brain and spinal cord. The CSF is examined in a medical laboratory. The first treatment in acute meningitis consists of promptly administered antibiotics and sometimes antiviral drugs. Corticosteroids can also be used to prevent complications from excessive inflammation. Meningitis can lead to serious long-term consequences such as deafness, epilepsy, hydrocephalus and cognitive deficits, especially if not treated quickly. Some forms of meningitis (such as those associated with meningococci, Haemophilus influenzae type B, pneumococci or mumps virus infections) may be prevented by immunization.

Conclusion

In the above work the complete proteins of the Neisseria Meningitides were identified and the sequences were collected from NCBI Database. The sequences were further screened to identify the foreign proteins to the human proteome. These foreign proteins were further tested for the presence of antigenic sites using EMBOSS Antigenic. From among the selected epitopes some of them having maximum antigenic propensity were screened based on PVS server. The final selected peptides were designed in Argus Lab. The geometry of the peptides was optimized and the energy evaluation was performed. Based on the energy values the best peptide selected for the Vaccine development was Structure of A.N Meningitides. The peptide can be synthesized and attenuated so as to use it for vaccination against the Meningitis.

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