HPV is a non-enveloped virus with a circular double-stranded DNA genome that is approximately 8 kb in length 9. Based on biological studies, HPV16 and 18 together cause approximately 70% of all cervical cancers 6, and HPV16 is the most carcinogenic of the two 7. The most important HPVs are in the alpha genus, and they are classified into high-risk and low-risk groups based on the risk of oncogenic transformation 4. There are five main genera of HPV, alpha, beta, gamma, mu, and nu 3. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most important cause of this disease, which is transmitted through sexual intercourse 2. The results showed that the final proposed vaccine could be considered an effective therapeutic vaccine for HPV however, in vitro and in vivo experiments are required to validate the efficacy of this vaccine candidate.Ĭervical cancer, with about 0.6 million cases and 0.3 million deaths per year, is the fourth most common type of cancer among women worldwide 1. Furthermore, several analyses were also carried out, including molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, and in silico cloning of the vaccine construct. The tertiary structure of the vaccine construct was predicted.
The multi-epitope vaccine was evaluated in terms of physicochemical properties, antigenicity, and allergenicity.
The final vaccine construct was composed of the selected epitopes, along with the appropriate adjuvant and linkers. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and helper T lymphocytes (HTL) epitopes were predicted, and the best epitopes were selected based on antigenicity, allergenicity, and toxicity. In this study, the E6 and E7 oncoproteins from HPV16 were chosen as the target antigens for epitope prediction. This study aims to design a therapeutic vaccine against cervical cancer using reverse vaccinology. While HPV prophylactic vaccines are available, they have no therapeutic effects and do not clear up existing infections. Cervical cancer, caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), is the fourth most common type of cancer among women worldwide.