Towards Identifying Protective B-Cell Epitopes: The PspA Story

Towards Identifying Protective B-Cell Epitopes: The PspA Story

Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is one of the most abundant cell surface protein of Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae). PspA variants are structurally and serologically diverse and help evade complement-mediated phagocytosis of S. pneumoniae, which is essential for its survival in the host. PspA is currently been screened for employment in the generation of more effective (serotype ...

Identifying Novel B Cell Epitopes within Toxoplasma gondii GRA6

The study of antigenic epitopes from Toxoplasma gondii has not only enhanced our understanding of the structure and function of antigens, the reactions between antigens and antibodies, and many other aspects of immunology, but it also plays a significant role in the development of new diagnostic reagents and vaccines. In the present study, T. gondii GRA6 epitopes were identified using bioinform...

Epitope Mapping: B-cell Epitopes

Immunoglobulin molecules are folded in a way that assembles sequences from the variable regions of both the heavy and light chains into a surface feature (comprised of up to six complementarity-determining regions (CDRs)) that is complementary in shape to a surface structure on the antigen. These two surface features, the ‘paratope’ on the antibody and the ‘epitope’ on the antigen, may have a c...

Characterization of the B Cell Epitopes

In Silico Prediction of B-Cell and T-Cell Epitopes of Protective Antigen of Bacillus anthracis in Development of Vaccines Against Anthrax

Protective antigen (PA), a subunit of anthrax toxin from Bacillus anthracis, is known as a dominant component in subunit vaccines in protection against anthrax. In order to avoid the side effects of live attenuated and killed organisms, the use of linear neutralizing epitopes of PA is recommended in order to design recombinant vaccines. The present study is aimed at determining the dominant epi...