Designing a novel and effective multi-epitope subunit vaccine against human astrovirus using reverse vaccinology approach.

Gastroenteritis, a condition often seen in children, is mostly attributed to the human Astro virus (HAstVs). This viral infection typically manifests via symptoms like as diarrhea and vomiting, which may subsequently result in dehydration and malnutrition in children aged below five years. Pathogens spread via fecal-oral pathway. However, it does not exhibit zoonotic potential. Diarrhea affects more children worldwide than malaria, AIDS, and measles combined. Statistically diarrheal illness kills 1 in 9 children globally, and eight lack annually. The treatment of HAstVs infection remains enigmatic due to the absence of efficacious antiviral medication or vaccines designed to eliminate the infection. Therefore, it is imperative to produce an effective vaccine to address this illness. The primary aim of our ongoing research is to formulate and construct a multi-epitope vaccine via immunoinformatics approach. This vaccine will be based on non-structural polyprotein 1a and capsid polyprotein vp90 of HAstVs. Using specific selection parameters, putative epitopes from the above-mentioned HAstVs proteome were examined. The epitopes that were selected for further consideration were then combined by including appropriate adjuvant and linkers. Importantly, the physicochemical characteristics, and structural validation of the vaccine construct yielded good result. Additionally, the immune simulation study of the vaccine complexes also had noteworthy outcomes. Moreover, the molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation analysis of the final construct demonstrated an enhanced affinity towards toll-like receptor-3. Finally, the outcomes of Insilco studies were satisfied. In summary, we are optimistic that our anticipated vaccination model demonstrates positive results in wet laboratory verification and make it easier to treat gastroenteritis infection in future.