Development and Immunogenicity Assessment of a Multi-Epitope Antigen Against Zika Virus: An In Silico and In Vivo Approach

The Zika virus (ZIKV) represents an ongoing threat to public health due to its neurological and congenital complications. Even after 10 years since the first major outbreak, correlated with an increase in congenital ZIKV syndrome, there is still no vaccine or treatment for this infection. Among the various existing platforms, DNA vaccines combined with the use of immunoinformatics tools allow for the efficient selection of immunogenic epitopes and immunostimulatory molecules with greater flexibility, in addition to being simple to manufacture and having a higher cost–benefit ratio in production. Methods: In this work, we conducted an integrated approach, combining in silico analyses and in vivo experimental validations, for the development of multi-epitope DNA vaccines against ZIKV. The computational analyses confirmed structural stability, adequate solubility, absence of toxicity, and immune induction potential for constructs based on epitopes from the Envelope (E) and NS1 proteins. Therefore, we evaluated DNA constructs containing the ENV + NS1 epitopes, both with and without fusion to the ssPGIP signal peptide, in BALB/c mice. Results: Both vaccines increased the population of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, in addition to the production of IgG antibodies associated with the Th1 profile. The fusion with ssPGIP broadened the response, stimulating the release of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines, as well as enhancing antibody formation. In contrast, its absence was associated with a slight increase in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, accompanied by restricted cytokine production. Conclusions: These results indicate that epitope-targeted techniques offer a viable and safe method for inducing robust immune responses, demonstrating that combining immunoinformatics methods with early preclinical testing is an effective strategy for ZIKV vaccine development. Furthermore, although the present study focused on initial immunogenic characterization, future studies involving viral challenge in a suitable animal model will be essential to conclusively determine the protective efficacy of these vaccine candidates.