The aim of this study was to develop a multivalent DNA vaccine as a candidate that can stimulate significant antibody production that will aid the control and prevention of leptospirosis. Antigenic B cell epitopes from highly conserved pathogenic leptospiral genes lipLipL32, LipL41, ompL1, loa22, and ligA were predicted using bioinformatics tools as a potential vaccine candidate. The vaccine constructs were composed of the lipopolysaccharide genes (lipL32, lipLipL41), the outer membrane porin protein and outer membrane-like protein (OmpL1, Loa22), and the immunoglobulin-like protein (LigA). Up to 250 sequences from different isolates with identities ranging from 54% to 100% across all sequences were obtained. The Bepipred software predicted 13 different overlapping and potentially immunogenic regions within the selected genes. This study, was able to use a high throughput in- silico process in identifying potential vaccine candidates for use in the development of leptospira vaccine
Key words: Antigenic epitopes; Bepipred software; Bioinformatics; In-silico prediction; Leptospirosis; Multi-epitope DNA vaccines
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