{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T17:22:56Z","timestamp":1781803376493,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,3]],"date-time":"2024-09-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1725321600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"King Saud University, Riyadh","award":["RSP2024R494"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RSP2024R494"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A novel tick-borne orthonairovirus called the Yezo virus (YEZV), primarily transmitted by the Ixodes persulcatus tick, has been recently discovered and poses significant threats to human health. The YEZV is considered endemic in Japan and China. Clinical symptoms associated with this virus include thrombocytopenia, fatigue, headache, leukopenia, fever, depression, and neurological complications ranging from mild febrile illness to severe outcomes like meningitis and encephalitis. At present, there is no treatment or vaccine readily accessible for this pathogenic virus. Therefore, this research employed an immunoinformatics approach to pinpoint potential vaccine targets within the YEZV through an extensive examination of its structural proteins. Three structural proteins were chosen using specific criteria to pinpoint T-cell and B-cell epitopes, which were subsequently validated through interferon-gamma induction. Six overlapping epitopes for cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL), helper T-lymphocytes (HTL), and linear B-lymphocytes (LBL) were selected to construct a multi-epitope vaccine, achieving a 92.29% coverage of the global population. These epitopes were then fused with the 50S ribosomal protein L7\/L12 adjuvant to improve protection against international strains. The three-dimensional structure of the designed vaccine construct underwent an extensive evaluation through structural analysis. Following molecular docking studies, the YEZV vaccine construct emerged as a candidate for further investigation, showing the lowest binding energy (\u221278.7 kcal\/mol) along with favorable physiochemical and immunological properties. Immune simulation and molecular dynamics studies demonstrated its stability and potential to induce a strong immune response within the host cells. This comprehensive analysis indicates that the designed vaccine construct could offer protection against the YEZV. It is crucial to conduct additional in vitro and in vivo experiments to verify its safety and effectiveness.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v16091408","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,3]],"date-time":"2024-09-03T08:38:47Z","timestamp":1725352727000},"page":"1408","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Targeting Yezo Virus Structural Proteins for Multi-Epitope Vaccine Design Using Immunoinformatics Approach"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3257-5960","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sudais","family":"Rahman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chien-Chun","family":"Chiou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital, Chiayi 600, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9746-4765","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mashal M.","family":"Almutairi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amar","family":"Ajmal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sidra","family":"Batool","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bushra","family":"Javed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1756-924X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tetsuya","family":"Tanaka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Animal Microbiology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science\/Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University, 468-1 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8572, Japan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9599-0884","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chien-Chin","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital, Chiayi 600, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Cosmetic Science, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan 717, Taiwan"},{"name":"Ph.D. Program in Translational Medicine, Rong Hsing Research Center for Translational Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Biotechnology and Bioindustry Sciences, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8863-3870","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdulaziz","family":"Alouffi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh 12354, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6411-6625","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abid","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e10814","DOI":"10.1002\/ece3.10814","article-title":"Characterization of putative novel tick viruses and zoonotic risk prediction","volume":"14","author":"Lin","year":"2024","journal-title":"Ecol. 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