Data Sheet 1_Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of recombinant BCG expressing a multi-epitope vaccine against mycobacterium tuberculosis.docx

Although Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) remains the cornerstone vaccine against severe infant TB, its efficacy in adults is limited, underscoring the need for novel TB vaccines. This study aimed to design a multi-epitope vaccine, tMEV, and validate its protective potential through bioinformatic prediction and in vivo experiments.</p>Methods<p>tMEV was constructed from dominant T- and B-cell epitopes derived from Mtb ESAT-6, PE35, PPE38, and PE4 proteins, fused with an adjuvant.

Its vaccine candidacy was assessed via physicochemical and solubility profiling, secondary and tertiary structure modeling, TLR-4 molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and immune simulation. The tMEV coding sequence was cloned into pMV361 and transformed into BCG to generate recombinant BCG (rBCG-tMEV). Immunogenicity, antigenicity, and protective efficacy were evaluated in mouse immunization and Mtb challenge models.</p>Results<p>tMEV exhibited favorable vaccine-like properties in silico.