Exploring In-Silico Immunoepitope Landscape and Genetic Diversity in p72 and CD2v Proteins Across Asian African Swine Fever Virus Isolates

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF) is a highly lethal infectious disease affecting pigs caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV). The p72 is the major capsid protein and has strong immunogenicity. Another, outer envelope protein, CD2-like (CD2v), plays a pivotal role in viral pathogenesis. Despite the grave threat posed by ASFV, efficient vaccines and diagnostic assays remain elusive. In this study, genetic diversity of p72 and CD2v at protein and gene levels was analysed in-silico among most of the isolates of ASFV across Asia, including India, by assessing sequence similarity, phylogeny, and selection pressure. Further, in-silico prediction of immunogenic epitopes was done within stabilized (by MD-simulation) predicted structures of p72 and CD2v proteins by assessing variability in terms of Shannon entropy, relative solvent accessibility, and prediction of B and T-cell epitope peptides. The present study highlights the conservation of both p72 and CD2v proteins across prevalent ASFV isolates in Asia, including India, and suggests for their potential utility in developing diagnostic assays, as both can induce robust immunogenic responses. Consequently, these proteins emerge as promising vaccine candidates against ASFV.