Epitope Identification in BEFV Gene for Detecting Effective Points

The most common cause of milk production loss in cattle and water buffalo is bovine ephemeral fever (BEF). Previous cases have been reported in Iran's south regions, with a low mortality rate. As a result, studying BEFV and identifying ideal epitopes for further developing diagnostic paths is important.

To investigate BEFV N protein epitopes, we collected samples, extracted and sequenced DNA, and then used the ExPaSy translate method to deduce the amino acid sequence. Various immunoinformatics techniques were used to analyze physical/chemical properties, secondary structure of protein sequences, membrane topology, antigenic property, and 3D structure. BCPRED and the DiscoTope server, respectively, predicted linear and discontinuous epitopes of BEFV N protein. Finally, the PatchDock server was used to dock peptides and antibodies.

Three linear epitopes and sixteen discontinuous epitopic positions were discovered. Furthermore, molecular docking between epitopes and low-binding-energy antibodies revealed that they have easy access to the immune system.

In this study, bioinformatics techniques were used to predict epitopes of the BEFV N protein for further developing BEFV diagnostic paths. Furthermore, experimental validation is needed for these epitopes.