Analysis of five human metapneumovirus (hMPV) Fusion (F) proteins via a bioinformatic modus operandi

The human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is one of the major culprit in causing acute respiratory diseases in human. There is no vaccine developed to date to combat this virus. Therefore, in this study, we employed bioinformatic approaches to profile and characterize fusion (F) protein that plays crucial role in viral entry into host cells. As a result, we discovered that some parameters can be used as preliminary features to distinguish the two major genotype groups (A and B), namely amino acid composition (number of Met, Pro, Ile and Ser), alipathic index, isoelectric point and grand average of hydropathicity (GRAVY). Interestingly, genotype B F proteins have more antigenic epitopes than that of genotype A. All F proteins exhibited similar three-dimensional structures but they have varying transmembrane domains. All in all, it is hoped that the data from this study can aid in vaccine development targeting F proteins to combat hMPV.