Immuno informatics Based Design and In Silico Evaluation of a Multi Epitope Vaccine Targeting HIV 1 and HIV 2 Envelope Glycoproteins

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) continues to pose a significant global health burden, necessitating the development of effective preventive vaccines. In the present study, an immunoinformatics-driven approach is employed to design and evaluate a multi-epitope vaccine construct targeting envelope glycoproteins of HIV-1 and HIV-2. Immunogenic B-cell, cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), and helper T lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes are systematically predicted and screened for antigenicity, allergenicity, toxicity, solubility, and population coverage. Selected epitopes are assembled into a single vaccine construct using appropriate linkers and adjuvant sequences to enhance immunogenicity and structural stability. The tertiary structure of the vaccine construct is predicted using I-TASSER, refined with GalaxyRefine, and validated with PROCHECK, which confirms acceptable stereochemical quality. Global structural reliability is supported by TM-score and RMSD analyses. Furthermore, in silico immune simulation using C-ImmSim predicted robust humoral and cellular immune responses, including antibody class switching, cytokine induction, and immune memory formation. Overall, the computational findings suggest that the proposed multi-epitope vaccine construct possesses favourable immunogenic and structural properties, warranting further experimental validation.