Immunoinformatics-driven Design and in silico Validation of a Multi-epitope Subunit Vaccine Targeting Norovirus

Background: Norovirus, a non-enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the Caliciviridae family, is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) globally, accounting for approximately 19-21 million cases annually in the United States alone.The rapid emergence of genetically diverse variants, including GII.17, poses significant challenges to conventional vaccine development.Therefore, alternative strategies capable of inducing broad and effective immune responses are urgently needed.Methods: An immunoinformatics-driven approach was employed to design a multi-epitope subunit vaccine candidate against Norovirus.Three viral proteins-capsid protein (A7YK10), small protein (A7YK11), and polyprotein (A7YK09)-were selected for epitope prediction using the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB).