Molecular Dynamics Simulations Reveal Novel 12-Mer Peptide Derived From CPE30 of Clostridium Perfringens Targeting M Cell

Kien-Quang Huynh, Vertika Gautam, Byeol-Hee Cho, Yong-Suk Jang, Vannajan Sanghiran Lee, Hieu Tran-Van

Abstract

Oral vaccine has been become the most effective strategy in the fight against intestinal infections because of its economy, ease, and capability on inducing responses not only systemic but also local, especially in mucosal compartments. The major obstruction to potent vaccine development is antigen dispersion and tolerance. To overcome this hindrance, we aimed to target M cells, which are the main sentinel gateway for taking up luminal antigens and initiating specific mucosal responses. In this study, 12-mer peptide (CPE12) derived from the C-terminal of 30 amino acids of Clostridium perfringens (CPE30) was predicted to be a good binder using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. To confirm the interaction between CPE12 and M cell receptor, the coding gene for CPE12 was cloned and expressed, CPE12 was then purified, and evaluated ex vivo afterwards. As a result, ex vivo assessment on murine M cells demonstrated that CPE12 had lower binding on murine M cells surface comparing to CPE30. These present results suggest that CPE12 could be a competent candidate peptide for oral vaccine development.


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