In silico prediction of linear B-cell epitopes on proteins

Antibody-protein interactions play a critical role in the humoral immune response. B-cells secrete antibodies, which bind antigens (e.g., cell surface proteins of pathogens). The specific parts of antigens that are recognized by antibodies are called B-cell epitopes. These epitopes can be linear, corresponding to a contiguous amino acid sequence fragment of an antigen, or conformational, in which residues critical for recognition may not be contiguous in the primary sequence, but are in close proximity within the folded protein 3D structure. Identification of B-cell epitopes in target antigens is one of the key steps in epitope-driven subunit vaccine design, immunodiagnostic tests, and antibody production. In silico bioinformatics techniques offer a promising and cost-effective approach for identifying potential B-cell epitopes in a target vaccine candidate. In this chapter, we show how to utilize online B-cell epitope prediction tools to identify linear B-cell epitopes from the primary amino acid sequence of proteins.