Abstract
Echinococcosis, also known as hydatid disease, is a type of zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the Echinococcus larvae infection. The disease is severely harmful to both humans and animals. Research and development of an epitope vaccine is crucial. To determine the dominant epitopes of the Eg95 antigen, the tertiary structure and the T- and B-combined epitope of the Eg95 protein for Echinococcus granulosus were predicted and analyzed in the present study. The tertiary structure of the Eg95 protein was predicted using the 3DLigandsite server and RasMol software. The T- and B-combined epitope of the Eg95 antigen was analyzed using the DNAStar (V5.0), IEDB, SYFPEITHI and BIMAS. Tertiary structure prediction results showed that there were potential epitopes in Eg95 antigen. Bioinformatics analysis revealed the T- and B-combined epitopes of Eg95 antigen. Four and six T- and B-combined epitopes induced immune responses in humans and mice. Additionally, four T- and B-combined epitopes induced immune responses in both humans and mice. The tertiary structure and T- and B-combined epitopes of the Eg95 protein were also determined. The results obtained in the present study may be beneficial in the investigation of Eg95 antigenicity and the development of dominant epitope vaccines.