In Silico Design and Expression of Dengue Virus Type 2 Envelope Domain III in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) for Specific Diagnostics
| dc.contributor.author | Mwanyika Gasper | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-06T09:53:18Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026-06-30 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2) is a mosquito-borne virus of global public health concern. Routine diagnostic tests often target whole envelope glycoproteins that suffer from cross-reactivity. The envelope domain III (EDIII) protein contains subtype virus-specific epitopes, offering improved specificity over complete envelope. This study evaluated a modified DENV-2 EDIII expression in E. coli BL21 (DE3) using a codon-optimized construct. AlphaFold2 algorithms were utilized to predict its 3D structure and identify potential antigenic epitopes. The construct was stable (instability index <40), soluble and antigenic (>0.5score, respectively) containi ng three key linear epitopes; CTGKFKVVKEIAETQH (302–317aa), SPCKIPFEIMDLEKR (331–345aa), and QLKLNWFKKGSS (386– 396aa). Optimal expression occurred at 30°C and 4 hours post- induction, producing a distinct 14 kDa band on SDS-PAGE consistent with the expected molecular weight of target EDIII protein. Overall, these findings demonstrate that in silico protein design with low-temperature bacterial expression can produce recombinant proteins suitable for specific diagnostics | |
| dc.identifier.issn | p ISSN 2683-6475 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | e ISSN 2683-6467 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://repository.must.ac.tz/handle/123456789/644 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | MUST Journal of Research and Development (MJRD) | |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | MUST Journal of Research and Development (MJRD); Volume 7 Issue 2 | |
| dc.subject | n silico design | |
| dc.subject | Recombinant expression | |
| dc.subject | EDIII | |
| dc.subject | DENV-2 | |
| dc.title | In Silico Design and Expression of Dengue Virus Type 2 Envelope Domain III in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) for Specific Diagnostics | |
| dc.type | Article |