Background:
Immunoinformatics employs a computer-driven approach to identifying fragments of the target pathogen that would provide a suitable vaccine, avoiding potential safety concerns from the more traditional approach of using whole pathogens. Immunoinformatics now plays a crucial role in vaccine design, immunodiagnostic development, and antibody production. Previously, vaccine development depended exclusively on immunological experiments which are relatively expensive and time-consuming. However, recent advances in the field of immunological bioinformatics have provided feasible tools which can be used to lessen the time and cost required for vaccine and antibody development. Immunoinformatics employs a computer-driven approach to identifying fragments of the target pathogen that would provide a suitable vaccine, avoiding potential safety concerns from the more traditional approach of using whole pathogens.
Technology: 
WSU Researchers have developed a web-based tool “Disulfide by Design 2” a key step in a newer, streamlined method of potential vaccine development called immunoinformatics that identifies fragments of the target pathogen that would provide a suitable vaccine, avoiding potential safety concerns from the more traditional approach of using whole pathogens. Computational techniques can predict locations in a protein or peptide where disulfide bonds can be introduced. Several peptide fragments from different proteins of the virus can be linked together and simultaneously provide immunity for different strains of a virus or to ensure coverage of different stages of the viral life cycle, known as multi-epitope peptide vaccine, or MEPV, development.
Commercial Application:
Vaccine development using immunoinformatics
Benefits:
- The production of peptide-based vaccines is much simpler, faster and cost-effective compared to the classical whole pathogen approach.
- Shorter development cycle
- Fewer production challenges
- Mitigates the potential of incomplete inactivation and allergic responses
Publications
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24289175/DbD2/
Access
http://cptweb.cpt.wayne.edu