Epidope: A Deep Neural Network For Linear B-Cell Epitope Prediction

Motivation: By binding to specific structures on antigenic proteins, the so-called epitopes, B-cell antibodies can neutralize pathogens. The identification of B-cell epitopes is of great value for the development of specific serodiagnostic assays and the optimization of medical therapy. However, identifying diagnostically or therapeutically relevant epitopes is a challenging task that usually involves extensive laboratory work. In this study, we show that the time, cost and labor-intensive process of epitope detection in the lab can be significantly reduced using in silico prediction.Results: Here, we present EpiDope, a python tool which uses a deep neural network to detect linear B-cell epitope regions on individual protein sequences. With an area under the curve between 0.67 +/- 0.07 in the receiver operating characteristic curve, EpiDope exceeds all other currently used linear B-cell epitope prediction tools. Our software is shown to reliably predict linear B-cell epitopes of a given protein sequence, thus contributing to a significant reduction of laboratory experiments and costs required for the conventional approach.