title: In Silico Designing and Analysis of Inhibitors against Target Protein Identified through Host-Pathogen Protein Interactions in Malaria.
abstract: Malaria, a life-threatening blood disease, has been a major concern in the field of healthcare. One of the severe forms of malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum which is initiated through protein interactions of pathogen with the host proteins. It is essential to analyse the protein-protein interactions among the host and pathogen for better understanding of the process and characterizing specific molecular mechanisms involved in pathogen persistence and survival. In this study, a complete protein-protein interaction network of human host and Plasmodium falciparum has been generated by integration of the experimental data and computationally predicting interactions using the interolog method. The interacting proteins were filtered according to their biological significance and functional roles. α-tubulin was identified as a potential protein target and inhibitors were designed against it by modification of amiprophos methyl. Docking and binding affinity analysis showed two modified inhibitors exhibiting better docking scores of -10.5 kcal/mol and -10.43 kcal/mol and an improved binding affinity of -83.80 kJ/mol and -98.16 kJ/mol with the target. These inhibitors can further be tested and validated in vivo for their properties as an antimalarial drug.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Delhi Technological University, Main Bawana Road, Shahbad Daulatpur, Delhi 110042, India.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Samant
authors.affiliation: Division of Cyclotron and Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Brig. S. K. Mazumdar Road, Delhi 110054, India.
authors.forename: Nidhi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chadha
authors.affiliation: Division of Cyclotron and Radiopharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Brig. S. K. Mazumdar Road, Delhi 110054, India.
authors.forename: Anjani K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Tiwari
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Delhi Technological University, Main Bawana Road, Shahbad Daulatpur, Delhi 110042, India.
authors.forename: Yasha
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hasija