This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
BackgroundHerpes viruses are important human pathogens that can cause mild to severe lifelong infections with high morbidity. They remain latent in the host cells and can cause recurrent infections that might prove fatal. These viruses are known to infect the host cells by causing the fusion of viral and host cell membrane proteins. Fusion is achieved with the help of conserved fusion machinery components, glycoproteins gB, heterodimer gH-gL complex along with other non-conserved components. Whereas, another important glycoprotein gD without which viral entry to the cell is not possible, acts as a co-activator for the gB-gH-gL complex formation. Thus, this complex formation interface is the most promising drug target for the development of novel anti-herpes drug candidates. In the present study, we propose a model for binding of gH-gL to gB glycoprotein leading from pre to post conformational changes during gB-gH-gL complex formation and reported the key residues involved in this binding activity along with possible binding site locations. To validate the drug targetability of our proposed binding site, we have repositioned some of the most promising in vitro, in vivo validated anti-herpes molecules onto the proposed binding site of gH-gL complex in a computational approach.MethodsHex 6.3 standalone software was used for protein-protein docking studies. Arguslab 4.0.1 and Accelrys® Discovery Studio 3.1 Visualizer softwares were used for semi-flexible docking studies and visualizing the interactions respectively. Protein receptors and ethno compounds were retrieved from Protein Data Bank (PDB) and Pubchem databases respectively. Lipinski’s Filter, Osiris Property Explorer and Lazar online servers were used to check the pharmaceutical fidelity of the drug candidates.ResultsThrough protein-protein docking studies, it was identified that the amino acid residues VAL342, GLU347, SER349, TYR355, SER388, ASN395, HIS398 and ALA387 of gH-gL complex play an active role in its binding activity with gB. Semi flexible docking analysis of the most promising in vitro, in vivo validated anti-herpes molecules targeting the above mentioned key residues of gH-gL complex showed that all the analyzed ethno medicinal compounds have successfully docked into the proposed binding site of gH-gL glycoprotein with binding energy range between -10.4 to -6.4 K.cal./mol.ConclusionsSuccessful repositioning of the analyzed compounds onto the proposed binding site confirms the drug targetability of gH-gL complex. Based on the free binding energy and pharmacological properties, we propose (3-chloro phenyl) methyl-3,4,5 trihydroxybenzoate as worth a small ethno medicinal lead molecule for further development as potent anti-herpes drug candidate targeting gB-gH-gL complex formation interface.
BackgroundNeuraminidase (NA) is a prominent surface antigen of Influenza viruses, which helps in release of viruses from the host cells after replication. Anti influenza drugs such as Oseltamivir target a highly conserved active site of NA, which comprises of 8 functional residues (R118, D151, R152, R224, E276, R292, R371 and Y406) to restrict viral release from host cells, thus inhibiting its ability to cleave sialic acid residues on the cell membrane. Reports on the emergence of Oseltamivir resistant strains of H1N1 Influenza virus necessitated a search for alternative drug candidates. Pleconaril is a novel antiviral drug being developed by Schering-Plough to treat Picornaviridae infections, and is in its late clinical trials stage. Since, Pleconaril was designed to bind the highly conserved hydrophobic binding site on VP1 protein of Picorna viruses, the ability of Pleconaril and its novel substituted derivatives to bind highly conserved hydrophobic active site of H1N1 Neuraminidase, targeting which oseltamivir has been designed was investigated.Result310 novel substituted variants of Pleconaril were designed using Chemsketch software and docked into the highly conserved active site of NA using arguslab software. 198 out of 310 Pleconaril variants analyzed for docking with NA active site were proven effective, based on their free binding energy.ConclusionPleconaril variants with F, Cl, Br, CH3, OH and aromatic ring substitutions were shown to be effective alternatives to Oseltamivir as anti influenza drugs.
SVEP1, also known as Polydom, is a large extracellular mosaic protein with functions in protein interactions and adhesion. Since Svep1 knockout animals show severe edema and lymphatic system malformations, the aim of this study is to evaluate the presence of SVEP1 variants in patients with lymphedema. We analyzed DNA from 246 lymphedema patients for variants in known lymphedema genes, 235 of whom tested negative and underwent a second testing for new candidate genes, including SVEP1, as reported here. We found three samples with rare heterozygous missense single-nucleotide variants in the SVEP1 gene. In one family, healthy members were found to carry the same variants and reported some subclinical edema. Based on our findings and a review of the literature, we propose SVEP1 as a candidate gene that should be sequenced in patients with lymphatic malformations, with or without lymphedema, in order to investigate and add evidence on its possible involvement in the development of lymphedema.
Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is a multitasking serine/threonine protein kinase, which is associated with the pathophysiology of
several diseases such as diabetes, cancer, psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Tideglusib is a potent, selective, and irreversible
GSK-3 inhibitor that has been investigated in phase II clinical trials for the treatment of progressive supranuclear palsy and
Alzheimer's disease. In the present study, we performed pharmacophore feature-based virtual screening for identifying potent targetspecific
GSK-3 inhibitors. We found 64 compounds that show better GSK-3 binding potentials compared with those of Tideglusib. We
further validated the obtained binding potentials by performing 20-ns molecular dynamics simulations for GSK-3 complexed with
Tideglusib and with the best compound found via virtual screening in this study. Several interesting molecular-level interactions were
identified, including a covalent interaction with Cys199 residue at the entrance of the GSK-3 active site. These findings are expected to
play a crucial role in the binding of target-specific GSK-3 inhibitors.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.