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- Title
In Silico Structural Analysis of Serine Carboxypeptidase Nf 314, a Potential Drug Target in Naegleria fowleri Infections.
- Authors
Madero-Ayala, Pablo A.; Mares-Alejandre, Rosa E.; Ramos-Ibarra, Marco A.
- Abstract
Naegleria fowleri, also known as the "brain-eating" amoeba, is a free-living protozoan that resides in freshwater bodies. This pathogenic amoeba infects humans as a casual event when swimming in contaminated water. Upon inhalation, N. fowleri invades the central nervous system and causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rapidly progressive and often fatal disease. Although PAM is considered rare, reducing its case fatality rate compels the search for pathogen-specific proteins with a structure–function relationship that favors their application as targets for discovering new or improved drugs against N. fowleri infections. Herein, we report a computational approach to study the structural features of Nf314 (a serine carboxypeptidase that is a virulence-related protein in N. fowleri infections) and assess its potential as a drug target, using bioinformatics tools and in silico molecular docking experiments. Our findings suggest that Nf314 has a ligand binding site suitable for the structure-based design of specific inhibitors. This study represents a further step toward postulating a reliable therapeutic target to treat PAM with drugs specifically aimed at blocking the pathogen proliferation by inhibiting protein function.
- Subjects
NAEGLERIA fowleri; DRUG target; SERINE; CENTRAL nervous system; WATER pollution
- Publication
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2022, Vol 23, Issue 20, p12203
- ISSN
1661-6596
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/ijms232012203