Title: UDP-galactopyranose mutase as a possible drug target for the human filarial parasite, Brugia malayi: an in silico evaluation

Authors: A. Ashretha Latha; R.B. Narayanan

Addresses: Centre for Biotechnology, Anna University, Chennai-25, India ' Centre for Biotechnology, Anna University, Chennai-25, India

Abstract: Phylogenetic analysis of Brugia malayi UDP-galactopyranose mutase (Bm-UGM) revealed its close relatedness with UGM of Wuchereria bancrofti and Ceanorhabditis elegans. Due to the absence of crystal structure, a three-dimensional structure of the target protein Bm-UGM was generated by homology modelling with Aspergillus niger UGM as the template with 32% sequence identity and validated using SAVS server in which 88% residues were present in the favourable region of Ramachandran plot. Docking studies were carried out using GOLD suite and compound A (6-(4-benzylpiperidin-1- yl)-N-cyclohexyl-9,10,10-trioxothioxanthene-1-carboxamide had the most stable interaction with Bm-UGM. The presence of conserved active sites in the closely related filarial worms and its absence in humans makes it a promising drug target for the filarial parasites.

Keywords: UDP-galactopyranose mutase; UGM; filariasis; homology modelling; small molecule library; docking; drug targets; human filarial parasites; Brugia malayi; phylogenetic analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMEI.2013.057197

International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics, 2013 Vol.5 No.4, pp.372 - 382

Received: 08 Apr 2013
Accepted: 08 Jul 2013
Published online: 28 Jan 2014 *

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