Homology modeling of actin protein in Leishmania donovani and in silico prediction of active drugs

Abstract

Objectives: Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by leishmania parasite which is genus of trypanosome protozoa. Leishmania donovani promastigote inhibits biogenesis of phagolysosome due to the accumulation of periphagosomal F-actin. This inhibition of phagosome maturation gives favorable environment for differentiation of promastigote-to-amastigote and causes disease progression. L. donovani actin (LdACT) has been found to have unconventional biochemical behavior due to the different amino acid region in its sequence suggesting that it must have a three-dimensional (3D) structure different from eukaryotic actins making it a more specific for predication of antileishmanial drugs which is main objective of this study. Material and Methods: For carrying out this study, protein sequence was retrieved from the database SWISSPROT, analyzed by BIOEDIT software followed by primary and secondary structure prediction by PROTPARAM and SOPMA. A 3D structure of same was constructed by homology modeling using the yeast actin-human gelsolin segment 1 complex (protein data bank [PDB] ID:1yag) as a template with the help of Swiss model. The final model obtained was further accessed by PROCHECK and VERIFY 3D software which ensured the reliability of the model. This model of actin protein was further used for screening different chemical compounds with high binding affinity by GOLD and DISCOVERY STUDIO. Results: The results give information about the some inhibitors having highest binding affinity to the actin protein. Conclusion: This study will be useful for the development of pharmacophore models for in silico predication of active drugs as a part of antileishmanial drug therapy.