In silico Identification of Novel Inhibitors against Plasmodium falciparum Triosephosphate Isomerase from Anti-Folate Agents

Abstract

Malaria is a disease prevalent across majority of countries across the world—a reported 3.2 billion people are at risk of transmission according to World Health Organization (WHO) as of December 2015. There are reports of hundreds of thousands of deaths, with children and pregnant women succumbing to the disease at an alarmingly high rate. The disease occurs due the transmission of the Plasmodium species, which has evolved to become resistant to several drugs. Thus, finding new drug targets has become important. In this study, we have focused upon Triose phosphate isomerase (TIM) as a potential drug target for antifolate drugs. The structure of the protein was retrieved from PDB database, and the active site was identified. Nine antifolate compounds were tested against the protein, and the compounds Nolatrexed, Lometrexol and Pemetrexed were identified as the best inhibitors for the protein. Moreover, the results presented TIM as a good prospective drug target for antimalarial drugs.