Abstract
Chancroid is an extremely infectious sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacterium Haemophilus ducreyi, prevalent in Africa, United States and in some parts of South Asia. Chancroid has been recognized as a cofactor for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission. So, there is a requirement to develop an efficient drug to combat chancroid, which can also diminish the HIV prevalence in those populations where chancroid is a prime source for HIV infection. The availability of the complete proteome information of H. ducreyi help enabled in silico analysis for identification of potential vaccine candidates and drug targets. Our study revealed 1226 proteins in H. ducreyi to be nonhomologous with human proteome. Screening these proteins using the Database of Essential Genes (DEG) resulted in the identification of 451 essential proteins. Analysis of the identified essential proteins, using the KEGG Automated Annotation Server (KAAS), revealed 40 proteins of H. ducreyi as potential drug targets as they are involved in pathogen specific metabolic pathways. Subcellular localization prediction of these 451 essential proteins revealed that 11 proteins lie on the outer membrane of the pathogen which could be potential vaccine candidates. Functional family prediction for the 50 putative uncharacterized essential proteins of H. ducreyi by SVM-Prot web server revealed that out of 50, 3 proteins as transmembrane proteins, which may be potential drug targets. Identification of potential inhibitors against these targets through virtual screening may consequence in detection of novel lead compounds effective against H. ducreyi to combat chancroid.
Highlights
Chancroid or soft chancre, is a sexually transmitted disease, caused by facultative anaerobic gramnegative coccobacillus H. ducreyi
The prokaryotic essential proteins were retrieved from the Database of Essential Genes (DEG) [26] using in-house developed PERL script
The purpose of this analysis was to detect the essential proteins of H. ducreyi
Summary
Chancroid or soft chancre (ulcus molle), is a sexually transmitted disease, caused by facultative anaerobic gramnegative coccobacillus H. ducreyi. This disease is common in many tropical and subtropical countries of Africa [1,2,3,4] and Southeast Asia [5,6,7] and has been associated with isolated outbreaks of genital ulcer disease in both North America [8] and Europe [9]. The disease is characterized by painful ulcers of the genitalia which may often be found in association with painful regional lymphadenopathy. The detection and treatment of this disease is urgently needed as it causes the risk of transmission of HIV causing AIDS, which is one of the life threatening diseases
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