2014

An immunoinformatics approach toward epitope-based vaccine design through computational tools from Bungarus caeruleus’s neurotoxin

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

An immunoinformatics approach toward epitope-based vaccine design through computational tools from Bungarus caeruleus’s neurotoxin Saha, Ayan Objective: This study aims to analyze and predict the possibility of designing a vaccine that could make humans immune to krait toxin. Materials and Methods: Bungarus caeruleus or common Indian krait is a member of the venomous big four snake species. Its venom contains a neurotoxic protein alpha-delta-bungarotoxin-4 and is found to be responsible for human death 4-8 h after the snake bite. Antigenicity of this protein was determined by Hopp and Woods and Kolaskar and Tangaonkar method. We predicted major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Class I and MHC Class II binding peptides of antigenic protein from alpha-deltabungarotoxin-4, which are an important determinant for protection of host from snake bite. Fragments selected through this study revealed higher effi ciency binders. Result: Higher percentages of their atoms are directly involved in binding in comparison with larger molecules. These potential fragments, therefore can be a novel tool in the arena of cross protection to develop host specifi c antibodies in different objectives. We operated AllerHunter for predicting allergenicity based on the structural and physiochemical properties of whole alpha-delta-bungarotoin-4, and it was found to be nonallergen. The potential epitopes of alpha-delta-bungarotoxin-4 were found to be located at sequences “GENLCYTKM” and “FCSSRGKVI” and these were found to be suffi cient for eliciting the desired immune response. In this study, a hypothetical immunization is developed, which demands more validation and study. It can be emphasized that such predictive in silico study requires an in vivo experiments comprehensibly, which must be assured to validate such approaches. Hence, our goal was to identify a conformationally biased epitope sequence, which aims to provide a new paradigm to design epitope-based peptide vaccines in order to alleviate immunological infections from Krait neurotoxin. Conclusion: Computational techniques manifest the attention of Krait neurotoxin as crucial immunodiagnostic tool for fatal venom proved that most snake venoms are in poorly characterized although they are biologically important proteins with therapeutic potentialities.

ANALGESIC AND NEUROPHARMACOLOGICAL EFFECT ON ETHYL ACETATE EXTRACT OF IPOMOEA PES-TIGRIDIS IN ALBINO MICE

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

ANALGESIC AND NEUROPHARMACOLOGICAL EFFECT ON ETHYL ACETATE EXTRACT OF IPOMOEA PES-TIGRIDIS IN ALBINO MICE Saha, Ayan The present study was performed to investigate the probable analgesic and neuropharmacological activities of the ethyl acetate extract of Ipomoea pes-tigridisLinn. We designed our study to search new analgesic drug from plants which may be harmless to humans as available drugs for the management of pains, fever have many known adverse effects. In phytochemical screening, it was also found the presence of flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, saponins, carbohydrates and tannins which have been reported to be responsible for the analgesic activity in many studies. In addition, comprehensive studies have not been performed yet to justify potential CNS responses of the selected plant. In analgesic studies, the extract of Ipomoea pes-tigridis showed significant analgesic activity(p< 0.05-0.000)both acetic acid induced writhing test and hot plate method in mice. In acetic acid induced writhing model, the extract showed 16.5 6% and 33.125% of inhibition of writhing response at 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg respectively. 100mg/kg dose exhibit maximum nociception inhibition at 30 min and 200 mg/kg exhibit highest nociception inhibition also at 30 min. 200 mg/kg extract exhibit basal reaction time 14 and 100 mg/kg extract exhibit basal reaction time 13.8, ,where the positive control shows basal reaction time 12.8 at 30 min. In case of neuropharmacological effect, the extract didn’t display any significant dose dependent depression of motor activity as well as exploratory behavior in both hole cross method and open field test. The results of this present study suggest that the extract possesses analgesic effect but it doesn’t have any CNS depressant activities. The plant extract might contain CNS stimuli effect and further investigation is required for the confirmation.

Identification and analysis of potential targets in Streptococcus sanguinis using computer aided protein data analysis

Wed, 01 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Identification and analysis of potential targets in Streptococcus sanguinis using computer aided protein data analysis Saha, Ayan Purpose: Streptococcus sanguinis is a Gram-positive, facultative aerobic bacterium that is a member of the viridans streptococcus group. It is found in human mouths in dental plaque, which accounts for both dental cavities and bacterial endocarditis, and which entails a mortality rate of 25%. Although a range of remedial mediators have been found to control this organism, the effectiveness of agents such as penicillin, amoxicillin, trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole, and erythromycin, was observed. The emphasis of this investigation was on finding substitute and efficient remedial approaches for the total destruction of this bacterium. Materials and methods: In this computational study, various databases and online software were used to ascertain some specific targets of S. sanguinis. Particularly, the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases were applied to determine human nonhomologous proteins, as well as the metabolic pathways involved with those proteins. Different software such as Phyre2, CastP, DoGSiteScorer, the Protein Function Predictor server, and STRING were utilized to evaluate the probable active drug binding site with its known function and protein–protein interaction. Results: In this study, among 218 essential proteins of this pathogenic bacterium, 81 nonho- mologous proteins were accrued, and 15 proteins that are unique in several metabolic pathways of S. sanguinis were isolated through metabolic pathway analysis. Furthermore, four essentially membrane-bound unique proteins that are involved in distinct metabolic pathways were revealed by this research. Active sites and druggable pockets of these selected proteins were investigated with bioinformatic techniques. In addition, this study also mentions the activity of those proteins, as well as their interactions with the other proteins. Conclusion: Our findings helped to identify the type of protein to be considered as an efficient drug target. This study will pave the way for researchers to develop and discover more effective and specific therapeutic agents against S. sanguinis.