Insight into structural and biochemical determinants of substrate specificity of PFI1625c: Correlation analysis of protein-peptide molecular models

Plasmodium falciparum proteases as new drug targets with special focus on metalloproteases

Malaria poses a significant global health threat particularly due to the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection. With the emergence of parasite resistance to existing drugs including the recently discovered artemisinin, ongoing research seeks novel therapeutic avenues within the malaria parasite. Proteases are promising drug targets due to their essential roles in parasite biology, including hemoglobin digestion, merozoite invasion, and egress. While exploring the genomic landscape of Plasmodium falciparum, it has been revealed that there are 92 predicted proteases, with only approximately 14 of them having been characterized. These proteases are further distributed among 26 families grouped into five clans: aspartic proteases, cysteine proteases, metalloproteases, serine proteases, and threonine proteases. Focus on metalloprotease class shows further role in organelle processing for mitochondria and apicoplasts suggesting the potential of metalloproteases as viable drug targets. Holistic understanding of the parasite intricate life cycle and identification of potential drug targets are essential for developing effective therapeutic strategies against malaria and mitigating its devastating global impact.

Plasmodium falciparum PFI1625c offers an opportunity to design potent anti-malarials: Biochemical characterization and testing potentials in drug discovery

Putative PFI1625c was cloned, over-expressed and purified to homogeneity. It is a 56.2 kDa monomeric protease which preferentially catalyzes the degradation of gelatin with a K_m = 30μM. It is a slow acting enzyme with optimal pH 8.5 and temperature 37 °C, and activity is sensitive to metalloprotease inhibitor 1,10-phenanthroline. PFI1625c active site was probed with a series of heterocyclic compounds and three molecules namely, BNPC-Inh2, DDBM-Inh1 and BHPM-Inh1 from the series were inhibiting PFI1625c protease activity. These heterocyclic compounds were found to irreversible inhibiting PFI1625c protease activity. Parasite culture was treated with these inhibitors and PFI1625c isolated from culture was found to be inactive without affecting other gelatinases present in the parasite. These inhibitors were used to generate chemically knockout PFI1625c in the parasite. PFI1625c knockout parasite remained at ring stage and was unable to complete its erythrocytic schizogony. Also, these knockout parasites were incapable to multiply. More careful analysis indicate these parasites develop oxidative stress as evident by the increase in lipid peroxidation, protein-carbonyl and a decrease of GSH level. In summary, the current study has employed biochemical, computational and pharmacological approaches to explore the role of PFI1625c in the parasite, its utility as a potential drug target to develop anti-malarials.

India's Computational Biology Growth and Challenges

India's computational science is growing swiftly due to the outburst of internet and information technology services. The bioinformatics sector of India has been transforming rapidly by creating a competitive position in global bioinformatics market. Bioinformatics is widely used across India to address a wide range of biological issues. Recently, computational researchers and biologists are collaborating in projects such as database development, sequence analysis, genomic prospects and algorithm generations. In this paper, we have presented the Indian computational biology scenario highlighting bioinformatics-related educational activities, manpower development, internet boom, service industry, research activities, conferences and trainings undertaken by the corporate and government sectors. Nonetheless, this new field of science faces lots of challenges.