1
|
Kausar MA, Bhardwaj T, Alenazi F, Alshammari KF, Anwar S, Ali A, AboElnaga SMH, Najm MZ, Saeed M. A comprehensive immunoinformatics study to explore and characterize potential vaccine constructs against Ole e 9 allergen of Olea europaea. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024; 42:4644-4655. [PMID: 37340658 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2224884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023]
Abstract
Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergy, which affects more than 30% of the population, is the most prevalent hypersensitivity illness. In an atopic individual, even a small amount of allergen exposure can cause IgE antibodies to be produced. Due to the engagement of receptors that are highly selective for IgE, even tiny amounts of allergens can induce massive inflammation. This study focuses on the exploration and characterization of the allergen potential of Olea europaea allergen (Ole e 9) affecting the population in Saudi Arabia. A systematic computational approach was performed to identify potential epitopes of allergens and complementary determining regions of IgE. In support, physiochemical characterization and secondary structure analysis unravel the structural conformations of allergens and active sites. Epitope prediction uses a pool of computational algorithms to identify plausible epitopes. Furthermore, the vaccine construct was assessed for its binding efficiency using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies, which led to strong and stable interactions. This is because IgE is known to play a role in allergic responses, which facilitate host cell activation for an immune response. Overall, the immunoinformatics analysis advocates that the proposed vaccine candidate is safe and immunogenic and therefore can be pushed as a lead for in vitro and in vivo investigations.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mohd Adnan Kausar
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia
| | - Tulika Bhardwaj
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Fahaad Alenazi
- Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia
| | - Khalid F Alshammari
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sadaf Anwar
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abrar Ali
- Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia
| | - Shimaa M H AboElnaga
- Department of Basic Science, Deanship of Preparatory Year, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammad Z Najm
- School of Biosciences, Apeejay Stya University, Gurugram, India
| | - Mohd Saeed
- Department of Biology, College of Sciences, University of Ha'il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Saha S, Barik D, Biswas D. AMPs as Host-Directed Immunomodulatory Agents against Skin Infections Caused by Opportunistic Bacterial Pathogens. Antibiotics (Basel) 2024; 13:439. [PMID: 38786167 PMCID: PMC11117387 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics13050439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Skin is the primary and largest protective organ of the human body. It produces a number of highly evolved arsenal of factors to counter the continuous assault of foreign materials and pathogens from the environment. One such potent factor is the repertoire of Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs) that not only directly destroys invading pathogens, but also optimally modulate the immune functions of the body to counter the establishment and spread of infections. The canonical direct antimicrobial functions of these AMPs have been in focus for a long time to design principles for enhanced therapeutics, especially against the multi-drug resistant pathogens. However, in recent times the immunomodulatory functions performed by these peptides at sub-microbicidal concentrations have been a point of major focus in the field of host-directed therapeutics. Such strategies have the added benefit of not having the pathogens develop resistance against the immunomodulatory pathways, since the pathogens exploit these signaling pathways to obtain and survive within the host. Thus, this review summarizes the potent immunomodulatory effect of these AMPs on, specifically, the different host immune cells with the view of providing a platform of information that might help in designing studies to exploit and formulate effective host-directed adjunct therapeutic strategies that would synergies with drug regimens to counter the current diversity of drug-resistant skin opportunistic pathogens.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Debabrata Biswas
- Institute of Life Sciences, NALCO Square, Bhubaneswar 751023, Odisha, India; (S.S.); (D.B.)
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Chakraborty S, Askari M, Barai RS, Idicula‐Thomas S. PBIT V3 : A robust and comprehensive tool for screening pathogenic proteomes for drug targets and prioritizing vaccine candidates. Protein Sci 2024; 33:e4892. [PMID: 38168465 PMCID: PMC10804677 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Rise of life-threatening superbugs, pandemics and epidemics warrants the need for cost-effective and novel pharmacological interventions. Availability of publicly available proteomes of pathogens supports development of high-throughput discovery platforms to prioritize potential drug-targets and develop testable hypothesis for pharmacological screening. The pipeline builder for identification of target (PBIT) was developed in 2016 and updated in 2021, with the purpose of accelerating the search for drug-targets by integration of methods like comparative and subtractive genomics, essentiality/virulence and druggability analysis. Since then, it has been used for identification of drugs and vaccine targets, safety profiling of multiepitope vaccines and mRNA vaccine construction against a broad-spectrum of pathogens. This tool has now been updated with functionalities related to systems biology and immuno-informatics and validated by analyzing 48 putative antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis documented in literature. PBITv3 available as both online and offline tools will enhance drug discovery against emerging drug-resistant infectious agents. PBITv3 can be freely accessed at http://pbit.bicnirrh.res.in/.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shuvechha Chakraborty
- Biomedical Informatics Centre, ICMR‐National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child HealthMumbaiMaharashtraIndia
| | - Mehdi Askari
- Department of BioinformaticsGuru Nanak Khalsa College, Nathalal Parekh MargMumbaiMaharashtraIndia
| | - Ram Shankar Barai
- Biological Sciences DivisionICMR‐National Institute of Occupational HealthAhmedabadGujratIndia
| | - Susan Idicula‐Thomas
- Biomedical Informatics Centre, ICMR‐National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child HealthMumbaiMaharashtraIndia
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Chauhan S, Khasa YP. Challenges and Opportunities in the Process Development of Chimeric Vaccines. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1828. [PMID: 38140232 PMCID: PMC10747103 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11121828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2023] [Revised: 07/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Vaccines are integral to human life to protect them from life-threatening diseases. However, conventional vaccines often suffer limitations like inefficiency, safety concerns, unavailability for non-culturable microbes, and genetic variability among pathogens. Chimeric vaccines combine multiple antigen-encoding genes of similar or different microbial strains to protect against hyper-evolving drug-resistant pathogens. The outbreaks of dreadful diseases have led researchers to develop economical chimeric vaccines that can cater to a large population in a shorter time. The process development begins with computationally aided omics-based approaches to design chimeric vaccines. Furthermore, developing these vaccines requires optimizing upstream and downstream processes for mass production at an industrial scale. Owing to the complex structures and complicated bioprocessing of evolving pathogens, various high-throughput process technologies have come up with added advantages. Recent advancements in high-throughput tools, process analytical technology (PAT), quality-by-design (QbD), design of experiments (DoE), modeling and simulations, single-use technology, and integrated continuous bioprocessing have made scalable production more convenient and economical. The paradigm shift to innovative strategies requires significant attention to deal with major health threats at the global scale. This review outlines the challenges and emerging avenues in the bioprocess development of chimeric vaccines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Yogender Pal Khasa
- Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110021, India;
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Bhardwaj T, Ahmad I, Somvanshi P. Systematic analysis to identify novel disease indications and plausible potential chemical leads of glutamate ionotropic receptor NMDA type subunit 1, GRIN1. J Mol Recognit 2023; 36:e2997. [PMID: 36259267 DOI: 10.1002/jmr.2997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Revised: 09/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a mental illness affecting the normal lifestyle of adults and early adolescents incurring major symptoms as jumbled speech, involvement in everyday activities eventually got reduced, patients always struggle with attention and memory, reason being both the genetic and environmental factors responsible for altered brain chemistry and structure, resulting in schizophrenia and associated orphan diseases. The network biology describes the interactions among genes/proteins encoding molecular mechanisms of biological processes, development, and diseases. Besides, all the molecular networks, protein-protein Interaction Networks have been significant in distinguishing the pathogenesis of diseases and thereby drug discovery. The present meta-analysis prioritizes novel disease indications viz. rare and orphan diseases associated with target Glutamate Ionotropic Receptor NMDA Type Subunit 1, GRIN1 using text mining knowledge-based tools. Furthermore, ZINC database was virtually screened, and binding conformation of selected compounds was performed and resulted in the identification of Narciclasine (ZINC04097652) and Alvespimycin (ZINC73138787) as potential inhibitors. Furthermore, docked complexes were subjected to MD simulation studies which suggests that the identified leads could be a better potential drug to recuperate schizophrenia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tulika Bhardwaj
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Irshad Ahmad
- Department of Medical Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia
| | - Pallavi Somvanshi
- School of Computational & Integrative Sciences (SC&IS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.,Special Centre of Systems Medicine (SCSM), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
In Silico Comparative Exploration of Allergens of Periplaneta americana, Blattella germanica and Phoenix dactylifera for the Diagnosis of Patients Suffering from IgE-Mediated Allergic Respiratory Diseases. MOLECULES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 27:molecules27248740. [PMID: 36557872 PMCID: PMC9785491 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27248740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Revised: 12/03/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The burden of allergic illnesses is continuously rising, and patient diagnosis is a significant problem because of how intricately hereditary and environmental variables interact. The past three to four decades have seen an outbreak of allergies in high-income countries. According to reports on the illness, asthma affects around 300 million individuals worldwide. Identifying clinically important allergens for the accurate classification of IgE-mediated allergy respiratory disease diagnosis would be beneficial for implementing standardized allergen-associated therapy. Therefore, the current study includes an in silico analysis to identify potential IgE-mediated allergens in date palms and cockroaches. Such an immunoinformatic approach aids the prioritization of allergens with probable involvement in IgE-mediated allergic respiratory diseases. Immunoglobulin E (IgE) was used for molecular dynamic simulations, antigen-antibody docking analyses, epitope identifications, and characterizations. The potential of these allergens (Per a7, Per a 1.0102, and Bla g 1.0101) in IgE-mediated allergic respiratory diseases was explored through the evaluation of physicochemical characteristics, interaction observations, docking, and molecular dynamics simulations for drug and vaccine development.
Collapse
|
7
|
Genome-Based Multi-Antigenic Epitopes Vaccine Construct Designing against Staphylococcus hominis Using Reverse Vaccinology and Biophysical Approaches. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10101729. [PMID: 36298594 PMCID: PMC9611379 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10101729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Staphylococcus hominis is a Gram-positive bacterium from the staphylococcus genus; it is also a member of coagulase-negative staphylococci because of its opportunistic nature and ability to cause life-threatening bloodstream infections in immunocompromised patients. Gram-positive and opportunistic bacteria have become a major concern for the medical community. It has also drawn the attention of scientists due to the evaluation of immune evasion tactics and the development of multidrug-resistant strains. This prompted the need to explore novel therapeutic approaches as an alternative to antibiotics. The current study aimed to develop a broad-spectrum, multi-epitope vaccine to control bacterial infections and reduce the burden on healthcare systems. A computational framework was designed to filter the immunogenic potent vaccine candidate. This framework consists of pan-genomics, subtractive proteomics, and immunoinformatics approaches to prioritize vaccine candidates. A total of 12,285 core proteins were obtained using a pan-genome analysis of all strains. The screening of the core proteins resulted in the selection of only two proteins for the next epitope prediction phase. Eleven B-cell derived T-cell epitopes were selected that met the criteria of different immunoinformatics approaches such as allergenicity, antigenicity, immunogenicity, and toxicity. A vaccine construct was formulated using EAAAK and GPGPG linkers and a cholera toxin B subunit. This formulated vaccine construct was further used for downward analysis. The vaccine was loop refined and improved for structure stability through disulfide engineering. For an efficient expression, the codons were optimized as per the usage pattern of the E coli (K12) expression system. The top three refined docked complexes of the vaccine that docked with the MHC-I, MHC-II, and TLR-4 receptors were selected, which proved the best binding potential of the vaccine with immune receptors; this was followed by molecular dynamic simulations. The results indicate the best intermolecular bonding between immune receptors and vaccine epitopes and that they are exposed to the host’s immune system. Finally, the binding energies were calculated to confirm the binding stability of the docked complexes. This work aimed to provide a manageable list of immunogenic and antigenic epitopes that could be used as potent vaccine candidates for experimental in vivo and in vitro studies.
Collapse
|
8
|
Immunomodulatory and Allergenic Properties of Antimicrobial Peptides. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23052499. [PMID: 35269641 PMCID: PMC8910669 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23052499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Revised: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
With the growing problem of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the search for alternative ways to combat bacterial infections is extremely urgent. While analyzing the effect of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) on immunocompetent cells, their effect on all parts of the immune system, and on humoral and cellular immunity, is revealed. AMPs have direct effects on neutrophils, monocytes, dendritic cells, T-lymphocytes, and mast cells, participating in innate immunity. They act on B-lymphocytes indirectly, enhancing the induction of antigen-specific immunity, which ultimately leads to the activation of adaptive immunity. The adjuvant activity of AMPs in relation to bacterial and viral antigens was the reason for their inclusion in vaccines and made it possible to formulate the concept of a “defensin vaccine” as an innovative basis for constructing vaccines. The immunomodulatory function of AMPs involves their influence on cells in the nearest microenvironment, recruitment and activation of other cells, supporting the response to pathogenic microorganisms and completing the inflammatory process, thus exhibiting a systemic effect. For the successful use of AMPs in medical practice, it is necessary to study their immunomodulatory activity in detail, taking into account their pleiotropy. The degree of maturity of the immune system and microenvironment can contribute to the prevention of complications and increase the effectiveness of therapy, since AMPs can suppress inflammation in some circumstances, but aggravate the response and damage of organism in others. It should also be taken into account that the real functions of one or another AMP depend on the types of total regulatory effects on the target cell, and not only on properties of an individual peptide. A wide spectrum of biological activity, including direct effects on pathogens, inactivation of bacterial toxins and influence on immunocompetent cells, has attracted the attention of researchers, however, the cytostatic activity of AMPs against normal cells, as well as their allergenic properties and low stability to host proteases, are serious limitations for the medical use of AMPs. In this connection, the tasks of searching for compounds that selectively affect the target and development of an appropriate method of application become critically important. The scope of this review is to summarize the current concepts and newest advances in research of the immunomodulatory activity of natural and synthetic AMPs, and to examine the prospects and limitations of their medical use.
Collapse
|
9
|
Zaidi S, Bhardwaj T, Somvanshi P, Khan AU. Proteomic Characterization and Target Identification Against Streptococcus mutans Under Bacitracin Stress Conditions Using LC-MS and Subtractive Proteomics. Protein J 2022; 41:166-178. [PMID: 34989956 PMCID: PMC8733428 DOI: 10.1007/s10930-021-10038-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The aim of the present study, is to identify potential targets against the highly pathogenic bacteria Streptococcus mutans that causes dental caries as well as the deadly infection of endocarditis. The powerful and highly sensitive technique of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) identified 321 proteins of S. mutans when grown under stressful conditions induced by the antibiotic bacitracin. These 321 proteins were subjected to the insilico method of subtractive proteomics to screen out potential targets by utilizing different analyses like CD-HIT, non-homologous sequence screening, KEGG pathway, essentiality screening, gut-flora non-homology, and codon usage analysis. A database of essential proteins was employed to find sequence homology of non-paralogous proteins to determine proteins which are essential for bacterial survival. Cellular localization analysis of the selected proteins was done to localize them inside the cell along with physico-chemical characterization and druggability analysis. Using computational tools, 22 proteins out of 321, that are functionally distinguishable from their human counterparts and passed the criterion of a potential therapeutic candidate were identified. The selected proteins comprise central energy metabolic proteins, virulence factors, proteins of the sortase family, and essentiality factors. The presented analyses identified proteins of the sortase family, which appear as key therapeutic targets against caries infection. These proteins regulate a number of virulence factors, thus can be simultaneously inhibited to obstruct multiple virulence pathways.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sahar Zaidi
- Medical Microbiology and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, 202002, India
| | - Tulika Bhardwaj
- School of Computational & Integrative Sciences (SC&IS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India
| | - Pallavi Somvanshi
- School of Computational & Integrative Sciences (SC&IS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India.,Special Centre of Systems Medicine (SCSM), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India
| | - Asad U Khan
- Medical Microbiology and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, 202002, India.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Dar HA, Ismail S, Waheed Y, Ahmad S, Jamil Z, Aziz H, Hetta HF, Muhammad K. Designing a multi-epitope vaccine against Mycobacteroides abscessus by pangenome-reverse vaccinology. Sci Rep 2021; 11:11197. [PMID: 34045649 PMCID: PMC8159972 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-90868-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Mycobacteroides abscessus (Previously Mycobacterium abscessus) is an emerging microorganism of the newly defined genera Mycobacteroides that causes mainly skin and tissue diseases in humans. The recent availability of total 34 fully sequenced genomes of different strains belonging to this species has provided an opportunity to utilize this genomics data to gain novel insights and guide the development of specific antimicrobial therapies. In the present study, we collected collectively 34 complete genome sequences of M. abscessus from the NCBI GenBank database. Pangenome analysis was conducted on these genomes to understand the genetic diversity and to obtain proteins associated with its core genome. These core proteins were then subjected to various subtractive filters to identify potential antigenic targets that were subjected to multi-epitope vaccine design. Our analysis projected the open pangenome of M. abscessus containing 3443 core genes. After applying various stepwise filtration steps on the core proteins, a total of four potential antigenic targets were identified. Utilizing their constituent CD4 and CD8 T-cell epitopes, a multi-epitope based subunit vaccine was computationally designed. Sequence-based analysis as well as structural characterization revealed the immunological effectiveness of this designed vaccine. Further molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation and binding free energy estimation with Toll-like receptor 2 indicated strong structural associations of the vaccine with the immune receptor. The promising results are encouraging and need to be validated by additional wet laboratory studies for confirmation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hamza Arshad Dar
- Foundation University Medical College, Foundation University Islamabad, DHA-I, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan
| | - Saba Ismail
- Foundation University Medical College, Foundation University Islamabad, DHA-I, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan
| | - Yasir Waheed
- Foundation University Medical College, Foundation University Islamabad, DHA-I, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan.
| | - Sajjad Ahmad
- Foundation University Medical College, Foundation University Islamabad, DHA-I, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan
| | - Zubia Jamil
- Foundation University Medical College, Foundation University Islamabad, DHA-I, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan
| | - Hafsa Aziz
- Nuclear Medicine, Oncology, and Radiotherapy Institute, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan
| | - Helal F Hetta
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, 71515, Egypt
| | - Khalid Muhammad
- Department of Biology, College of Science, United Arab Emirates University, 15551, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Chakkyarath V, Shanmugam A, Natarajan J. Prioritization of potential drug targets and antigenic vaccine candidates against Klebsiella aerogenes using the computational subtractive proteome-driven approach. JOURNAL OF PROTEINS AND PROTEOMICS 2021; 12:201-211. [PMID: 34305354 PMCID: PMC8284688 DOI: 10.1007/s42485-021-00068-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Klebsiella aerogenes is a multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterium that causes nosocomial infections. The organism showed resistance to most of the conventional antibiotics available. Because of the high resistance of the species, the treatment of K. aerogenes is difficult. These species are resistant to third-generation cephalosporins due to the production of chromosomal beta-lactams with cephalosporin activity. The lack of better treatment and the development of therapeutic resistance in hospitals hinders better/new broad-spectrum-based treatment against this pathogen. This study identifies potential drug targets/vaccine candidates through a computational subtractive proteome-driven approach. This method is used to predict proteins that are not homologous to humans and human symbiotic intestinal flora. The resultant proteome of K. aerogenes was further searched for proteins, which are essential, virulent, and determinants of antibiotic/drug resistance. Subsequently, their druggability properties were also studied. The data set was reduced based on its presence in the pathogen-specific metabolic pathways. The subtractive proteome analysis predicted 13 proteins as potential drug targets for K. aerogenes. Furthermore, these target proteins were annotated based on their spectrum of activity, cellular localization, and antigenicity properties, which ensured that they are potent candidates for broad-spectrum antibiotic and vaccine design. The results open up new opportunities for designing and manufacturing powerful antigenic vaccines against K. aerogenes and the detection and release of new and active drugs against K. aerogenes without altering the gut microbiome. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42485-021-00068-9.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vijina Chakkyarath
- grid.411677.20000 0000 8735 2850Data Mining and Text Mining Laboratory, Department of Bioinformatics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046 India
| | - Anusuya Shanmugam
- grid.444708.b0000 0004 1799 6895Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Vinayaka Mission’s Kirupananda Variyar Engineering College, Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation (Deemed to be University), Salem, Tamil Nadu 636308 India
| | - Jeyakumar Natarajan
- grid.411677.20000 0000 8735 2850Data Mining and Text Mining Laboratory, Department of Bioinformatics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641046 India
| |
Collapse
|