Identification of potential therapeutic targets in Neisseria gonorrhoeae by an in-silico approach

Pooja Tanwer; Sree Rohit Raj Kolora; Anshu Babbar; Daman Saluja; Uma Chaudhry

doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2020.110172

Identification of potential therapeutic targets in Neisseria gonorrhoeae by an in-silico approach

J Theor Biol. 2020 Apr 7:490:110172. doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2020.110172. Epub 2020 Jan 20.

Authors

Pooja Tanwer¹, Sree Rohit Raj Kolora², Anshu Babbar³, Daman Saluja⁴, Uma Chaudhry⁵

Affiliations

¹ Dr B.R. Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India; Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016, India.
² Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science, and Interdisciplinary Center for Bioinformatics, Universität Leipzig, Härtelstrasse 16-18, Leipzig, 04107, Germany.
³ Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
⁴ Dr B.R. Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research, University of Delhi, Delhi 110007, India.
⁵ Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of Delhi, Sector 2, Phase 1, New Delhi 110075, India. Electronic address: chaudhry.uma@gmail.com.

PMID: 31972174
DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2020.110172

Abstract

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a gram negative diplococcus bacterium and the causative agent of the sexually transmitted disease Gonorrhea. It has been recently given the status of "superbug" by World Health Organization because of the increasing antibiotic resistance and unavailability of a viable vaccine candidate. Over recent years, there have been increasing reports about the use of subtractive genomics to identify potential drug and vaccine targets. Our study utilizes codon biasing, a tool to identify the essential genes, in N. gonorrhoeae that could be utilized as novel therapeutic targets for drug or vaccine development. Through the screening of 2350 total genes, we present a list of 29 such drug candidate genes based on codon adaptation. Through the data-mining with BLAST2GO and InterProScan databases, we could predict the function of these 29 genes. These genes are involved in pivotal cellular functions like DNA replication, energy synthesis and metabolites production. This study also shortlists the essential genes of N. gonorrhoeae that could be used to target Neisseria. We identified a molecule/drug which can be used to target essential protein DapD (succinyltransferase).

Keywords: CAI Values; Codon Usage; Neisseria gonorrhoeae; therapeutic targets.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Computer Simulation
Genomics
Gonorrhea* / drug therapy
Humans
Neisseria gonorrhoeae* / genetics