A systematic strategy for the investigation of vaccines and drugs targeting bacteria

Fangfang Yan; Feng Gao

doi:10.1016/j.csbj.2020.06.008

A systematic strategy for the investigation of vaccines and drugs targeting bacteria

Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2020 Jun 12:18:1525-1538. doi: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.06.008. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Fangfang Yan¹, Feng Gao^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, School of Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
² Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
³ SynBio Research Platform, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), Tianjin 300072, China.

Abstract

Infectious and epidemic diseases induced by bacteria have historically caused great distress to people, and have even resulted in a large number of deaths worldwide. At present, many researchers are working on the discovery of viable drug and vaccine targets for bacteria through multiple methods, including the analyses of comparative subtractive genome, core genome, replication-related proteins, transcriptomics and riboswitches, which plays a significant part in the treatment of infectious and pandemic diseases. The 3D structures of the desired target proteins, drugs and epitopes can be predicted and modeled through target analysis. Meanwhile, molecular dynamics (MD) analysis of the constructed drug/epitope-protein complexes is an important standard for testing the suitability of these screened drugs and vaccines. Currently, target discovery, target analysis and MD analysis are integrated into a systematic set of drug and vaccine analysis strategy for bacteria. We hope that this comprehensive strategy will help in the design of high-performance vaccines and drugs.

Keywords: Bacteria; Infectious and epidemic diseases; Molecular dynamics simulation; Subtractive genome analysis; Target analysis.

Publication types

Review