Chikungunya Virus: New Drug Prospects Emerging from Molecular Docking Studies for Medicinal Biotechnology

The Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) cases were ubiquitously reported in several countries of the North American region, but with time this virus has been spread throughout the world. The Indian subcontinent is not an exception. Till date, the absence of any appropriate drugs or vaccines against the CHIKV makes the research scenario more challenging towards the identification and development of novel lead compounds essential for the same. The Cysteine protease (nsp2) has been identified as a key drug target molecule for combating infections induced by alpha-viruses like the CHIKV. CHIKV nsp2 has an extremely compact structure with RNA-binding surface domains, which make nsp2 more efficient for genome replication during pathogenesis. The present study aims to investigate the novel inhibitors for the nsp2 protein domain using in-silico approach. The Tertiary structure of target protein and various antimicrobial drugs were retrieved from protein data bank and drug bank database respectively. The docking studies are performed and it is observed that Telaprevir is having the highest binding affinity followed by Doxycycline, Sennoside A, Acarbose, and Trobicin. Telaprevir is a widely used antiviral drug for the treatment of chronic Hepatitis c virus. Therefore these drugs can be reprofiled as a potential inhibitor of nsp2.