Comparative Modeling Study of the 3-D Structure of Small Delta Antigen Protein of Hepatitis Delta Virus

Abstract

Delta hepatitis is pandemic worldwide, which is caused by Hepatitis delta Virus (HDV) an RNA virus. HDV causes either co-infection or super infection with Hepatitis B virus. Small delta antigen protein of HDV is obligatory for replication of virus. Since it plays a crucial role in virus life cycle, it may be a suitable target for drug development. Three dimensional structure of protein is of great significance for the rational design of many different types of biological experiments. In current study 3-D modeling of small delta antigen protein was performed by using GenThreader followed by modeller9v7. The validation of predicted 3-D structure was done using PROCHECK, Anolea, Gromos96 and Swisspdb-viewer tools. CASTp was used further to study surface features and functional binding pockets in protein. The resulting 3-D model can be used to develop novel inhibitor against small delta antigen protein to cure the disease.