Genome-Based Drug Target Identification in Human Pathogen Streptococcus gallolyticus

Abstract

<i>Streptococcus gallolysticus</i> (<i>Sg</i>) is an opportunistic Gram-positive, non-motile bacterium, which causes infective endocarditis, an inflammation of the inner lining of the heart. As <i>Sg</i> has acquired resistance with the available antibiotics, therefore, there is a dire need to find new therapeutic targets and potent drugs to prevent and treat this disease. In the current study, an <i>in silico</i> approach is utilized to link genomic data of <i>Sg</i> species with its proteome to identify putative therapeutic targets. A total of 1,138 core proteins have been identified using pan genomic approach. Further, using subtractive proteomic analysis, a set of 18 proteins, essential for bacteria and non-homologous to host (human), is identified. Out of these 18 proteins, 12 cytoplasmic proteins were selected as potential drug targets. These selected proteins were subjected to molecular docking against drug-like compounds retrieved from ZINC database. Furthermore, the top docked compounds with lower binding energy were identified. In this work, we have identified novel drug and vaccine targets against <i>Sg</i>, of which some have already been reported and validated in other species. Owing to the experimental validation, we believe our methodology and result are significant contribution for drug/vaccine target identification against <i>Sg</i>-caused infective endocarditis.