HOMOLOGY MODELING OF SHORT CHAIN NEUROTOXINS: AN INITIATION TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THEIR FUNCTIONAL INFERENCE

Objectives: Various types of venoms are being produced by different toxic species which make mild or severe damage to the biological system of target species. The main objective is to disseminate structural information in order to understand the functional importance of the short chain neurotoxins (SCNs). Methods: Computational homology modeling technique is used to predict the theoretical 3D structure of protein. Structural qualities of all predicted SCNs are analyzed using bioinformatics tools. Results: Homology modeling was performed for all selected SCNs (62 toxin proteins) which do not have experimental models in structural databases. Structural folding patterns of all constructed models were further analyzed for exploring the functional role of SCNs. Three dimensional structures of SCNs provide a better understanding of molecular mechanisms that underlies the inhibition of neurotransmitter based potassium ion channels. Conclusion: The retrieved structural information of SCNs will serve as a starting point for designing suitable antidote. Future research is required for analyzing the feasibility of using venomous toxins as a pharmacological agent for several disease targets