ABSTRACT
Drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB), which results mainly from the selection of naturally resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) due to mismanaged treatment, poses a severe challenge to the global control of TB. Therefore, screening novel and unique drug targets against this pathogen is urgently needed. The metabolic pathways of Homo sapiens and MTB were compared using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes tool, and further, the proteins that are involved in the metabolic pathways of MTB were subtracted and proceeded to protein-protein interaction network analysis, subcellular localization, drug ability testing, and gene ontology. The study aims to identify enzymes for the unique pathways for further screening to determine the feasibility of the therapeutic targets. The qualitative characteristics of 28 proteins identified as drug target candidates were studied. The results showed that 12 were cytoplasmic, 2 were extracellular, 12 were transmembrane, and 3 were unknown. Furthermore, druggability analysis revealed 14 druggable proteins, of which 12 were novel and responsible for MTB peptidoglycan and lysine biosynthesis. The novel targets obtained in this study are used to develop antimicrobial treatments against pathogenic bacteria. Future studies should further shed light on the clinical implementation to identify antimicrobial therapies against MTB.
ABSTRACT
Starch and flour from various plants have been widely used for sundry applications, especially in the food and chemical industries. However, native starch and flour have several weaknesses, especially in functional, pasting, and physicochemical properties. The quality of native starch and flour can be improved by a modification process. The type of modification that is safe, easy, and efficient is physical modification using hydrothermal treatment techniques, including heat moisture treatment (HMT) and annealing (ANN). This review discusses the hydrothermal modifications of starch and flour, especially from various tubers and cereals. The discussion is mainly on its effect on five parameters, namely functional properties, morphology, pasting properties, crystallinity, and thermal properties. Modification of HMT and ANN, in general, can improve the functional properties, causing cracking of the granule surface, stable viscosity to heat, increasing crystallinity, and increasing gelatinization temperature. However, some modifications of starch and flour by HMT and ANN had no effect on several parameters or even had the opposite effect. The summary of the various studies reviewed can be a reference for the development of hydrothermal-modified starch and flour applications for various industries.
ABSTRACT
Background: A prophylactic and immunotherapeutic vaccine for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and SARS-CoV-2 coinfection needs to be developed for a proactive and effective therapeutic approach. Therefore, this study aims to use immunoinformatics to design a multi-epitope vaccine for protection against MTB and SARS-CoV-2 coinfection. Methods: The bioinformatic techniques were used to screen and construct potential epitopes from outer membrane protein A Rv0899 of MTB and spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 for B and T cells. The antigenicity, allergenicity, and several physiochemical properties of the developed multi-epitope vaccination were then evaluated. Additionally, molecular docking and normal mode analysis (NMA) were utilized in evaluating the vaccine's immunogenicity and complex stability. Results: Selected proteins and predicted epitopes suggest that the vaccine prediction can be helpful in the protection against both SARS-CoV-2 and MTB coinfection. Through docking molecular and NMA, the vaccine-TLR4 protein interaction was predicted to be efficient with a high level of IgG, T-helper cells, T-cytotoxic cells, andIFN-γ. Conclusion: This epitope-based vaccine is a potentially attractive tool for SARS-CoV-2 and MTB coinfection vaccine development.
