RESUMO
For widening the therapeutic options for Candida management, the druggability of Candida proteome was systematically investigated using an innovative pipeline of high-throughput data mining algorithms, followed by in vitro validation of the observations. Through this exercise, HIV-1 protease was found to share structural similarity with secreted aspartyl protease-3 (SAP3), a virulence protein of Candida. Using the molecular fingerprint of HIV-1 protease inhibitor GRL-09510, we performed virtual screening of peptidomimetic library followed by high-precision docking and MD simulations for discovery of SAP inhibitors. Wet-lab validation of the four shortlisted peptidomimetics revealed that two molecules, when used in combination with fluconazole, could significantly reduce the dosage of fluconazole required for 50% inhibition of Candida albicans. The SAP inhibitory activity of these peptidomimetics was confirmed through SAP assays and found to be on par with pepstatin A, a known peptidomimetic inhibitor of aspartyl proteases.
