Title:PfalDB: An Integrated Drug Target and Chemical Database for Plasmodium flaciparum
Volume: 15
Issue: 12
Author(s): Amit Kumar, Nidhi Agarwal, Lalit Pant, Jay Prakash Singh, Indira Ghosh and Naidu Subbarao
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Anti-malarials, database, drug targets, inhibitors, selectivity.
Abstract: Plasmodium falciparum is one of the deadliest protozoan parasite species among those that cause malaria. Uncontrolled
use of antimalarial drugs has resulted in evolutionary selection pressure favoring high levels of resistance to antimalarials;
currently P.falciparum shows resistance to all classes of antimalarials. Therefore it is essential to identify
novel drug targets, and design selective anti-malarials which can overcome resistance. While many drug targets are freely
available in various public domain resources, a single comprehensive source of data containing easily searchable and retrievable
information is currently lacking. To facilitate the total integration and mining of data emerging from different
drug consortia and also to prioritize drug targets for structure-based drug design, an open-access, inclusive comprehensive
database for Plasmodium falciparum was established. Meta data of known/modeled structures along with binding site parameters
of drug targets have been included in the database. Additionally, chemical compounds showing a positive inhibitory
assay against Plasmodium falciparum or known drug targets have also been provided. The database is accessible at
http://pfaldb.jnu.ac.in. The database provides diverse information regarding the structure, sequence, stage specific gene
expression, pathway, action mechanism, essentiality and druggability for each drug target, and literature to assess the validation
status of individual drug targets. It also includes information on individual anti-malarials with their activity and
bioassay.
