A Chimeric Peptide Inhibits Red Blood Cell Invasion by Plasmodium falciparum with Hundredfold Increased Efficacy

Mannuthodikayil, J.; Sinha, S.; Singh, S.; Biswas, A.; Ali, I.; Mashurabad, P. C.; Tabassum, W.; Vydyam, P.; Bhattacharyya, M. K.; Mandal, K.

doi:10.1101/2021.09.28.462119

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.09.28.462119

A Chimeric Peptide Inhibits Red Blood Cell Invasion by Plasmodium falciparum with Hundredfold Increased Efficacy

Mannuthodikayil, J.·Sinha, S.·Singh, S.·Biswas, A.·Ali, I.·Mashurabad, P. C.·Tabassum, W.·Vydyam, P.·Bhattacharyya, M. K.·Mandal, K.

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Abstract

Inhibition of tight junction formation between two malaria parasite proteins, apical membrane antigen 1 and rhoptry neck protein 2, crucial for red blood cell invasion, prevents the disease progression. In this work, we have utilized a unique approach to design a chimeric peptide, prepared by fusion of the best features of two peptide inhibitors, that has displayed parasite growth inhibition, in-vitro, with nanomolar IC50, which is hundredfold better than any of its parent peptides. Further, to gain structural insights, we computationally modeled the hybrid peptide on its receptor.

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Mannuthodikayil, J., Sinha, S., Singh, S., Biswas, A., Ali, I., Mashurabad, P. C., Tabassum, W., Vydyam, P., Bhattacharyya, M. K., Mandal, K.. 2021-09-28. A Chimeric Peptide Inhibits Red Blood Cell Invasion by Plasmodium falciparum with Hundredfold Increased Efficacy. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.28.462119

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