An Observational Study on the Mode of Action of Ferulic Acid on Common Dental Pathogens – An in Silico Approach
R. Nivethitha
Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha University, Chennai, India.
A. S. Smiline Girija
Department of Microbiology, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha University, 162, Poonamallee High Road, Chennai 600077, Tamil Nadu, India.
J. Vijayashree Priyadharsini *
Biomedical Research Unit and Laboratory Animal Centre-Dental Research Cell, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha University, Chennai 600077, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
In this study, the functional and virulent classes of proteins that are targeted by ferulic acid are identified from the most common dental pathogens like Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, Tannerella forsythia, Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus faecalis by an in silico approach. The target proteins were selected using STITCH tool, the functional class of proteins was predicted using VICMpred. The predicted virulent proteins were further subjected to BepiPred analysis, which returned the number of peptide epitopes present in the protein. Further, the subcellular location of the proteins was confirmed by the PSORTb tool. Ferulic acid was found to interact with virulence factors such as dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase of Streptococcus mutans, putative lipoprotein of P. gingivalis and phosphogluconate dehydrogenase of T. forsythia. The findings of the study emphasize the promising interactive role of ferulic acid and their potential protein targets in common oro-dental pathogens which requires further experimental validation in-vivo and in-vitro.
Keywords: Ferulic acid, STITCH tool, virulence, peptide epitopes