Abstract
Clostridioides difficile is the major cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in hospitalized patients. The low susceptibility of this pathogen to first-line antibiotics coupled with the recurrence of its infection (CDI) has become a global concern that necessitates the need to explore novel drug targets against this pathogen. In this study, in-silico approaches through pangenome and subtractive genomic analysis were used to predict putative drug targets. A total of 2556 core genes were identified after pangenome analysis of which 173 were predicted to be essential and non-homologous to human host. Further analysis such as virulence effector function, subcellular localization, involvement in metabolic pathways, gene-enrichment analysis, physicochemical properties and druggability of the proteins were done. A total of 5 cytoplasmic proteins were finally predicted as novel putative drug targets. This study contributes immensely to the search of novel drug targets against C. difficile though further experimental validation is highly imperative.
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Methodology: AJ Fatoba, DO Fatoba; conceptualization: AJ Fatoba, DO Fatoba and SO Babalola; formal analysis: AJ Fatoba, DO Fatoba; writing original draft: AJ Fatoba; review and editing: AJ Fatoba, DO Fatoba and SO Babalola.
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Fatoba, A.J., Fatoba, D.O. & Babalola, S.O. Pangenome and subtractive genomic analysis of Clostridioides difficile reveals putative drug targets. J Proteins Proteom 13, 247–256 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42485-022-00097-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42485-022-00097-y