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Structural Studies on Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase from Plasmodium Falciparum

Author Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Biotechnology, Central University of Rajasthan, Kishangarh, INDIA

Int. Res. J. Biological Sci., Volume 1, Issue (1), Pages 42-46, May,10 (2012)

Abstract

Human malaria is caused by the apicomplexan, Plasmodium falciparum. Malaria causes the major health problems in most of the developing countries, including India. In addition, increased resistant against existing drugs of malaria, impose the identification of novel drug targets. Plasmodium kinome has been studied in detail so far, providing key insight into the major differences between human and malaria parasite kinases. Few kinases are essential in asexual life stage of the parasite and do not club together with human counterparts in phylogenetic tree. Mitogen-activated protein kinase-2 (Pfmap-2) is one of the two MAP kinases found in Plasmodium and essential for the asexual growth. In this study, we have structurally characterized the Pfmap-2 using in-silico homology modeling. Also the structural comparison was performed between parasite and human counterparts. In addition, active site of Pfmap-2 was identified using online tool. Together, we think that present study will definitely hasten the process of development of new and effective anti-malaria drugs.

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