IN-SILICO CHARACTERIZATION OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS VIRULENCE FACTOR TSST-1 ASSOCIATED WITH CARDIAC ARREST

Abstract

Super-antigen of Staphylococcus aureus, Toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1) is associated with cardiac failure. Its virulence should be controlled in sustainable ways. Current study was designed to explore the characteristics of virulence factor TSST-1. For this purpose, its sequence was retrieved from UNIPROT database and subjected to assessment through SOPMA and PROTPARAM tools, SWISS-MODEL server and MEME suite. PROTPARAM tool analysis demonstrated extinction coefficient (24410 M^-1cm^-1), instability index (34.12) and GRAVY (-0.529) values of TSST-1. Highest number of amino acids (120) made up random coil followed by extended strand (61 amino acids) and alpha helix (53 amino acids). MEME suite analysis revealed conserved domains in TSST-1. i. e., FENREQLDNIHGLMR, DWQISG, KYGPKF, WKISMND, MNFFJL, NTEKPP, RLKKKQH, GEKVDL, LAISALD and DEIKKFEA with p-value of 4.39e-47. Designing the drugs that could bind the 2D structural components of TSST-1, to cause misfolding of proteins, could be the best route for pathogenicity reduction. Developing the vaccines targeting the conserved motifs might also be a sustainable approach for decreasing the TSST-1 associated virulence.

Keywords: Toxic shock syndrome toxin-1, Staphylococcus aureus, configuration, Ramachandran, MEME tool