Screening of Furanone in Cucurbita melo and Evaluation of its Bioactive Potential Using In Silico Studies

Combined in vivo and in silico approaches for predicting the release of bioactive peptides from meat digestion

We studied the kinetics of peptide release during the gastric digestion of meat proteins in vivo, in view to predicting the release of bioactive peptides further on in the digestive tract. Six mini pigs fitted with gastric cannulas received a meal with cooked beef as protein source. Digesta was collected at regular time intervals up to 5½ h. The peptides generated by the gastric digestion of meat were identified and quantified using label-free LC MS, thereafter subjected to in silico digestion mimicking the action of intestinal enzymes. Three clusters of proteins presenting similar evolutions according to their dynamic hydrolysis were obtained. This study clearly improves the in silico prediction of the intestinal release of bioactive peptides by mapping meat protein degradation in the stomach in an in vivo model. Knowledge of the conformation of the peptides released in the stomach further improves this prediction.

Virtual Screening for Potential Inhibitors of CTX-M-15 Protein of Klebsiella pneumoniae

The Gram-negative bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae, responsible for a wide variety of nosocomial infections in immuno-deficient patients, involves the respiratory, urinary and gastrointestinal tract infections and septicemia. Extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) belong to β-lactamases capable of conferring antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria. CTX-M-15, a prevalent ESBL reported from Enterobacteriaceae including K. pneumoniae, was selected as a potent anti-bacterial target. To identify the novel drug-like compounds, structure-based screening procedure was employed against downloaded drug-like compounds from ZINC database. An acronym for "ZINC" is not commercial. The docking free energy values were investigated and compared to the known inhibitor Avibactam. Six best novel drug-like compounds were selected and their hydrogen bindings with the receptor were determined. Based on the binding efficiency mode, three among these six identified most potential inhibitors, ZINC21811621, ZINC93091917 and ZINC19488569, were predicted as potential competitive inhibitors against CTX-M-15 compared to Avibactam. These three inhibitors may provide a framework for the experimental studies to develop anti-Klebsiella novel drug candidates targeting CTX-M-15.