Towards the development of novel Trypanosoma brucei RNA editing ligase 1 inhibitors

BACKGROUND: Trypanosoma brucei (T. brucei) is an infectious agent for which drug development has been largely neglected. We here use a recently developed computer program called AutoGrow to add interacting molecular fragments to S5, a known inhibitor of the validated T. brucei drug target RNA editing ligase 1, in order to improve its predicted binding affinity. RESULTS: The proposed binding modes of the resulting compounds mimic that of ATP, the native substrate, and provide insights into novel protein-ligand interactions that may be exploited in future drug-discovery projects. CONCLUSIONS: We are hopeful that these new predicted inhibitors will aid medicinal chemists in developing novel therapeutics to fight human African trypanosomiasis.