Arabinosyltransferase C enzyme of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a potential drug target: An insight from molecular docking study

Multi-drug resistant in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) is considered as major bottleneck in the treatment and cure of tuberculosis (TB). Several anti-tubercular drugs fail in its efficacy due to drug-resistant M.tb developed mechanism for resistance. So, research across globe has been carried out to develop effective anti-TB drugs to improve the treatment of these strains. Traditional drug development methods have been proved unsuccessful as it fails to develop a broad-spectrum drug due to lack of structure based approach. Several studies have been conducted in this regard and identified several drug target sites that influence drug-resistant M.tb strains. In this study, the attempt was to study the interaction between the protein Arabinosyltransferase C with the two existing drugs (Ethambutol and Isoniazid) and five modified molecules derived from Ethambutol by calculating their binding affinity and mode of binding through molecular docking study using AutoDock 4. From the comparison study of the existing drug (EMB and INH) and the five proposed modified molecules (Emb1, Emb2, Emb3, Emb4 and Emb5), it is analysed that Emb1 and Emb3 with binding affinities -5.77 kcal/mol and -5.13 kcal/mol respectively can be considered as potential inhibitors of Arabinosyltransferase C in Mycobacterium tuberculosis which is responsible for cell wall synthesis. The facts provided may be further verified experimentally for future drug discovery process to make a stand against tuberculosis and contribute an advance research for worthy antimycobacterial strategies.