Poster abstracts
Poster number 2 submitted by Emily Fairchild
Peptides to inhibit the T-Box Riboswitch
Emily Fairchild (Ohio University), Danushika Hearth (Ohio University), Jennifer Hines (Ohio University)
Abstract:
T-Box riboswitches are found in gram positive bacteria and control systems related to amino acid sensing, making it a crucial target for antibiotic design. There are currently no known predictive docking protocols for targeting the T-Box riboswitch. In order to develop a computationally predictive method we designed a tetra- peptide library to target the T-box riboswitch antiterminator RNA element. The library was composed of all combinations and permutations of natural amino acids, giving way to 160,000 peptides built. This library was then docked to the NMR-derived structure of the antiterminator of the T-Box riboswitch using iteratively filtered docking methods. From this optimized docking workflow, two peptides, RDCH and YQQW, were tested for affinity and inhibition of the T-Box riboswitch. The peptides showed preliminary antagonist and agonist activity, respectively.
Keywords: T-Box Riboswitch, Computational Docking, Peptides