Towards New Drug Targets? Function Prediction of Putative Proteins of Neisseria meningitidis MC58 and Their Virulence Characterization.

ABSTRACT: Neisseria meningitidis is a Gram-negative aerobic diplococcus, responsible for a variety of meningococcal diseases. The genome of N. meningitidis MC58 is comprised of 2114 genes that are translated into 1953 proteins. The 698 genes (∼35%) encode hypothetical proteins (HPs), because no experimental evidence of their biological functions are available. Analyses of these proteins are important to understand their functions in the metabolic networks and may lead to the discovery of novel drug targets against the infections caused by N. meningitidis. This study aimed at the identification and categorization of each HP present in the genome of N. meningitidis MC58 using computational tools. Functions of 363 proteins were predicted with high accuracy among the annotated set of HPs investigated. T

SUBMITTER: Shahbaaz M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4505777 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature