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Paper Details


Title
Multi-target inhibitors of white spot syndrome virus envelope proteins (VP28, VP26, and VP24) to protect shrimp (Penaeus monodon): An integrated virtual screening, pharmacokinetic, and molecular dynamics study

Author
, Md Mahmudul Islam,

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Abstract

White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) remains the most devastating pathogen in shrimp aquaculture worldwide, causing annual economic losses exceeding US$3 billion. To date, no effective prophylactic or therapeutic agents currently exist to mitigate the rapid, high-mortality outbreaks associated with WSSV. So, we employed an in silico framework, utilizing ClusPro 2.0, to map interactions between Penaeus monodon (host) receptors (Rab7, C-type lectin, GLUT-1, and β integrin) and the viral envelope proteins VP28, VP26, and VP24. The result of the protein-protein interactions guided to develop a multi-target strategy to inhibit the infection of WSSV. Then, a library of 2792 phytocompounds derived from 19 medicinal plant databases subjected to high-throughput virtual screening in PyRx-AutoDock Vina. Through a comprehensive investigation of the top hits using ADMET analysis and 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations, we identified 17α-hydroxywithanolide D and Withanolide G as the most promising compounds against VP28, VP26, and VP24. Both compounds demonstrated excellent multi-target binding affinity and thermodynamic stability. These findings provide a preliminary guide for a future sustainable, eco-friendly antiviral therapy. While these computational results are promising, further validation through in vitro and in vivo testing is necessary to confirm the efficacy of these candidates in aquaculture settings.


Keywords
Molecular dynamics simulations; Multi-target inhibition; Phytocompounds; WSSV.

Journal or Conference Name
Microbial Pathogenesis

Publication Year
2026

Indexing
scopus