Molecular investigation on active compounds in papaya leaves (Carica papaya Linn) as anti-malaria using network pharmacology, molecular docking, clustering-based analysis and molecular dynamics simulation

Malaria remains a significant global health issue. In Indonesia, >400,000 cases of malaria were reported, with the highest prevalence in Papua Province. However, limited access to healthcare services in remote areas and the emergence of resistance to antimalarial drugs pose significant challenges...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Arwansyah Arwansyah, Sitti Rahmawati, Siti Nuryanti, Yenni Yusuf, Hartono, Abdur Rahman Arif
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-02-01
Series:Phytomedicine Plus
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667031324001878
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1823861147643674624
author Arwansyah Arwansyah
Sitti Rahmawati
Siti Nuryanti
Yenni Yusuf
Hartono
Abdur Rahman Arif
author_facet Arwansyah Arwansyah
Sitti Rahmawati
Siti Nuryanti
Yenni Yusuf
Hartono
Abdur Rahman Arif
author_sort Arwansyah Arwansyah
collection DOAJ
description Malaria remains a significant global health issue. In Indonesia, >400,000 cases of malaria were reported, with the highest prevalence in Papua Province. However, limited access to healthcare services in remote areas and the emergence of resistance to antimalarial drugs pose significant challenges to malaria elimination efforts in Indonesia. Hence, we investigate the active compounds in Carica papaya Linn as potential drugs against malaria using pharmacology combined with several in silico methods. A total of 23 proteins linked to the active compounds and malaria-related targets in human proteins were identified using network analysis. STAT3 protein is the first-degree rank based on network topological analysis, indicating it has a strong correlation with malaria infection. Furthermore, molecular docking was performed on the parasite protein Falcipain-2, revealing that five compounds exhibited higher binding affinities than Artemisinin (control), suggesting their potential as Falcipain-2 inhibitor. The stability of these complexes was further validated using MD simulations, showing no signs of instability in any of the models based on validation metrics. Citroxanthin (model 2) emerged as the most stable complex due to its favorable binding energy score. To confirm Citroxanthin's binding site, re-docking simulations and k-means clustering analysis were conducted. The results indicated that Citroxanthin in cluster 1 occupied a similar binding site as in the initial docking and MD simulation. From the viewpoints of the molecular investigations, including binding site analysis, binding energy, and structural dynamics, Citroxanthin may become a promising drug for treating malaria infections.
format Article
id doaj-art-e7aa52011309487b86f48d5dd92579a8
institution Kabale University
issn 2667-0313
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Phytomedicine Plus
spelling doaj-art-e7aa52011309487b86f48d5dd92579a82025-02-10T04:35:15ZengElsevierPhytomedicine Plus2667-03132025-02-0151100713Molecular investigation on active compounds in papaya leaves (Carica papaya Linn) as anti-malaria using network pharmacology, molecular docking, clustering-based analysis and molecular dynamics simulationArwansyah Arwansyah0Sitti Rahmawati1Siti Nuryanti2Yenni Yusuf3 Hartono4Abdur Rahman Arif5Department of Chemistry Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Tadulako University, Palu, Indonesia; Corresponding authors.Department of Chemistry Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Tadulako University, Palu, Indonesia; Corresponding authors.Department of Chemistry Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Tadulako University, Palu, IndonesiaDepartment of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, IndonesiaDepartment of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Makassar, IndonesiaDepartment of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, IndonesiaMalaria remains a significant global health issue. In Indonesia, >400,000 cases of malaria were reported, with the highest prevalence in Papua Province. However, limited access to healthcare services in remote areas and the emergence of resistance to antimalarial drugs pose significant challenges to malaria elimination efforts in Indonesia. Hence, we investigate the active compounds in Carica papaya Linn as potential drugs against malaria using pharmacology combined with several in silico methods. A total of 23 proteins linked to the active compounds and malaria-related targets in human proteins were identified using network analysis. STAT3 protein is the first-degree rank based on network topological analysis, indicating it has a strong correlation with malaria infection. Furthermore, molecular docking was performed on the parasite protein Falcipain-2, revealing that five compounds exhibited higher binding affinities than Artemisinin (control), suggesting their potential as Falcipain-2 inhibitor. The stability of these complexes was further validated using MD simulations, showing no signs of instability in any of the models based on validation metrics. Citroxanthin (model 2) emerged as the most stable complex due to its favorable binding energy score. To confirm Citroxanthin's binding site, re-docking simulations and k-means clustering analysis were conducted. The results indicated that Citroxanthin in cluster 1 occupied a similar binding site as in the initial docking and MD simulation. From the viewpoints of the molecular investigations, including binding site analysis, binding energy, and structural dynamics, Citroxanthin may become a promising drug for treating malaria infections.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667031324001878Anti-malariaLigand-receptor complexNetwork pharmacologyClustering-based analysis
spellingShingle Arwansyah Arwansyah
Sitti Rahmawati
Siti Nuryanti
Yenni Yusuf
Hartono
Abdur Rahman Arif
Molecular investigation on active compounds in papaya leaves (Carica papaya Linn) as anti-malaria using network pharmacology, molecular docking, clustering-based analysis and molecular dynamics simulation
Phytomedicine Plus
Anti-malaria
Ligand-receptor complex
Network pharmacology
Clustering-based analysis
title Molecular investigation on active compounds in papaya leaves (Carica papaya Linn) as anti-malaria using network pharmacology, molecular docking, clustering-based analysis and molecular dynamics simulation
title_full Molecular investigation on active compounds in papaya leaves (Carica papaya Linn) as anti-malaria using network pharmacology, molecular docking, clustering-based analysis and molecular dynamics simulation
title_fullStr Molecular investigation on active compounds in papaya leaves (Carica papaya Linn) as anti-malaria using network pharmacology, molecular docking, clustering-based analysis and molecular dynamics simulation
title_full_unstemmed Molecular investigation on active compounds in papaya leaves (Carica papaya Linn) as anti-malaria using network pharmacology, molecular docking, clustering-based analysis and molecular dynamics simulation
title_short Molecular investigation on active compounds in papaya leaves (Carica papaya Linn) as anti-malaria using network pharmacology, molecular docking, clustering-based analysis and molecular dynamics simulation
title_sort molecular investigation on active compounds in papaya leaves carica papaya linn as anti malaria using network pharmacology molecular docking clustering based analysis and molecular dynamics simulation
topic Anti-malaria
Ligand-receptor complex
Network pharmacology
Clustering-based analysis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667031324001878
work_keys_str_mv AT arwansyaharwansyah molecularinvestigationonactivecompoundsinpapayaleavescaricapapayalinnasantimalariausingnetworkpharmacologymoleculardockingclusteringbasedanalysisandmoleculardynamicssimulation
AT sittirahmawati molecularinvestigationonactivecompoundsinpapayaleavescaricapapayalinnasantimalariausingnetworkpharmacologymoleculardockingclusteringbasedanalysisandmoleculardynamicssimulation
AT sitinuryanti molecularinvestigationonactivecompoundsinpapayaleavescaricapapayalinnasantimalariausingnetworkpharmacologymoleculardockingclusteringbasedanalysisandmoleculardynamicssimulation
AT yenniyusuf molecularinvestigationonactivecompoundsinpapayaleavescaricapapayalinnasantimalariausingnetworkpharmacologymoleculardockingclusteringbasedanalysisandmoleculardynamicssimulation
AT hartono molecularinvestigationonactivecompoundsinpapayaleavescaricapapayalinnasantimalariausingnetworkpharmacologymoleculardockingclusteringbasedanalysisandmoleculardynamicssimulation
AT abdurrahmanarif molecularinvestigationonactivecompoundsinpapayaleavescaricapapayalinnasantimalariausingnetworkpharmacologymoleculardockingclusteringbasedanalysisandmoleculardynamicssimulation