- Article -
| In Silico Biology 8, 0035 (2008); ©2008, Bioinformation Systems e.V. |
Molecular modelling study of the 3D structure of the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) helicase
Andrea Brancale1, Chrisanthy Vlachaki2* and Dimitrios Vlachakis2
1 Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3XF, United Kingdom
2 Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, Harokopio University, 70 El. Venizelou Ave, 176 71 Kallithea, Athens, Greece
* Corresponding author
Email: cvlachaki@hua.gr
Edited by H. Michael; received July 06, 2008; revised and accepted August 21, 2008; published September 14, 2008
Abstract
Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is a member of the Flaviviridae family of viruses and constitutes a very important pathogen for livestock around the world [Booker et al., 2008]. The viral helicase is an enzyme essential for the proliferation and transmission of the virus. In this work a 3D-model of the BVDV helicase was produced using homology modelling techniques and the known 3D-structure of the hepatitis C helicase of the Flaviviridae family as template, in an attempt to provide the means for structure-based design of novel anti-BVDV agents.
Keywords: homology modelling, molecular dynamics, helicase, bovine viral diarrhea virus, Flaviviridae