Homology Modeling of Leishmanolysin (gp63) from Leishmania panamensis and Molecular Docking of Flavonoids

Leishmaniasis is a chronic disease caused by protozoa of the distinct Leishmania genus transmitted by sandflies of the genus Phlebotomus (old world) and Lutzomyia (new world). Among the molecular factors that contribute to the virulence and pathogenesis of Leishmania are metalloproteases, e.g., glycoprotein 63 (gp63), also known as leishmanolysin or major surface protease (MSP). This protease is a zinc-dependent metalloprotease that is found on the surface of the parasite, abundant in Leishmania promastigote and amastigote. This study describes the prediction of three-dimensional (3D) structures of leishmanolysin (UniProt ID A0A088RJX7) of Leishmania panamensis employing a homology modeling approach. The 3D structure prediction was performed using the SWISS-MODEL web server. The tools PROCHECK, Molprobyty, and Verify3D were used to check the quality of the model, indicating that they are reliable. Best docking configurations were identified applying AutoDock Vina in PyRx 0.8 to obtain a potential antileishmanial activity. Biflavonoids such as lanaroflavone, podocarpusflavone A, amentoflavone, and podocarpusflavone B showed good scores among these molecules. Lanaroflavone appears to be the most suitable compound from binding affinity calculations.