E-Book 3rd Congress

  • Design and interaction analysis of a new peptide-based drug against HCV- related hepatocellular carcinoma
  • mortezapirzadeh,1,* mortezapirzadeh,2
    1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran


  • Introduction: Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the world that characterized by the development of abnormal cells in in different organs of the body. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of liver cancer in adults. This type of cancer starts in liver cells. Loss of weight, yellowing of the skin, swelling, pain, or mass in the abdomen are the most important symptoms of liver cancer. Patients with liver disease such as cirrhosis, and hepatitis B and C infections are more susceptible to this type of cancer. One of the other causes of HCC is Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. This study aims to Design a new peptide-based drug against HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma.
  • Methods: In the first step, Hypercam software was used to draw the 3D structure of the oligopeptide. The designed peptide consisted of 4 amino acids (glycine-isoleucine-lysine- glycine). One of the ways to control this virus was to target the main enzymes of the virus which is NS3/4A protease. In our research, the code of the 6p6s protein from the pdb site was downloaded. Docking was used for the study of peptide-protein interactions, and then hydrogen bonds between peptide and protein were checked with Discovery software.
  • Results: After docking, between oligopeptide (glycine-isoleucine-lysine- glycine) and 6p6s protein, 3 hydrogen bonds were formed. Based on our results, amino acids that participate in the interactions are LYS1136:NZ - GLY1:O, LYS1136:NZ - ILE2:O, GLY1:N - ALA1157:O with docking score:-98.37.
  • Conclusion: Designed oligopeptide by 3 hydrogen bonds interacts with HCV NS3/4A protease (accession number:6p6s).
  • Keywords: HVC, virus, hepatocellular carcinoma, anticancer, liver