Modelagem molecular in silico da proteína de choque térmico de 70 kDa de Toxoplasma gondii

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan that causes toxoplasmosis, a global disease that has a complex life cycle with well-defined stages: rapidly multiplying tachyzoites and bradyzoites, which form cysts in the tissue. Infection with this parasite can occur through eating raw meat contaminated with tissue cysts or through oocysts excreted by cats. The 70 kDa heat shock protein (HSP) of T. gondii plays a key role in the parasite's survival, as it expresses TgHSP70 during its conversion from the tachyzoite stage to bradyzoites, as well as from bradyzoites to tachyzoites, so it could be a potential target for studies into new treatments against the disease. In silico modeling is a way of visualizing the molecular structure of a protein without the need for experimental tests, for which the use of alignment programa, model creation and quality analysis are essential. Three-dimensional modeling of the 70 kDa heat shock protein from T. gondii was carried out using the SWISS-MODEL program, starting from the most favorable template structure of HSP70 (PDB 7 sqc.391.A Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The model generated for HSP70 from T. gondii was validated using the VERIFY3D and PROCHECK programs, demonstrating the high quality of the modeled protein.