Assessment of Filamentation temperature sensitive protein Z (FtsZ) as anti-filarial chemotherapy tool: an in silco analysis

The successful elimination of lymphatic filariasis (LF) may be limited because of the absence of drugs effective against the adult filarial parasites, which survive in their host for prolonged period and hence continue to remain as the source of transmission in the community even after several rounds of annual mass drug administration. Available drugs for the control of LF are not effective enough and yet no new drugs that are effective against the adult parasites have been developed. Therefore, efforts are being made to characterize newer agents for anti-filarial chemotherapy. Wolbachia, an endosymbiont of filarial parasites plays important roles in the development and biology of filarial parasites (Taylor and Hoerauf, 2001; Taylor et al., 2002), and hence considered as a novel chemotherapeutic target for anti-filarial drug development. Antibiotic therapy with doxycyclin against Wolbachia endosymbiont in animal models have shown profound effects on viability and fertility of filarial parasites and depletion of the same from worm tissues leading to block embryogenesis, resulting in sterility and death of adult worms (Haoerauf et al., 1999, 2000; Rao et al., 2002). Anti-Wolbachial therapies also reduced the severity and have shown improvement of lymphoedema and hydrocoel pathology in LF. Thus, more encouraging results have been demonstrated in clinical trials in the use of doxycyclin over conventional treatment. However, the long period of treatment and contraindication in children and during pregnancy has restricted their use in Mass Drug Administration (MDA). Characterization of novel molecules acting at parasiteendosymbiont interface is still an important strategy for anti-filarial chemotherapy tool development.