35th Annual Student Research Conference
Inhibition of Mutagenic Enzyme APOBEC3B Using Computational Chemistry Methods
Saul Armendariz Lobera
Dr. Bill R. Miller, Faculty Mentor
Cancer remains a leading cause of death for humans everywhere. APOBEC3B, an enzyme encoded in the human genome, is understood to exacerbate many cancers with its cytosine deaminase function. This protein causes mutations in DNA by converting cytosine nucleotides into uracil. APOBEC3B’s upregulation in tumor cells correlates with a variety of undesirable cancer developments such as recurrence, metastasis, and the development of therapy resistant tumors, and ultimately decreases durations of survival. This project screens millions of molecules for potential APOBEC3B inhibitors based on their binding affinity to the enzyme. The most promising drug candidates are then further analyzed at the atomic level using Molecular Dynamics. Preliminary results from this project have identified several potential novel cancer drugs and have the potential to accelerate the drug development process by decreasing the amount of drug candidates to test and identifying general structural properties that excel in inhibiting APOBEC3B.
Keywords: Computational Chemistry, Drug Design, Cancer, Modeling, in silico, Structural Biology
Topic(s):Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Biology
Computer Science
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Session: 106-3
Location: MG 1000
Time: 9:00