37th Annual Student Research Conference
Promazine-like Molecules as a Structural Scaffold for Treating Chronic Wasting Disease
Nicholas N. Bowen
Dr. Bill R. Miller, Faculty Mentor
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) involves normal proteins in deer brains turning into prions: misfolded proteins that interact with other normal proteins and cause the normal proteins to misfold. Eventually, prions aggregate. Misfolded proteins clump and interfere with cell organelles, killing brain cells and leading to death. In 2023, 85 cases of CWD were reported in Missouri. No treatment or cure for CWD exists currently. Since this disease has a chance of jumping to humans, it is critical to find a drug that can treat it. Molecular dynamics simulations helped model the normal proteins to help determine the cause of misfolding. Possible drug binding sites on the prion surface were found using molecular docking. Promazine was utilized as a control since the literature suggests it as a possible treatment for prion aggregation. Promazine's general structure was chosen as a scaffold and used to search for similar molecules as potential treatments.
Keywords: Prions, Brain, Chronic Wasting Disease, Molecular Dynamics, VMD, Molecular Modeling, Digital Docking, Proteins
Topic(s):Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Biology
Chemistry
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Session: 207-3
Location: MG 1000
Time: 11:00