Biological and Chemical Physics Commons^™

The Role Of Conformational Changes In Viral And Bacterial Protein Functions, Md Lokman Hossen

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Proteins do versatile work in cells. They require a cascade of structural changes to perform different tasks like binding to the other neighboring biomolecules, transporting small chemicals, activating a chemical reaction, etc. The structural conformations of proteins can be critical in changing their working ability. In this dissertation, I investigated the role of conformational changes of viral protein, e.g., spike and envelope protein of SARS-CoV-2, and bacterial protein, e.g., multidrug transporter and toxic extrusion protein- PfMATE from Pyrococcus furiosus. Also, I performed molecular docking-based drug screening targeting the E protein to suggest a set of drugs that can be repurposed …

In Silico Identification Of Vaccine Candidates Against Viral Infections, Prabin Baral

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are many viral diseases without effective treatments or vaccines. These viruses can cause catastrophic epidemics such as the Lassa, Ebola, and Marburg viruses. Similarly, the recent coronavirus pandemic is of great concern as new variants are continuously emerging with decreased susceptibility to antibodies and vaccines that were developed for earlier strains. A critical step in the immune system’s fight against viruses involves an immunological protein molecule binding to a viral protein molecule. I investigate the atomic and molecular details of binding site recognition and binding interactions and dynamics for three important viruses.

Antigens are molecules, such as viral proteins, …