Abstract

ANALYSIS OF TARGETED DELIVERY OF RIBAVIRIN TO HEPATIC CELLS IN TREATMENT OF HEPATO-CELLULAR CARCINOMA

*Karthick Jayaraman, Praveen Kumar Posa Krishnamoorthy, Posa Krishnamoorthy

ABSTRACT

The study is to analyse computationally, the Lipid Bilayer Nano- Particles or liposomes mediated, targeted delivery of Ribavirin, a drug used primarily in the treatment of Cholangiocarcinoma, a Hepatomal disease mainly caused due to infection by liver flukes or by mutation in epithelial cells. For In-Silico binding studies, 5 different liposomes are selected and their properties are studied. Based on the feasibility of the drug-liposome binding that is examined by using MD Simulations, those that meet the criteria for targeted drug delivery are chosen and the Binding Aminoacid interactions with the drug and the lipid nanoparticles are determined. It was seen that the best drug binding affinity is shown for 1, 2 -Distearoyl- sn -glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC) liposome. Then Liver Receptors, specific to cholesterol and sterol metabolism are chosen for Binding studies with the above mentioned liposome (capsulated with the drug) docked using LigandFit and screened primarily through dock scores using Ligscore module in Discovery Studio. The study revealed that SREBP-1 Liver Receptor has a greater efficiency in binding with the drug-liposome complex and hence can be adjudged to be most suited for targeted drug delivery experiments.

Keywords: Liposomes, Ribavirin, Binding, Receptors, Docking.