Functional and Structural Characterization of Proteins Involved in Pathogenesis of Kyasanur Forest Disease and Drug Designing A computational Approach

Abstract

ABSTRACT newlineKyasanur Forest Disease (KFD), a tick-borne zoonotic viral infection, continues to be a newlinesignificant public health concern in India, with an annual incidence of 400 500 cases and newlinea mortality rate of 3 5%. First identified in 1957 on the western coast of India, the virus newlinehas progressively expanded its geographic range, further underscoring the necessity for newlineimproved preventive and therapeutic measures. The causative agent, Kyasanur Forest newlineDisease Virus (KFDV), belongs to the Flaviviridae family and possesses a single-stranded newlinepositive-sense RNA genome that encodes both structural and non-structural proteins. newlineAmong these proteins, the envelope (E), NS5, and NS1 proteins are crucial for viral newlinereplication, immune evasion, and host-cell interaction, making them prime targets for newlineantiviral drug development. Despite the existence of a formalin-inactivated whole-virus newlinevaccine, its limited efficacy and the increasing incidence of KFD underscore the urgent newlineneed for novel therapeutic solutions. newline