Exploration of Carica papaya bioactive compounds as potential inhibitors of dengue NS2B, NS3 and NS5 protease

Current outbreak of dengue has shown serious health concerns in Pakistan. The present study reports the anti-dengue potential of Carica papaya natural compounds. The leaves of C. papaya have previously shown promising results in cure of Dengue fever. The aim of this project is to find specific bioactive compounds by computational screening and biological activities of C. papaya against serine NS2B, NS3 and NS5 proteases of dengue virus. Docking study resulted in the screening of nine bioactive compounds having highest docking scores. However, three compounds namely epigallocatchin, catechin and protocatechuric acid had the strongest binding affinity with the active residues i.e., Ser135, His51 and Asp75 of dengue virus serine proteases. Results also indicated that the extract of C. papaya was a strong antimicrobial and antioxidant agent. It is concluded that the C. papaya compounds can be commercially applied for medical formulations against dengue virus.