IN-SILICO DOCKING OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS DERIVED FROM CASSIA AURICULATA FLOWER EXTRACT AGAINST NS2B-NS3 PROTEASE OF DENGUE VIRUS

Dengue is a fatal disease connected to the environment that spreads rapidly. As there is currently no effective vaccine against dengue and no exact treatment for the disease, controlling and preventing dengue fever outbreaks are essential steps for keeping people healthy. Dengue viruses are a member of the Flaviviridae family, mosquito-borne, and causative agents for dengue fever. Bioactive compounds obtained from natural products, including medicinal plants, are a potentially good target to control infections. Thus the current study was designed to find potential phytochemical inhibitors against the Dengue virus NS2B/NS3 protease, which can inhibit the viral replication and control the dengue vector Aedes aegypti.  Larvicidal, functional group analysis (FTIR), and molecular docking studies results revealed that the bioactive compounds from the medicinal plant flower extract Cassia auriculata showed high inhibitory activity against the dengue protease enzyme NS2B-NS3 and Aedes aegypti vector. Out of fifteen compounds identified from GCMS, five compounds showed high inhibitory activity against the protease 2FOM in the docking analysis. The main antiviral approach of plant compounds comprises the inhibition of the dengue viral enzyme activity; therefore, controlling virus replication by these antiviral compounds were studied by computational tools. These findings conclude that the combination of selected compounds may serve as antiviral drugs for dengue infections.