Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a mortal viral infection. Human beings become infected through tick bites, or by contact with blood or tissues from viraemic livestock. Recent studies suggest that ribavirin is effective against CCHF, although the efficaciousness of ribavirin in the treatment of CCHF has not yet been demonstrated conclusively. The protective effects of lactoferrin (LF) against common viral infections have been demonstrated in several studies. This glycoprotein is one of the innate immune system components with broad range of antimicrobial activates comprising antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and anti-cancer actions. LF prevents entry of virus in the host cell, either by blocking cellular receptors, or by direct binding to the virus protein. A comprehensive study comparing anti-CCHFV properties of LFs derived from different origins has not been yet conducted. In the current study, in silico evaluation of antiviral effects of LF from different species against CCHFV was evaluated by a protein-protein docking approach. The crystal structures of human, horse, cattle, goat, buffalo and camel LF were retrieved from the uniprot, and the protein structure of sheep and zebo cattle LF were predicted. The crystal structures of CCHF virus envelopment polyprotein Gn and Gc were retrieved from the protein data bank, then the pdb files prepared for docking calculation. Autodock 4.2.6 was used for protein docking. Results showed that the N- and C-lobe fragments and the full-length of LF had effective anti CCHFV activities. Buffalo LF showed the highest binding energy among studied species and the lowest energy belonged to cattle LF.

Keywords