2.1.1 Rv2615c is an antigenic protein predicted to be involved in host cell death pathways
Vaxijen 2.0 server predicted Rv2615c to be a probable antigen with high score of 1.73. 5 models were generated for secondary structure prediction using I-TASSER server which were further subjected for energy minimization in Chiron server. Model 1 was selected based on the C score of -3.06 in I-TASSER. Ramachandran plot for Model 1 showed 97.5% residues were present in favoured and generously allowed region while only 2.5% residues were present in disallowed region. Errat score was 86.67 for Model 1 and Verify3D score was 81.13.
I-TASSER predictions related to functional role strongly pointed the involvement of Rv2615c in host cell death pathways. Three top predicted structural analogs and Gene ontology templates for Rv2615c were those of Apoptosome complex (PDB ID: 5JUL, 3IZ8, 1VT4) and Apoptosome-ProCaspase9 CARD complex (PDB ID: 3IYT, 3IZA). Consensus GO terms for biological process and molecular functions were – GO: 0006917 (apoptotic process) and GO: 006919, GO: 0043028, GO: 0016505 (apoptotic process involved in activation of cysteine type endo-peptidase activity).