@article{article_1388403, title={In silico Evaluation of the Potential of Natural Products from Chili Pepper as Antiviral Agents Against Dna-Directed Rna Polymerase of the Monkeypox Virus}, journal={Bitlis Eren Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi}, volume={13}, pages={277–291}, year={2024}, DOI={10.17798/bitlisfen.1388403}, author={Fidan, Özkan and Mujwar, Somdutt}, keywords={Antiviral agents, Alpha-amyrin, Chili pepper, Monkeypox virus, Virtual screening}, abstract={This study focused on the discovery of new drug candidates effective against the monkeypox virus. Virtual screening was performed to evaluate the potential of chili pepper natural products against homology-modeled DNA-directed RNA polymerase of the monkeypox virus using molecular docking. Our findings revealed that structurally similar triterpenes such as α-amyrin, β-amyrin, and β-sitosterol had strong binding affinities towards the DNA-directed RNA polymerase and can inhibit this pivotal viral enzyme. The stability of one of the drug candidate molecules, α-amyrin with the strongest binding affinity towards the binding cavity of the enzyme was also confirmed via molecular dynamics simulation. This study showed that α-amyrin is a promising DNA-directed RNA polymerase inhibitor to treat monkeypox disease. It also paves the way for the idea of the potential dietary supplement candidate for monkeypox patients.}, number={1}, publisher={Bitlis Eren University}