Anti-mycobacterial compound from an endangered medicinal plant Curcuma aeruginosa and identification of its probable targets using in silico method

Due to the development of multi-drug resistance, tuberculosis, a re-emerged deadly disease demands novel therapeutics. In the present study, antimycobacterial phytochemicals were screened from medicinally and traditionally valued plants. Plants were extracted with different solvents and growth inhibition potential of the extract was evaluated against Mycobacterium smegmatis, an often used model in tubercular studies. The ethyl acetate fraction of Curcuma aeruginosa was found to inhibit the growth of the organism and hence it was further purified. The LC-MS characterisation of the extract showed that the active compound might be curcumenone. To identify the possible targets, in silico docking studies were carried out against ten selected enzymes, involved in the pathways of cell wall formation, mycolic acid, nucleic acid and amino acid synthesis and energy metabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.