Exploiting Structural Analysis, in Silico Screening and functional variants characterization to identify novel inhibitors of cytidine deaminase

This thesis work, combining a virtual screening study for cytidine deaminase ligands with a study on the effect that genetic polymorphisms have on the enzyme functionality provide a useful base to: a) understand the mechanism of nucleoside recognition by CDA and identify novel effective inhibitors; and b) study the different properties of said inhibitors toward three distinct naturally occurring CDA variants (K27, Q27 and T70). Ultimately, this may assist the future design of novel CDA inhibitors or antitumor drugs not susceptible to deamination, with the aim to get more effective personalized drug therapies.