Elucidating the molecular-level interactions of RuBisCO and NSAIDs: new insights on plant-contaminant interaction for reducing plant stress

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the FDA-approved, most widely used class of medications for pain relief, antipyretics, anti-inflammatories, and analgesic agents across the world. There are numerous reports on the widespread availability of these NSAIDs in different environmental compartments. Phytoremediation is gaining much importance due to its eco-friendly, cost-effective, and sustainable ways of removing NSAIDs. The efficiency of the removal of the contaminants can be further improved by enhancing plant-microbe interaction. By unraveling the pathway of interaction, movement, and absorption of NSAIDs by green plants, the efficiency of NSAID removal can be further increased. Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBisCO) is essential for photosynthesis and aids in fixing atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic molecules. The docking of NSAIDs with RuBisCO was used to identify the potential binding sites and interaction patterns that indicate the plant stress and the recovery response, rather than a direct role in nano-phytoremediation. This study investigates the plant-based remediation of NSAIDs, focusing on their theoretical binding interaction with the RuBisCO enzyme using an in silico docking technique. Before conducting experimental validation, this paper provides an initial assessment of the phytoremediation potential to optimize the phytoremediation strategy for sustainable environmental management.