Melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 antagonists: Synthesis, structure–activity relationship, docking studies, and biological evaluation of 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-benzazepine derivatives

Background: Microtubules are dynamic filamentous cytoskeletal structures which play several key roles in cell proliferation and trafficking. They are supposed to contribute in the development of important therapeutic targeting tumor cells. Chalcones are important group of natural compounds abundantly found in fruits & vegetables that are known to possess anticancer activity. We have used QSAR and docking studies to understand the structural requirement of chalcones for understanding the mechanism of microtubule polymerization inhibition. Methods: Three dimensional (3D) QSAR (CoMFA and CoMSIA), pharmacophore mapping and molecular docking studies were performed for the generation of structure activity relationship of combretastatin-like chalcones through statistical models and contour maps. Results: Structure activity relationship revealed that substitution of electrostatic, steric and donor groups may enhance the biological activity of compounds as inhibitors of microtubule polymerization. From the docking study, it was clear that compounds bind at the active site of tubulin protein. Conclusion: The given strategies of modelling could be an encouraging way for designing more potent compounds as well as for the elucidation of protein-ligand interaction.

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The Psychonauts’ Benzodiazepines; Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) Analysis and Docking Prediction of Their Biological Activity

Pharmaceuticals ◽

10.3390/ph14080720 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (8) ◽

pp. 720

Author(s):

Valeria Catalani ◽

Michelle Botha ◽

John Martin Corkery ◽

Amira Guirguis ◽

Alessandro Vento ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biological Activity ◽

Computational Models ◽

Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship ◽

Structure Activity Relationship ◽

Docking Studies ◽

Health Concern ◽

Activity Relationship ◽

Quantitative Structure ◽

High Biological Activity ◽

Structure Activity

Designer benzodiazepines (DBZDs) represent a serious health concern and are increasingly reported in polydrug consumption-related fatalities. When new DBZDs are identified, very limited information is available on their pharmacodynamics. Here, computational models (i.e., quantitative structure-activity relationship/QSAR and Molecular Docking) were used to analyse DBZDs identified online by an automated web crawler (NPSfinder®) and to predict their possible activity/affinity on the gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptors (GABA-ARs). The computational software MOE was used to calculate 2D QSAR models, perform docking studies on crystallised GABA-A receptors (6HUO, 6HUP) and generate pharmacophore queries from the docking conformational results. 101 DBZDs were identified online by NPSfinder®. The validated QSAR model predicted high biological activity values for 41% of these DBDZs. These predictions were supported by the docking studies (good binding affinity) and the pharmacophore modelling confirmed the importance of the presence and location of hydrophobic and polar functions identified by QSAR. This study confirms once again the importance of web-based analysis in the assessment of drug scenarios (DBZDs), and how computational models could be used to acquire fast and reliable information on biological activity for index novel DBZDs, as preliminary data for further investigations.

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