Identification of Novel Cathepsin B Inhibitors with Implications in Alzheimer’s Disease: Computational Refining and Biochemical Evaluation

Title
Identification of Novel Cathepsin B Inhibitors with Implications in Alzheimer’s Disease: Computational Refining and Biochemical Evaluation
Publication Date
2021-08
Author(s)
Chitranshi, Nitin
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6508-9865
Email: nchitran@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:nchitran
Kumar, Ashutosh
Sheriff, Samran
Gupta, Veer
Godinez, Angela
Saks, Danit
Sarkar, Soumalya
Shen, Ting
Mirzaei, Mehdi
Basavarajappa, Devaraj
Abyadeh, Morteza
Singh, Sachin K
Dua, Kamal
Zhang. Kam Y J
Graham, Stuart L
Gupta, Vivek
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
MDPI AG
Place of publication
Switzerland
DOI
10.3390/cells10081946
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/71723
Abstract

Amyloid precursor protein (APP), upon proteolytic degradation, forms aggregates of amyloid β (Aβ) and plaques in the brain, which are pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Cathepsin B is a cysteine protease enzyme that catalyzes the proteolytic degradation of APP in the brain. Thus, cathepsin B inhibition is a crucial therapeutic aspect for the discovery of new anti-Alzheimer’s drugs. In this study, we have employed mixed-feature ligand-based virtual screening (LBVS) by integrating pharmacophore mapping, docking, and molecular dynamics to detect small, potent molecules that act as cathepsin B inhibitors. The LBVS model was generated by using hydrophobic (HY), hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA), and hydrogen bond donor (HBD) features, using a dataset of 24 known cathepsin B inhibitors of both natural and synthetic origins. A validated eight-feature pharmacophore hypothesis (Hypo III) was utilized to screen the Maybridge chemical database. The docking score, MM-PBSA, and MM-GBSA methodology was applied to prioritize the lead compounds as virtual screening hits. These compounds share a common amide scaffold, and showed important interactions with Gln23, Cys29, His110, His111, Glu122, His199, and Trp221. The identified inhibitors were further evaluated for cathepsin-B-inhibitory activity. Our study suggests that pyridine, acetamide, and benzohydrazide compounds could be used as a starting point for the development of novel therapeutics.

Link
Citation
Cells, 10(8), p. 1-30
ISSN
2073-4409
Start page
1
End page
30
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International

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