Theoretical and experimental study of polycyclic aromatic compounds as β-tubulin inhibitors

J Mol Model. 2017 Mar;23(3):85. doi: 10.1007/s00894-017-3256-5. Epub 2017 Feb 18.

Abstract

In this work, through a docking analysis of compounds from the ZINC chemical library on human β-tubulin using high performance computer cluster, we report new polycyclic aromatic compounds that bind with high energy on the colchicine binding site of β-tubulin, suggesting three new key amino acids. However, molecular dynamic analysis showed low stability in the interaction between ligand and receptor. Results were confirmed experimentally in in vitro and in vivo models that suggest that molecular dynamics simulation is the best option to find new potential β-tubulin inhibitors. Graphical abstract Bennett's acceptance ratio (BAR) method.

Keywords: Anticancer; Colchicine; Inhibitors; Virtual screening; β-Tubulin.

MeSH terms

  • Binding Sites
  • Colchicine / chemistry
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Neoplasms / genetics
  • Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / chemistry*
  • Small Molecule Libraries
  • Structure-Activity Relationship*
  • Tubulin / chemistry*
  • Tubulin Modulators / chemistry*
  • User-Computer Interface

Substances

  • Ligands
  • Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
  • Small Molecule Libraries
  • Tubulin
  • Tubulin Modulators
  • Colchicine