Current drug discovery involves finding leading drug candidates for further development. New scientific approaches include molecular docking, ADMET studies, and molecular dynamic simulation to determine targets and lead compounds. Hepatitis B is a disease of concern that is a life-threatening liver infection. The protein considered for the study was HBx. The hepatitis B X-interacting protein crystal structure was obtained from the PDB database (PDB ID-3MSH). Twenty ligands were chosen from the PubChem database for further in silico studies. The present study focused on in silico molecular docking studies using iGEMDOCK. The triethylene glycol monoethyl ether derivative showed an optimum binding affinity with the molecular target HBx, with a high negative affinity binding energy of -59.02 kcal/mol. Lipinski's rule of five, Veber, and Ghose were followed in subsequent ADMET studies. Molecular dynamic simulation was performed to confirm the docking studies and to analyze the stability of the structure. In these respects, the triethylene glycol monoethyl ether derivative may be a promising molecule to prepare future hepatitis B drug candidates. Substantial research effort to find a promising drug for hepatitis B is warranted in the future.
Keywords: ADMET; HBx protein; MD simulation; binding energy; hepatitis B virus; iGEMDOCK; molecular docking.