Discovery of Potential Inhibitors of Aldosterone Synthase from Chinese Herbs Using Pharmacophore Modeling, Molecular Docking, and Molecular Dynamics Simulation Studies

Biomed Res Int. 2016:2016:4182595. doi: 10.1155/2016/4182595. Epub 2016 Oct 3.

Abstract

Aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) is a key enzyme for the biosynthesis of aldosterone, which plays a significant role for the regulation of blood pressure. Excess aldosterone can cause the dysregulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and lead to hypertension. Therefore, research and development of CYP11B2 inhibitor are regarded as a novel approach for the treatment of hypertension. In this study, the pharmacophore models of CYP11B2 inhibitors were generated and the optimal model was used to identify potential CYP11B2 inhibitors from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Database (TCMD, Version 2009). The hits were further refined by molecular docking and the interactions between compounds and CYP11B2 were analyzed. Compounds with high Fitvalue, high docking score, and expected interactions with key residues were selected as potential CYP11B2 inhibitors. Two most promising compounds, ethyl caffeate and labiatenic acid, with high Fitvalue and docking score were reserved for molecular dynamics (MD) study. All of them have stability of ligand binding which suggested that they might perform the inhibitory effect on CYP11B2. This study provided candidates for novel drug-like CYP11B2 inhibitors by molecular simulation methods for the hypertension treatment.

MeSH terms

  • Aldosterone / biosynthesis
  • Aldosterone / chemistry
  • Binding Sites
  • Caffeic Acids / chemistry
  • Caffeic Acids / pharmacology
  • Cytochrome P-450 CYP11B2 / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Cytochrome P-450 CYP11B2 / chemistry*
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal / chemistry*
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal / pharmacology
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / chemistry*
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Medicine, Chinese Traditional
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Protein Binding

Substances

  • Caffeic Acids
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Ligands
  • Aldosterone
  • ethyl caffeate
  • Cytochrome P-450 CYP11B2