Virtual screen of effective AChE inhibitory constituents from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma based on pharmacophore and molecular docking / 中国中药杂志

This research is to predict anti-Alzheimer's disease active constituents on the target of acetylcholinesterase(AChE) from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma with the help of pharmacophore and molecular docking. AChE ligand-based pharmacophore model was set up and the molecular library of the constituents from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma were established by collecting literature. Then the constituents from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma were screen for the potential AChE inhibitory potency in silico through matching with the best pharmacophore model. The flexible docking was used to evaluate the interactions between compounds screened from pharmacophore model and AChE protein(PDB ID:4 EY7). The interactions were expressed including but not limited to CDOCKER interaction energy, hydrogen bonds and non-bonding interactions. The molecular library of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma contains 44 chemical constituents. As for the pharmacophore model, six kinds of potential AChE inhibitory constituents from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma were considered to be the promising compounds according to the results of searching 3 D database of pharmacophore model. The molecular docking was possessed and the interaction patterns were given to show the detail interactions. The compounds screening from the pharmacophore model were consistent with the existing studies to some degree, indicating that the virtual screen protocols of AChE inhibitory constituents from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma based on pharmacophore and molecular docking was reliable.

Protection of neurons in vitro and improvement of learning and memory in mice by 2-phenoxy-indan-1-one derivatives / 中国药理学通报

Aim To study the effect of novel AChE inhibitors, 2-phenoxy-indan-1-one derivatives (YKY-1~7), against glutamatic acid-induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells and on learning & memory impairment in dementia model mice induced by A?25~35 icv Methods The PC12 cells were preincubated with different concentrations of YKY-1~7 for 24 h and subsequently treated by glutamatic acid, at the high concentration of 2 mmol?L-1 for 15 min to induce cytotoxicity. The cell viability was assessed with MTT method.. Dementia model mice were made by intracerebroventricular injection (icv) of aggregated A?25~35. From the next day, the model mice were administered YKY-7 (2.5, 5, 10 mg?kg-1, ig) for 10 consecutive days and sham control mice or A? model control mice received daily ig saline. After the final treatment, the passive avoidance learning was tested, regional cerebral blood flow at cerebral cortex was assessed, and the activity of AChE in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and blood serum were determined. Results Six out of the seven YKY compounds appeared to be effective against glutamatic acid-induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells, with YKY-7 demonstrating the most activity. YKY-7 significantly ameliorated the learning and memory ability in dementia model mice induced by A?25-35 icv, slightly and selectively inhibited the cortical and hippocampal AChE, and gently increased the blood flow at cerebral cortex. Conclusion Some of 2-phenoxy-indan-1-one derivatives reported here have protective effects against glutamatic acid induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells, and improve the learning and memory impairment induced by A?25-35, which may be partly attributable to its selective inhibition of AChE activity in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus.