TY - JOUR
T1 - Virtual Screening of Benzimidazole Derivatives as Potential Triose Phosphate Isomerase Inhibitors with Biological Activity against Leishmania mexicana
AU - Vázquez-Jiménez, Lenci K.
AU - Juárez-Saldivar, Alfredo
AU - Chan-Bacab, Manuel J.
AU - Delgado-Maldonado, Timoteo
AU - González-Morales, Luis D.
AU - Palos, Isidro
AU - Ortiz-Pérez, Eyra
AU - Lara-Ramírez, Edgar E.
AU - Ramírez-Moreno, Esther
AU - Rivera, Gildardo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Leishmania mexicana (L. mexicana) is a causal agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a “Neglected disease”, for which the search for new drugs is a priority. Benzimidazole is a scaffold used to develop antiparasitic drugs; therefore, it is interesting molecule against L. mexicana. In this work, a ligand-based virtual screening (LBVS) of the ZINC15 database was performed. Subsequently, molecular docking was used to predict the compounds with potential binding at the dimer interface of triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) of L. mexicana (LmTIM). Compounds were selected on binding patterns, cost, and commercial availability for in vitro assays against L. mexicana blood promastigotes. The compounds were analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation on LmTIM and its homologous human TIM. Finally, the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties were determined in silico. A total of 175 molecules with docking scores between −10.8 and −9.0 Kcal/mol were obtained. Compound E2 showed the best leishmanicidal activity (IC50 = 4.04 µM) with a value similar to the reference drug pentamidine (IC50 = 2.23 µM). Molecular dynamics analysis predicted low affinity for human TIM. Furthermore, the pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties of the compounds were suitable for developing new leishmanicidal agents.
AB - Leishmania mexicana (L. mexicana) is a causal agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a “Neglected disease”, for which the search for new drugs is a priority. Benzimidazole is a scaffold used to develop antiparasitic drugs; therefore, it is interesting molecule against L. mexicana. In this work, a ligand-based virtual screening (LBVS) of the ZINC15 database was performed. Subsequently, molecular docking was used to predict the compounds with potential binding at the dimer interface of triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) of L. mexicana (LmTIM). Compounds were selected on binding patterns, cost, and commercial availability for in vitro assays against L. mexicana blood promastigotes. The compounds were analyzed by molecular dynamics simulation on LmTIM and its homologous human TIM. Finally, the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties were determined in silico. A total of 175 molecules with docking scores between −10.8 and −9.0 Kcal/mol were obtained. Compound E2 showed the best leishmanicidal activity (IC50 = 4.04 µM) with a value similar to the reference drug pentamidine (IC50 = 2.23 µM). Molecular dynamics analysis predicted low affinity for human TIM. Furthermore, the pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties of the compounds were suitable for developing new leishmanicidal agents.
KW - Leishmania mexicana
KW - benzimidazole
KW - molecular docking
KW - triosephosphate isomerase
KW - virtual screening
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85152422569&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ph16030390
DO - 10.3390/ph16030390
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 36986489
AN - SCOPUS:85152422569
SN - 1424-8247
VL - 16
JO - Pharmaceuticals
JF - Pharmaceuticals
IS - 3
M1 - 390
ER -