Bioinformatics Tools for the Analysis of Active Compounds Identified in Ranunculaceae Species

Isolation of phytoconstituents from an extract of Murraya paniculata with cytotoxicity and antioxidant activities and in silico evaluation of their potential to bind to aldose reductase (AKR1B1)

The study on Murraya paniculata (Orange Jasmine) stem bark extract found it to have antioxidant and cytotoxic proper-ties. The structures of the isolated phytoconstituents were determined using NMR spectroscopy. Compounds were evaluated for their potential to be aldose reductase inhibitors using molecular docking and dynamics (MD) simulations. Phytochemical screening of methanolic crude extract was performed from which different fractions of the extract were screened for antioxidant activity using the DPPH radical scavenging method and cytotoxicity using the brine shrimp lethality bioassay. The aqueous fraction showed strong antioxidant activity as compared to the standard butylated hy-droxytoluene, whereas pet ether, dichloromethane, chloroform and methanolic extract exhibited moderate antioxidant activity. Activities in the DPPH assay ranged from 17 to 63 µg/ml and all fractions showed cytotoxic activity. Five identified phytochemical compounds (1-5) include ergosterol endoperoxide (1), the coumarin derivatives 7-methoxy-8-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)-1-benzopyran-2-one (2) and 5,7-dimethoxy-8-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)-1-benzopyran-2-one (3) and a mixture of β-sitosterol (4), and stigmasterol (5). Among them ergosterol endoperoxide has been isolated from the stem bark of the M. paniculata for the first time. MD simulations of the identified compounds indicated their potential to bind to the aldose reductase (AKR1B1) protein. Predicted binding affinities of the compounds based on the site identification the ligand competitive saturation (SILCS) technology was -15.04, -8.85, -9.83, -11.95, and -11.75 kcal/mol for 1 through 5, respectively. The present results are anticipated to lead to further study of the activities of the five compounds including experimental evaluation of their inter-actions with AKR1B1.

Molecular Docking Analysis of Selected Urtica dioica Constituents As Human Carbonic Anhydrase II (hCA-II), Human 11 Beta-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases Type 1 (h11beta-HSD1), and Human Dual Specificity Phosphatase (hCDC25B) Inhibitory Agents

Background Urtica dioica (Stinging nettle)has been reported to exhibit various pharmacological activities. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate 24 selected constituents of U. dioica as potent inhibitory agents of human carbonic anhydrase II (hCA-II), human 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases type 1 (h11beta-HSD1), and human dual specificity phosphatase (hCDC25B) using in silico method. Methodology The 24 selected constituents of U. dioica (Stinging nettle) were studied on the docking behavior of hCA-II, h11beta-HSD1, and hCDC25B by using the Webina docking method. In addition to docking, toxicity analysis was also performed using the pkCSM free web server, respectively. Results Toxicity analysis has shown that six ligands (25%) of U. dioica (Stinging nettle) are predicted to have hERG II (Human ether-a-go-go-related gene) inhibition activity. The docking analysis showed that afzelin, stigmastane-3, 6-diol, and astragalin of U. dioica have shown the maximum binding energy (-7.2, -9.5, and -8.5 kcal/mol) with the hCA-II, h11beta-HSD1 and hCDC25B, respectively. Conclusions Thus, the current finding provides new knowledge about the 24 selected ligands of U. dioica (Stinging nettle) as potent inhibitory agents of human carbonic anhydrase II (hCA-II), human 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases type 1 (h11beta-HSD1) and human dual specificity phosphatase (hCDC25B).