Dergiler / Black Sea Journal of Engineering and Science / 2026 / Cilt: 8 Sayı: 3

In Silico Exploration of Plant Extracts as Ache Inhibitors: Insights from Molecular Dynamics and Mm/Gbsa Analysis for Alzheimer's Drug Development

Barış Kurt(muş alparslan üniversitesi)0000-0002-1406-0915
Ayşe Baran(MARDIN ARTUKLU UNIVERSITY)0000-0002-2317-0489
Sayfa
715–728
Yayın Tarihi
2025-05-15
🏛️Bu makalenin bibliyografik verileri ve tam metin bağlantısı DergiPark üzerinden sağlanmıştır.
DergiPark Kaydı ↗
✨

Yapay Zeka Hızlı Bakış & Çıkarımlar

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(1 Cümlede Hızlı Çıkarım)

Furthermore, physostigmine's property of increasing enzyme flexibility offers a new perspective in drug design and indicates that the role of this feature in therapeutic efficacy needs to be examined in more detail.

📌 3 Maddede Bu Makale

🎯
Amaç & Hipotez:Alzheimer's disease is a long-term neurological disorder that affects memory and other cognitive abilities.
📊
Temel Bulgular & Veri:In this study, 34 phytochemicals detected through LC-MS/MS analysis of 13 plant species were investigated as potential alternative drug candidates to physostigmine.
💡
Sonuç & Katkı:Furthermore, physostigmine's property of increasing enzyme flexibility offers a new perspective in drug design and indicates that the role of this feature in therapeutic efficacy needs to be examined in more detail.
🔬Tür:Araştırma Makalesi
📍Kapsam:Genişletilmiş Akademik Örneklem
⚙️Değişkenler:Medicinal plants · MM/GBSA · In silico

Özet

Alzheimer's disease is a long-term neurological disorder that affects memory and other cognitive abilities. Physostigmine is a drug still used in treating symptoms associated with this disease, with its primary mechanism of action being AChE inhibition. AChE plays a crucial role in cholinergic neurotransmission, and its inhibition has been linked to the improvement of symptoms in Alzheimer's disease. In this study, 34 phytochemicals detected through LC-MS/MS analysis of 13 plant species were investigated as potential alternative drug candidates to physostigmine. For this purpose, docking studies followed by molecular dynamics simulations and MM/GBSA energy calculations were performed. The results revealed that 24 out of 34 phytochemicals were either very close to physostigmine (MM/GBSA binding affinity: -26.102 kcal/mol) or better AChE inhibitors. Additionally, it was determined that physostigmine increased the flexibility of the molecule when bound to the AChE enzyme, a unique result compared to our drug candidates. Our research emphasizes the potential of plant-derived compounds as AChE inhibitors and presents promising candidates for future drug development studies. Furthermore, physostigmine's property of increasing enzyme flexibility offers a new perspective in drug design and indicates that the role of this feature in therapeutic efficacy needs to be examined in more detail.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a long-term neurological disorder that affects memory and other cognitive abilities. Physostigmine is a drug still used in treating symptoms associated with this disease, with its primary mechanism of action being AChE inhibition. AChE plays a crucial role in cholinergic neurotransmission, and its inhibition has been linked to the improvement of symptoms in Alzheimer's disease. In this study, 34 phytochemicals detected through LC-MS/MS analysis of 13 plant species were investigated as potential alternative drug candidates to physostigmine. For this purpose, docking studies followed by molecular dynamics simulations and MM/GBSA energy calculations were performed. The results revealed that 24 out of 34 phytochemicals were either very close to physostigmine (MM/GBSA binding affinity: -26.102 kcal/mol) or better AChE inhibitors. Additionally, it was determined that physostigmine increased the flexibility of the molecule when bound to the AChE enzyme, a unique result compared to our drug candidates. Our research emphasizes the potential of plant-derived compounds as AChE inhibitors and presents promising candidates for future drug development studies. Furthermore, physostigmine's property of increasing enzyme flexibility offers a new perspective in drug design and indicates that the role of this feature in therapeutic efficacy needs to be examined in more detail.

🔖

Bu Makaleye Atıf Yap

Kurt, B., Evcil, M., Baran, A. (2025). In Silico Exploration of Plant Extracts as Ache Inhibitors: Insights from Molecular Dynamics and Mm/Gbsa Analysis for Alzheimer's Drug Development. Black Sea Journal of Engineering and Science, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 3, 715–728. https://doi.org/10.34248/bsengineering.1640219

📄 Tam Metin PDF Okuyucu

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

Kaynakça (32)

  1. Baran MF, Keskin C, Baran A, Eftekhari A, Omarova S, Khalilov R, Atalar MN. 2023. The investigation of the chemical composition and applicability of gold nanoparticles synthesized with Amygdalus communis (almond) leaf aqueous extract as antimicrobial and anticancer agents. Molecules, 28(6): 2428. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28062428
  2. Benfante R, Di Lascio S, Cardani S, Fornasari D. 2021. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors targeting the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway: a new therapeutic perspective in aging-related disorders. Aging Clin Exp Res, 33(4): 823-834. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-019-01359-4
  3. Berman HM. 2000. The protein data bank. Nucleic Acids Res, 28(1): 235-242. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/28.1.235.
  4. BIOVIA, 2019. Discovery studio visualizer. Dassault Systèmes, San Diego, CA, USA, pp:152.
  5. Bortolami M, Rocco D, Messore A, Di Santo R, Costi R, Madia VN, Pandolfi F. 2021. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease - a patent review (2016-present). Expert Opin Ther Pat, 31(5): 399-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/13543776.2021.1874344
  6. Case DA, Aktulga HM, Belfon K, Ben-Shalom IY, Berryman JT, Brozell SR, Xiong Y. 2023. AMBER 2023. University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA, pp: 32.
  7. Coelho Filho JM, Birks J. 2001. Physostigmine for dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2001(2): CD001499. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD001499
  8. Dorronsoro I, Castro A, Martinez A. 2003. Peripheral and dual binding site inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase as neurodegenerative disease modifying agents. Expert Opin Ther Pat, 13(11): 1725-1732. https://doi.org/10.1517/13543776.13.11.1725
  9. Eastman P, Swails J, Chodera JD, McGibbon RT, Zhao Y, Beauchamp KA, Pande VS. 2017. OpenMM 7: rapid development of high performance algorithms for molecular dynamics. PLoS Comput Biol, 13(7): e1005659. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005659
  10. Eberhardt J, Santos-Martins D, Tillack AF, Forli S. 2021. AutoDock Vina 1.2.0: new docking methods, expanded force field, and Python bindings. J Chem Inf Model, 61(8): 3891-3898. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00203
  11. Groom CR, Bruno IJ, Lightfoot MP, Ward SC. 2016. The Cambridge structural database. Acta Crystallogr B, 72(2): 171-179. https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052520616003954
  12. Hampel H, Mesulam MM, Cuello AC, Farlow MR, Giacobini E, Grossberg GT, Khachaturian ZS. 2018. The cholinergic system in the pathophysiology and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Brain, 141(7): 1917-1933. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awy132
  13. Hopkins CW, Le Grand S, Walker RC, Roitberg AE. 2015. Long-time-step molecular dynamics through hydrogen mass repartitioning. J Chem Theory Comput, 11(4): 1864-1874. https://doi.org/10.1021/ct5010406
  14. Howes MR, Perry NSL, Houghton PJ. 2003. Plants with traditional uses and activities, relevant to the management of Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive disorders. Phytother Res, 17(1): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.1280
  15. Huang L, Su T, Li X. 2013. Natural products as sources of new lead compounds for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Top Med Chem, 13(15): 1864-1878. https://doi.org/10.2174/15680266113139990142
  16. Jenike MA, Albert M, Baer L, Gunther J. 1990. Oral physostigmine as treatment for primary degenerative dementia: a double-blind placebo-controlled inpatient trial. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol, 3(1): 13-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/089198879000300104
  17. Kabir MT, Uddin MS, Begum MM, Thangapandiyan S, Rahman MS, Aleya L, Ashraf GM. 2019. Cholinesterase inhibitors for Alzheimer’s disease: multitargeting strategy based on anti-Alzheimer’s drugs repositioning. Curr Pharm Des, 25(33): 3519-3535. https://doi.org/10.2174/1381612825666191008103141
  18. Kurt B. 2022. Investigation of the potential inhibitor effects of lycorine on SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) using molecular dynamics simulations and MMPBSA. Int J Life Sci Biotechnol, 5(3): 424-435. https://doi.org/10.38001/ijlsb.1110761
  19. Kurt B, Temel H, Atlan M, Kaya S. 2020. Synthesis, characterization, DNA interaction and docking studies of novel Schiff base ligand derived from 2,6-diaminopyridine and its complexes. J Mol Struct, 1209: 127928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2020.127928
  20. Lustoza Rodrigues TCM, de Sousa NF, dos Santos AMF, Aires Guimarães RD, Scotti MT, Scotti L. 2023. Challenges and discoveries in polypharmacology of neurodegenerative diseases. Curr Top Med Chem, 23(5): 349-370. https://doi.org/10.2174/1568026623666230126112628
  21. Mantegazza R, Vanoli F, Frangiamore R, Cavalcante P. 2020. Complement inhibition for the treatment of myasthenia gravis. Immunotargets Ther, 9: 317-331. https://doi.org/10.2147/ITT.S261414
  22. Morris GM, Huey R, Lindstrom W, Sanner MF, Belew RK, Goodsell DS, Olson AJ. 2009. AutoDock4 and AutoDockTools4: automated docking with selective receptor flexibility. J Comput Chem, 30(16): 2785-2791. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcc.21256
  23. Mukherjee PK, Kumar V, Mal M, Houghton PJ. 2007. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from plants. Phytomedicine, 14(4): 289-300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2007.02.002
  24. Murray A, Faraoni M, Castro M, Alza N, Cavallaro V. 2013. Natural AChE inhibitors from plants and their contribution to Alzheimer’s disease therapy. Curr Neuropharmacol, 11(4): 388-413. https://doi.org/10.2174/1570159X11311040004
  25. Pence HE, Williams A. 2010. ChemSpider: an online chemical information resource. J Chem Educ, 87(11): 1123-1124. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed100697w
  26. Pettersen EF, Goddard TD, Huang CC, Couch GS, Greenblatt DM, Meng EC, Ferrin TE. 2004. UCSF Chimera: a visualization system for exploratory research and analysis. J Comput Chem, 25(13): 1605-1612. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcc.20084
  27. Punga AR, Stålberg E. 2009. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in MG: to be or not to be? Muscle Nerve, 39(6): 724-728. https://doi.org/10.1002/mus.21319
  28. Ranjan N, Kumari M. 2017. Acetylcholinesterase inhibition by medicinal plants: a review. Ann Plant Sci, 6(6): 1640. https://doi.org/10.21746/aps.2017.06.003
  29. Reale M, Costantini E. 2021. Cholinergic modulation of the immune system in neuroinflammatory diseases. Diseases, 9(2): 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases9020029
  30. Thal LJ, Fuld PA, Masur DM, Sharpless NS. 1983. Oral physostigmine and lecithin improve memory in Alzheimer disease. Ann Neurol, 13(5): 491-496. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.410130504
  31. Walczak-Nowicka ŁJ, Herbet M. 2021. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and the role of acetylcholinesterase in their pathogenesis. Int J Mol Sci, 22(17): 9290. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22179290
  32. Zimmerman G, Soreq H. 2006. Termination and beyond: acetylcholinesterase as a modulator of synaptic transmission. Cell Tissue Res, 326(2): 655-669. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-006-0239-8