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Abstract Based on a structural family of thirty-two NR2B-selective N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonists, two phenylpiperazine derivatives labeled C37 and C39 were conceived thanks to molecular modeling techniques, as novel NMDAR inhibitors exhibiting the highest analgesic activities (of pIC50 order) against neuropathic pain, with excellent ADME-toxicity profiles, and good levels of molecular stability towards the targeted protein of NMDA receptor. Initially, the quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) models were developed using multiple linear regression (MLR), partial least square regression (PLSR), multiple non-linear regression (MNLR), and artificial neural network (ANN) techniques, revealing that analgesic activity was strongly correlated with dipole moment, octanol/water partition coefficient, Oxygen mass percentage, electronegativity, and energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, whose the correlation coefficients of generated models were: 0.860, 0.758, 0.885 and 0.977, respectively. The predictive capacity of each model was evaluated by an external validation with correlation coefficients of 0.703, 0.851, 0.778, and 0.981 respectively, followed by a cross-validation technique with the leave-one-out procedure (CVLOO) with Q2 cv of 0.785, more than Y-randomization test, and applicability domain (AD), in addition to Fisher’s and Student’s statistical tests. Thereafter, ten novel molecules were designed based on MLR QSAR model, then predicted with their ADME-Toxicity profiles and subsequently examined for their similarity to the drug candidates. Finally, two of the most active compounds (C37 and C39) were chosen for molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) investigations during 100 ns of MD simulation time in complex with the targeted protein of NMDA receptor (5EWJ.pdb).

Introduction:Coriandrum sativum L. essential oil (CS-EO) is being evaluated in vitro for its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, and its volatile compounds are to be identified as part of this exploratory study.Methods: The processes underlying the in vitro biological properties were explained using in silico simulations, including drug-likeness prediction, molecular docking, and pharmacokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity—ADMET). Chemical screening of CS-EO was conducted using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Five in vitro complementary techniques were used to assess the antioxidant activity of CS-EO: reducing power (RP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azinobis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity, β-Carotene bleaching test (BCBT), and phosphomolybdenum assay (TAC).Results: According to GC-MS analysis, linalool (59.04%), γ-Terpinene (13.02%), and α-Pinene (6.83%) are the main constituents of CS-EO. Based on the in vitro antioxidant assay results, CS-EO has been found to have a superior antioxidant profile. Its estimated scavenging rates for ABTS+ are 0.51 ± 0.04 mg/mL, BCBT is 9.02 ± 0.01 mg/mL, and CS-EO is 1.52 ± 0.14 mg/mL. C. sativum demonstrated 6.13 ± 0.00 μg/mL for reducing power and 213.44 ± 0.45 mg AAE/mL for total antioxidant activity. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of CS-EO was assessed against five strains, including two gram-positive bacteria, two gram-negative bacteria, and one fungal strain (Candida albicans). Significant antibacterial and antifungal activities against all strains were found using the disc-diffusion assay, with zones of inhibition larger than 15 mm. The microdilution test highlighted the lowest MIC and MBC values with gram-positive bacteria, ranging from 0.0612 to 0.125% v/v for MIC and 0.125% v/v for MBC. The fungal strain’s MFC was 1.0% v/v and its MIC was measured at 0.5%. Based on the MBC/MIC and MFC/MIC ratios, CS-EO exhibits bactericidal and fungicidal activity. The ADMET study indicates that the primary CS-EO compounds are good candidates for the development of pharmaceutical drugs due to their favorable pharmacokinetic properties.Conclusion: These results point to a potential application of this plant as a natural remedy and offer empirical backing for its traditional uses. It is a promising environmentally friendly preservative that can be used extensively in the food and agricultural industries to prevent aflatoxin contamination and fungal growth in stored goods.

This study focused on developing new inhibitors for the MCF-7 cell line to contribute to our understanding of breast cancer biology and various experimental techniques. 3D QSAR modeling was used to design new tetrahydrobenzo[4, 5]thieno[2, 3-d]pyrimidine derivatives with good characteristics. Two robust 3D-QSAR models were developed, and their predictive capacities were confirmed through high correlations [CoMFA (Q2 = 0.62, R2 = 0.90) and CoMSIA (Q2 = 0.71, R2 = 0.88)] via external validations (R2ext = 0.90 and R2ext = 0.91, respectively). These successful evaluations confirm the potential of the models to provide reliable predictions. Six candidate inhibitors were discovered, and two new inhibitors were developed in silico using computational methods. The ADME-Tox properties and pharmacokinetic characteristics of the new derivatives were evaluated carefully. The interactions between the new tetrahydrobenzo[4, 5]thieno[2, 3-d]pyrimidine derivatives and the protein ERα (PDB code: 4XO6) were highlighted by molecular docking. Additionally, MM/GBSA calculations and molecular dynamics simulations provided interesting information on the binding stabilities between the complexes. The pharmaceutical characteristics, interactions with protein, and stabilities of the inhibitors were examined using various methods, including molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations over 100 ns, binding free energy calculations, and ADME-Tox predictions, and compared with the FDA-approved drug capivasertib. The findings indicate that the inhibitors exhibit significant binding affinities, robust stabilities, and desirable pharmaceutical characteristics. These newly developed compounds, which act as inhibitors to mitigate breast cancer, therefore possess considerable potential as prospective drug candidates.

This study presents the composition analysis of essential oils extracted from celery seeds (Apium graveolens L.) collected from Morocco. Essential oil of A. graveolens (AG-EO), were obtained through microwave-assisted hydro-distillation, and its composition was characterized using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). antimicrobial properties were assessed utilizing disc diffusion and microdilution assay methods, while antioxidant activities were evaluated through spectrophotometric techniques. Additionally, in vivo anti-inflammatory effects were investigated. The molecular docking technique, a computational approach utilized to predict the binding of small molecules to specific proteins, was employed to elucidate the antioxidative and antibacterial characteristics of the constituent molecules. The physicochemical and pharmacokinetic features of absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADME-Tox) tests were anticipated to provide insights into the drug likeness, pharmacokinetic characteristics, and expected safety profiles upon ingestion and the potential pharmacological activity of the identified compounds. Fifteen constituent compounds representing 99.99% of AG-EO were identified and quantified by the use of GC/MS. The main constituent, comprising 64.58% of AG-EO was limonene. AG-EO demonstrated a significant DPPH free radical scavenging activity, showing estimated scavenging rates of 8.49±0.00 µg/mL, and 5.09±0.04 µg/mL for ABTS+. AG-EO exhibited reducing Power (RP) and total antioxidant activity (TAC) of 3.42±0.01 µg/mL and 245.93±0.04 mg AAE/mL, respectively. AG-EO exhibited significant antimicrobial activity against all tested microorganisms. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory activity demonstrated the remarkable efficacy of AG-EO. Taken together, the essential oil derived from celery seeds holds promise for large-scale utilization as an environmentally friendly preservative within the food and agriculture industries, effectively countering fungal growth and aflatoxin contamination in stored commodities. Additionally, it exhibits potential as a suitable candidate for the development of pharmaceutical drugs.

In this study, a 2D-QSAR (quantitative structure–activity relationship) was performed on 54 new 2-Styrylquinoline derivatives as anticancer substances capable of inhibiting the p53 protein in the cell HCT116++. The 54 2-Styrylquinoline derivatives was calculated applying DFT 6-31G basis to calculate Quantum descriptors, using MM2 for: Topological, Physico-chemical, Geometrical and Constitutional. The study was carried out by performing multiple linear regression (R2 = 0.90), the QSAR model achieved was tested by artificial neural networks method, which is showed high predictability (R2ANN = 0.89). A DFT study was performed to determine the reactivity of the 2-Styrylquinoline derivatives using frontier molecular orbital analysis and analysis of the molecular electrostatic potential (MEP). Derivatives of 2–4 Styrylquinoline are studied for their synthetic accessibility and their similarity to drug. The obtained results show that all the evaluated compounds have similar properties to drug and are accessible to synthesize.A molecular docking analysis was performed for three compounds: 14, 34, and 54, having various reactivities against the p53 HCT116++ protein (identified by PDB ID: 2GEQ). The results showed strong interactions between the three ligands and the 2GEQ protein, the amino acids HIS 176, SER A180, PRO A188 and ARG A178 are the most active sites of the 2GEQ protein, and based on these result we performed a molecular dynamics simulation to evaluate the stability of our complexes. The MD demonstrates the thermodynamic stability of select compounds during 40 and 100 ns, with all three complexes showing a high level of structural stability.

The overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) was clearly associated with carcinogenesis, and COX-2 as a possible target has long been exploited for cancer therapy. A group of 29 derivatives of 1, 5-diarylpyrazole was used to study its structural requirements using three-dimensional quantitative structure–activity relationship (3D-QSAR), the density functional theory method, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics. Four 3D-QSAR models were developed, and the predictive capability of the four selected models was also successfully tested using different validation methods. The contribution contours of the comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity index analysis (CoMSIA) models effectively illustrate the relationships between the various chemical characteristics and their biological activities. Using the density functional theory method with the 6-31G (d, p) basis set and the Becke, 3-parameter, Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) function to evaluate chemical reactivity properties, the results obtained from energy gaps of 3.431, 3.446, and 2.727 ev for molecules numbers 21, 22, and 23 indicate that these three molecules have good chemical stability and reactivity and select the most reactive regions in the three molecules studied. Molecular docking results revealed that the active sites of the COX-2 protein (PDB code: 3PGH) were residues ARG222, THR212, HIS386, HIS207, TYR148, and ASP382, in which the most active ligands and now ligands can inhibit the COX-2 enzyme. Based on the various results obtained by molecular modeling, four new compounds (N1, N2, N3, and N4) were proposed with significant predicted activity by different 3D-QSAR models. A molecular docking study and molecular dynamics simulations of the proposed new molecules (N1 and N2) and the most active molecule over 100 ns revealed that all three molecules establish multiple hydrogen interactions with several residues and also exhibit frequent stability throughout the simulation period. As a result, it is strongly recommended to consider the two newly proposed molecules, N1 and N4, as promising candidates for novel anti-cancer agents specifically designed to target COX-2 inhibition.

A systematic in-silico study based on molecular modeling techniques was conducted on thirty 3,4-disubstituted pyrrolidine sulfonamides derivatives to identify the drug candidate for treating schizophrenia and impairments associated with NMDA receptor hypofunction, through selective and competitive inhibition of GlyT1. QSAR analysis demonstrates that geometric and constitutional descriptors have a key function in human GlyT1 activity. The in-silico study concluded that the most active ligand labeled C19 was predicted to be a non-toxic inhibitor, with a desired ADME-Toxicity profile and a significant probability to penetrate the central nervous system (CNS). Molecular docking simulations confirmed that the C19 compound was docked to the active sites of drosophila melanogaster dopamine transporter (DAT) protein, creating a variety of chemical bonds towards TYR 124, ASP 475, GLU 480, ALA 479, and VAL 120 amino acids residues. The molecular dynamic (MD) technique combined with the MMGBSA approach confirmed that produced intermolecular interactions for the (DAT protein–C19 ligand) complex remain so stable during 100 ns of MD simulation time. Consequently, the C19 ligand is highly recommended for the treatment of schizophrenia and other disabilities linked to the hypofunction of glutaminergic NMDA receptors.

Diabetes is a global health concern with significant implications for individuals and healthcare systems. Finding effective and safe antidiabetic agents is crucial for the management of this chronic disease. Natural products have emerged as potential alternatives to allopathic drugs, offering a vast source of bioactive compounds. In this study, we conducted an assessment of the antidiabetic potential of Origanum compactum essential oil, employing a two-pronged approach, i.e., experimental investigation and computational docking analysis. The results of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) showed that thymol (54.6%), carvacrol (23.18%), and p-cymene (7.12%) were the major compounds. Experimental assessments revealed higher IC50 values (150 µg/mL for α-amylase; 120 µg/mL for α-glucosidase) of O. compactum oil, compared to the control drug acarbose. In silico analysis revealed the best binding affinity of the oil components (carvacrol and thymol) with human NADPH oxidase, while the lysosomal acid-α-glucosidase and salivary amylase also demonstrated good binding affinity towards carvacrol and thymol. Our findings highlight the translational potential of O. compactum oil-based treatment for diabetes mellitus and provide a basis for further studies on the modulation of NADPH oxidase, amylase inhibition, and α-glucosidase by antidiabetic natural products. However, further in vivo investigations are strongly required to confirm the results of in vitro antidiabetic effect of O. compactum EO.