Protein Targets of Frankincense: A Reverse Docking Analysis of Terpenoids from Oleo-Gum Resins.

Frankincense, the oleo-gum resin of trees, has been used in traditional medicine since ancient times. Frankincense has been used to treat wounds and skin infections, inflammatory diseases, dementia, and various other conditions. However, in many cases, the biomolecular targets for frankincense components are not well established. In this work, we have carried out a reverse docking study of diterpenoids and triterpenoids with a library of 16034 potential druggable target proteins. diterpenoids showed selective docking to acetylcholinesterase, several bacterial target proteins, and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. triterpenoids targeted the cancer-relevant proteins (poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1, tankyrase, and folate receptor β), inflammation-relevant proteins (phospholipase A2, epoxide hydrolase, and fibroblast collagenase), and the diabetes target 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. The preferential docking of terpenoids is consistent with the traditional uses and the established biological activities of frankincense.