Department of Drug Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Warsaw, Banacha 1, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland.
Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2c, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland.
J Chem Inf Model. 2023 Feb 13;63(3):1012-1027. doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01503. Epub 2023 Jan 24.
Cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) is a very promising therapeutic target for a variety of potential indications. However, despite the existence of multiple high affinity CB2 ligands, none have yet been approved as a drug. Therefore, it would be beneficial to explore new chemotypes of CB2 ligands. The recent elucidation of CB2 tertiary structure allows for rational hit identification with structure-based (SB) methods. In this study, we established a virtual screening workflow based on SB techniques augmented with ligand-based ones, including molecular docking, MM-GBSA binding energy calculations, pharmacophore screening, and QSAR. We screened nearly 7 million drug-like, commercially available compounds. We selected 16 molecules for in vitro evaluation and identified two novel, selective CB2 antagonists with values of 65 and 210 nM. Both compounds are structurally diverse from CB2 ligands known to date. The established virtual screening protocol may prove useful for hit identification for CB2 and similar molecular targets. The two novel CB2 ligands provide a desired starting point for future optimization and development of potential drugs.
大麻素受体 2 型(CB2)是多种潜在适应症极具前景的治疗靶点。然而,尽管存在多种高亲和力 CB2 配体,但没有一种被批准为药物。因此,探索新型 CB2 配体的化学型将是有益的。最近 CB2 三级结构的阐明使得基于结构的(SB)方法可以进行合理的命中识别。在这项研究中,我们建立了一个基于 SB 技术的虚拟筛选工作流程,该技术辅以基于配体的方法,包括分子对接、MM-GBSA 结合能计算、药效团筛选和 QSAR。我们筛选了近 700 万个具有药物样特性的商业可得化合物。我们选择了 16 种分子进行体外评估,并鉴定出两种新型、选择性 CB2 拮抗剂,其 值分别为 65 和 210 nM。这两种化合物在结构上与迄今为止已知的 CB2 配体不同。所建立的虚拟筛选方案可能对 CB2 和类似分子靶标中的命中识别有用。这两种新型 CB2 配体为未来的优化和潜在药物的开发提供了理想的起点。