Unveiling the Efficacy of Sesquiterpenes from Marine Sponge in Inhibiting Dihydrofolate Reductase Using Docking and Molecular Dynamic Studies.

Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) is a crucial enzyme that maintains the levels of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolate (THF) required for the biological synthesis of the building blocks of DNA, RNA, and proteins. Over-activation of DHFR results in the progression of multiple pathological conditions such as cancer, bacterial infection, and inflammation. Therefore, DHFR inhibition plays a major role in treating these illnesses. Sesquiterpenes of various types are prime metabolites derived from the marine sponge and have demonstrated antitumor, anti-inflammation, and antibacterial capacities. Here, we investigated the in silico potential inhibitory effects of 87 metabolites on DHFR and predicted their ADMET properties. Compounds were prepared computationally for molecular docking into the selected crystal structure of DHFR (PDB: 1KMV). The docking scores of metabolites , , and were the highest among this series (gscore values of -12.431, -11.502, and -10.62 kcal/mol, respectively), even above the co-crystallized inhibitor SRI-9662 score (-10.432 kcal/mol). The binding affinity and protein stability of these top three scored compounds were further estimated using molecular dynamic simulation. Compounds , , and revealed high binding affinity to the enzyme and could be possible leads for DHFR inhibitors; however, further in vitro and in vivo investigations are required to validate their potential.