The potential of some functional group compounds substituted 8-Manzamine A as RSK1 inhibitors: molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations

Abstract

Cancer, an incurable global disease, demands urgent anti-cancer drug development. Marine alkaloids like Manzamine and its derivatives show promise as RSK inhibitors against cancer cell invasion. Replacing the hydrogen at the 8-position of Manzamine A with a hydroxyl group has been shown to significantly enhance its biological activity. In this article, we designed various functional group compounds (A1–A21) substituted 8-Manzamine A by docking, MM-GBSA, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, and well-tempered metadynamics (WT-MetaD) simulations to evaluate their potential as RSK1 inhibitors. Ligands A1–A21 were docked in the RSK1 N-terminal kinase domain (PDB ID: 2Z7Q) using the Glide module. The calculation of binding energy was performed using Prime MM-GB/SA, while MD simulations were conducted with the Desmond module of Schrodinger suite 2023. Compound A5 exhibits the highest G-score (−7.01) compared to 8-Hydroxymanzamine A (−6.08). Additionally, compounds A6, A10, A12, A17, A11, A4, and A13 demonstrate increased activity against RSK1 when compared to both 8-Hydroxymanzamine A and Manzamine A. Residues LEU68, VAL76, LEU141, PHE143, LEU144, PHE150, ASP148, GLU191, and LEU194 of RSK1 protein play a key role in binding with ligands. An MD simulation of Compound A5 was carried out to explore the dynamic interactions within the protein-ligand complex. Furthermore, WT-MetaD simulations validated the docking study results and identified the most energetically favored conformations for the A5/RSK1 complex. Ligands A5, A6, A10, A12, A17, A11, A4, and A13, featuring diverse functional groups and good Glide scores, may have the potential for significant RSK1 activity and merit further development.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

HIGHLIGHTS

• Functional group modifications at the 8-position of Manzamine A enhance its inhibitory activity against RSK1.

• Amine and carbonyl groups at position 8 of Manzamine A enhance its inhibitory activity, especially when accompanied by an aryl group.

• This research lays a solid groundwork for future drug development targeting RSK1, offering promising candidates for further investigation.

Keywords:

• RSK1
• NTKD
• Manzamine A
• functional group
• docking studies
• MM-GBSA
• molecular dynamics simulation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.