Molecular Docking and Modelling Studies for Identifying Novel Oxadiazole Derivatives to Inhibit COX-2 Enzyme as an Anti-Inflammatory Treatment

The objective of the study was to develop new Oxadiazole compounds using docking simulation studies for inhibitory action against the Cycloxoygenase-2(COX-2) enzyme. The study aimed at the development and identification of novel and potent derivatives of 1,3,4-oxadiazole for targeting anti-inflammatory disease by screening their inhibitory action against COX-2 enzyme with schrodinger molecular docking software and molecular simulation by GROMACS 2022. A library of 375 novel compounds of 1,3,4-oxadiazoles derivatives was designed and proposed for docking against cyclooxygenase-2 enzyme (COX-2)PDB ID: 6BL4, which was downloaded from protein data bank site https://www.rcsb.org/. MD simulations for three models were performed, namely, compound A-Cox-2, E-Cox-2, and G-Cox-2, for 100 ns. Out of 375 proposed compounds, the top 16 compounds with good docking scores and binding energy were selected for further ADME profile studies in which all compounds showed good results as compared to Standard drugs. RMSD values of 0.2 nm showed that all ligand-Cox-2 complexes were stable during simulation. Compound G was the most efficient in decent interactions with the residues ARG120 and TYR355 of cyclooxygenase- 2, which were stable for 29.32, 21.52, and 12.00% duration of simulation along with comparatively better h-bond contacts. All potential inhibitors met Lipinski's rule of five, indicating oral availability. The potential compounds may be further evaluated for pharmacological activities using different <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> evaluations.