Catharanthus roseus Phytochemicals as Multi-Target Modulators of Disability-Linked Neurodegeneration: Bio-Computational Insights
<b>Background</b>: Disability-linked neurodegeneration involves cholinergic dysfunction, amyloidogenesis, glutamatergic excitotoxicity, and dopaminergic imbalance, highlighting the need for multi-target modulation. <i>Catharanthus roseus</i> contains a diverse array of metabolites with potential polypharmacological properties. <b>Methods</b>: We curated 318 <i>Catharanthus roseus</i> metabolites and performed structure-based virtual screening against five CNS targets, namely BACE1, AChE, MAO-B, NMDAR, and D1, using target-specific positive controls. Cross-target intersection ranking nominated three hits. We assessed dynamic stability by 200 ns all-atom molecular dynamics simulations (MDS) and MM/PBSA; ADMET-AI profiled CNS-relevant properties. <b>Results</b>: The three metabolites (PubChem CIDs 485711, 56964592, and 162963996) repeatedly ranked among top binders across targets. All five protein-ligand complexes reached stable MD plateaus (RMSD < ~0.30 nm) with sustained key interactions; BACE1 and AChE showed the highest contact persistence and most favorable ΔG_total/ligand-efficiency. <b>Conclusions</b>: Convergent docking, MDS, and MM/PBSA support these metabolites as tractable multi-target leads, with BACE1/AChE prioritized for enzyme-level validation and the remaining targets for follow-up studies.
Authors
- Varish Ahmad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6103-0727)
- Ali Alharbi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1815-7287)
- Qazi Mohammad Sajid Jamal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5525-708X)
- Khurshid Ahmad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1095-8445)
Institutions
- Qassim University (SA)
- King Abdulaziz University (SA)
- King Salman Center for Disability Research (SA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Pharmaceuticals
- Published
- 2025-11-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18111734
- Primary Topic
- Cholinesterase and Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00