Differentiation of the Agonists and Antagonists of the α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor

Abstract

The α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are widely expressed in the central and peripheral nervous systems and are important drug targets for the treatment of neurological diseases. However, differentiation of the agonists and antagonists of the nAChR is difficult. In this study we aimed to develop a reliable and efficient computational approach for differentiation of the agonists from the antagonists of the nAChR based on a systematical analysis of 123 ligands (87 agonists, 12 partial agonists, and 24 antagonists) binding with the extracellular domain of the α7 nAChR chimera. Our results suggest that the ligand size and ligand binding affinity cannot differentiate the agonists from the antagonists of the nAChR. The ligand efficiency that considers both ligand binding affinity and size for the agonists is overall more left shifted in comparison to the antagonists, but the values of the ligand efficiency still cannot differentiate the agonists from the antagonists unless the values are either relatively high (more than −0.3 kcal mol ⁻¹) or relatively low (less than −0.45 kcal mol ⁻¹). Our results suggest that accurate prediction of the agonist or antagonist of the nAChR is challenging and the ligand innate configuration has to be considered as an extra for differentiation of the agonists from the antagonists of the nAChR.

Journal

Journal ID (publisher-id): JOUC

Title: Journal of Ocean University of China

Publisher: Science Press and Springer (China )

ISSN (Electronic): 1672-5182

Publication date (Electronic): 24 August 2019

Publication date (Print): 01 October 2019

Volume: 18

Issue: 5

Pages: 1193-1198

Affiliations

¹Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Chinese Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China

²Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts of Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266003, China

Author notes

*Corresponding authors: JIANG Tao and YU Rilei

Article

Publisher ID: s11802-019-3818-5

DOI: 10.1007/s11802-019-3818-5

Copyright statement: Copyright © Ocean University of China, Science Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2019.

License:

The copyright to this article, including any graphic elements therein (e.g. illustrations, charts, moving images), is hereby assigned for good and valuable consideration to the editorial office of Journal of Ocean University of China, Science Press and Springer effective if and when the article is accepted for publication and to the extent assignable if assignability is restricted for by applicable law or regulations (e.g. for U.S. government or crown employees).

Product

Self URI (journal-page): https://www.springer.com/journal/11802