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© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Highly toxic microcystins (MCs) perform complex interactions with many proteins that induce cellular dysregulation, leading to the development of several diseases including cancer. There is significant diversity and chemical complexity among MC congeners, which makes it difficult to identify structure-dependent toxicity outcomes and their long-term effects. The aim of this study was to exploratory identify likely molecular targets of the main MC variants (MC-LA, MC-LR, MC-RR, and MC-LY) by conducting a computational binding affinity analysis using AutoDock Vina to evaluate the interaction of the toxins with 1000 proteins related to different biological functions. All four variants showed strong in silico interactions with proteins that regulate metabolism/immune system, CD38 (top scoring hit, −11.5 kcal/mol); inflammation, TLR4 (−11.4 kcal/mol) and TLR8 (−11.5 kcal/mol); neuronal conduction, BChE; renin–angiotensin signaling, (ACE); thyroid hormone homeostasis (TTR); and cancer-promoting processes, among other biochemical activities. The results show MCs have the potential to bind onto distinct molecular targets which could generate biochemical alterations through a number of signal transduction pathways. In short, this study broadens our knowledge about the mechanisms of action of different variants of microcystins and provides information for future direct experimentation.

Details

Title
Identification of Novel Molecular Targets of Four Microcystin Variants by High-Throughput Virtual Screening
Author
Tapia-Larios, Claudia 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Ernesto García Mendoza 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Rubio-Armendáriz, María Carmen 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Olivero-Verbel, Jesus 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Environmental and Computational Chemistry Group, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zaragocilla Campus, University of Cartagena, Cartagena 130015, Colombia; [email protected]; Agro-Industrial Ecological Management Group, School of Exact and Natural Sciences, Campus Barranquilla, Universidad Libre, Barranquilla 080016, Colombia 
 Departamento de Oceanografía Biológica, Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada CICESE, Ensenada 22860, Baja California, Mexico; [email protected] 
 Toxicology Department, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain; [email protected] 
 Environmental and Computational Chemistry Group, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zaragocilla Campus, University of Cartagena, Cartagena 130015, Colombia; [email protected] 
First page
2612
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20763417
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2637585291
Copyright
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.