Molecular docking and dynamic simulation evaluation of Rohinitib — Cantharidin based novel HSF1 inhibitors for cancer therapy

• Cantharidin and Rohinitib based hybrid ligands had higher affinity for HSF1.
• Hybrid ligands formed stable complex and showed greater interaction with HSF1.
• Most of the hybrid ligands were non carcinogenic, non mutagenic and biodegradable.
• Hybrid ligands diminished binding of HSF1 to the Hsp70 promoter sequence.

Recent developments in the target based cancer therapies have identified HSF1 as a novel non oncogenic drug target. The present study delineates the design and molecular docking evaluation of Rohinitib (RHT) — Cantharidin (CLA) based novel HSF1 inhibitors for target-based cancer therapy. Here, we exploited the pharmacophoric features of both the parent ligands for the design of novel hybrid HSF1 inhibitors. The RHT-CLA ligands were designed and characterized for ADME/Tox features, interaction with HSF1 DNA binding domain and their pharmacophoric features essential for interaction. From the results, amino acid residues Ala17, Phe61, His63, Asn65, Ser68, Arg71 and Gln72 were found crucial for HSF1 interaction with the Heat shock elements (HSE). The hybrid ligands had better affinity towards the HSF1 DNA binding domain, in comparison to RHT or CLA and interacted with most of the active site residues. Additionally, the HSF1-ligand complex had a reduced affinity towards HSE in comparison to native HSF1. Based on the results, ligand RC15 and RC17 were non carcinogenic, non mutagenic, completely biodegradable under aerobic conditions, had better affinity for HSF1 (1.132 and 1.129 folds increase respectively) and diminished the interaction of HSF1 with HSE (1.203 and 1.239 folds decrease respectively). The simulation analysis also suggested that the ligands formed a stable complex with HSF1, restraining the movement of active site residues. In conclusion, RHT-CLA hybrid ligands can be used as a potential inhibitor of HSF1 for non-oncogene target based cancer therapy.

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