Title:Current Therapeutic Molecules and Targets in Neurodegenerative Diseases Based on in silico Drug Design
VOLUME: 16 ISSUE: 6
Author(s):Sheikh Arslan Sehgal*, Mirza A. Hammad, Rana Adnan Tahir, Hafiza Nisha Akram and Faheem Ahmad
Affiliation:Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Sahiwal, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Sahiwal, Department of Environmental Sciences, Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad, Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad
Keywords:In silico analysis, computer aided drug design, alzheimer's disease, parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
and huntington 's disease.
Abstract:Background: As the number of elderly persons increases, neurodegenerative diseases are
becoming ubiquitous. There is currently a great need for knowledge concerning management of oldage
neurodegenerative diseases; the most important of which are: Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's
disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Huntington’s disease.
Objective: To summarize the potential of computationally predicted molecules and targets against
neurodegenerative diseases.
Method: Review of literature published since 1997 against neurodegenerative diseases, utilizing as
keywords: in silico, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ALS,
and Huntington's disease was conducted.
Results and Conclusion: Due to the costs associated with experimentation and current ethical law,
performing experiments directly on living organisms has become much more difficult. In this scenario,
in silico techniques have been successful and have become powerful tools in the search to
cure disease. Researchers use the Computer Aided Drug Design pipeline which: 1) generates 3-
dimensional structures of target proteins through homology modeling 2) achieves stabilization
through molecular dynamics simulation, and 3) exploits molecular docking through large compound
libraries. Next generation sequencing is continually producing enormous amounts of raw
sequence data while neuroimaging is producing a multitude of raw image data. To solve such pressing
problems, these new tools and algorithms are required. This review elaborates precise in silico
tools and techniques for drug targets, active molecules, and molecular docking studies, together
with future prospects and challenges concerning possible breakthroughs in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's,
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Huntington's disease.
