In:
Molecules, MDPI AG, Vol. 27, No. 15 ( 2022-07-26), p. 4768-
Abstract:
In this paper, we evaluated the drug-receptor interactions responsible for the antimicrobial activity of thymol, the major compound present in the essential oil (EO) of Lippia thymoides (L. thymoides) Mart. & Schauer (Verbenaceae). It was previously reported that this EO exhibits antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans (C. albicans), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Therefore, we used molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and free energy calculations to investigate the interaction of thymol with pharmacological receptors of interest to combat these pathogens. We found that thymol interacted favorably with the active sites of the microorganisms’ molecular targets. MolDock Score results for systems formed with CYP51 (C. albicans), Dihydrofolate reductase (S. aureus), and Dihydropteroate synthase (E. coli) were −77.85, −67.53, and −60.88, respectively. Throughout the duration of the MD simulations, thymol continued interacting with the binding pocket of the molecular target of each microorganism. The van der Waals (ΔEvdW = −24.88, −26.44, −21.71 kcal/mol, respectively) and electrostatic interaction energies (ΔEele = −3.94, −11.07, −12.43 kcal/mol, respectively) and the nonpolar solvation energies (ΔGNP = −3.37, −3.25, −2.93 kcal/mol, respectively) were mainly responsible for the formation of complexes with CYP51 (C. albicans), Dihydrofolate reductase (S. aureus), and Dihydropteroate synthase (E. coli).
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1420-3049
DOI:
10.3390/molecules27154768
Language:
English
Publisher:
MDPI AG
Publication Date:
2022
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2008644-1
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