Most of the title compounds exhibited high α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. In this regards, the most potent compound amongst the tested compounds, compound 5 k, with IC 50 =48.66±0.02 μM was 15.6-fold more potent than positive control acarbose.
Compound 5 k was a competitive inhibitor and interacted with important residues of the active site of α-glucosidase. In this work, novel anti-α-glucosidase agents, thieno [2,3-b]quinoline-acetamide derivatives 5 a – m have been designed and synthesized. These compounds were evaluated in vitro against yeast α-glucosidase.
Subsequently, based on analyzing receptor-ligand interactions, pharmacophore models were generated to screen potential a-glucosidase inhibitors from the marketed drug database. The molecular docking studies of hits were performed to predict docking affinities and obtain bioactive conformations of drugs interacting with the protein.
Pharmacophore-based virtual screening was performed to find α-glucosidase inhibitor from existing drugs. Molecular docking study was carried out to elucidate the binding mode of α-glucosidase and virtual screening hits. Molecular dynamics simulations proved the stability of receptor-ligand interactions in physiological conditions.