S. DRAGA*^,**^,#, EMILIA BUŞE**, SPERANŢA AVRAM*

*Department of Anatomy, Animal Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest,^, Romania

          ** S.C. Biotehnos S.A., 3–5 Gorunului Street, 075100-Otopeni, Ilfov, Romania

Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementias are progressive neurodegenerative diseases accompanied by dementia and a wide array of symptoms such as bradykinesia, rigidity and postural instability. The hallmark of the disease is alpha synuclein aggregation, leading to the formation of Lewy. In this paper we investigate, using various in silico tools, the potential anti-aggregation effects of anthraquinone derivatives carminic, kermesic and laccaic acid and their potential future use as lead compounds for clinical applications. To this end, we employed a combination of predictors used for properties like absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME), drug-likeness and lead-likeness. Additionally, we used a molecular docking to estimate the binding affinities of the three compounds to alpha synuclein. Our predictions indicate kermesic acid as the compound having the greatest therapeutical potential.

Key words: Parkinson’s disease, alpha synuclein, carminic acid, kermesic acid.

Corresponding author’s e-mail: sor.draga@gmail.com 

 

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