Thiazolidinediones are widely used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus type 2. An investigation of their interaction with a transport protein, such as β-lactoglobulin (BLG), at the atomic level could be a valuable factor in controlling their transport to biological sites. The interaction of troglitazone, pioglitazone and rosiglitazone, as representative thiazolidinediones, and BLG, as a transport protein, was investigated using molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation methods. The molecular docking results showed that these thiazolidinediones bind to the internal cavity of BLG and the BLG affinity for binding the thiazolidinediones decreases in the following order: troglitazone > pioglitazone > rosiglitazone. The analysis of MD simulation trajectories showed that the BLG and BLG-thiazolidinedione complexes became stable at approximately 2500 ps and that there was little conformational change in the BLGDownloaded by [New York University] at 00:42 05 August 2015 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 2 thiazolidinedione complexes over a 10 ns timescale. In addition, the profiles of atomic fluctuations showed the rigidity of the ligand-binding site during the simulation time.
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