Phenothiazine‐based virtual screening, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics of new trypanothione reductase inhibitors of Trypanosoma cruzi

Abstract

<i>T. cruzi</i> Phenothiazine derivatives can unselectively inhibit the trypanothione‐dependent antioxidant system enzyme trypanothione reductase (TR). A virtual screening of 2163 phenothiazine derivatives from the ZINC15 and PubChem databases docked on the active site of TR showed that 285 compounds have higher affinity than the natural ligand trypanothione disulfide. Of these compounds, 244 showed higher affinity toward the parasite´s enzyme than to its human homolog glutathione reductase. Protein‐ligand interaction profiling predicted that the main interactions for the top scored compounds were with residues important for trypanothione disulfide binding: Phe396, Pro398, Leu399, His461, Glu466, and Glu467, particularly His461, which participates in catalysis. Two compounds with the desired profiles, ZINC1033681 and ZINC10213096, decreased parasite growth by 20% and 50%, respectively. They behaved as mixed‐type inhibitors of recombinant TR, with <i>Ki</i> values of 59 and 47 µM, respectively. This study provides a further understanding of the potential of phenothiazine derivatives as TR inhibitors.

Targeting Trypanothione Metabolism in Trypanosomatids

“…Recently, two compounds, ZINC1033681 (Zn_C687) and ZINC10213096 (Zn_C216), selected after virtual screening of 2163 phenothiazine derivatives, were able to decrease T. cruzi growth by 20% and 50%, respectively, and inhibited the recombinant TryR in a mixed-type manner [133].…”