Synthesis and Evaluation of Central Antinociceptive activity of Ring Substituted Chalcones; Molecular Docking Studies with Monoacylglycerol Lipase (MAGL) Enzyme

Abstract

Chalcones possess Michael acceptor property due to the presence of α,β-unsaturated enone moiety in their structure. In the present study, molecular docking was performed to predict binding affinity of ring substituted chalcones with Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), a serine hydrolase enzyme which can inhibited by Michael acceptors such as maleimide derivatives. 3, 4-Dimethoxy derivative, 3h, with -44.45 kJmol-1 of interaction energy, exhibited highest binding affinity and formed Pi-Sulphur interactions with methionine-123 residue of MAGL enzyme. As MAGL is an emerging target for antinociceptive drug development, ring substituted chalcones were synthesized and evaluated for their central antinociceptive activity using tail immersion and hot plate methods. The results revealed that compound 3h, chalcone bearing methoxy groups at 3rd and 4th positions of phenyl ring exhibited good antinociceptive activity in both the models. Good correlation was observed between antinociceptive activity and binding affinity toward MAGL in case of compound 3h.