ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1584264
This article is part of the Research TopicInsights in Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery: 2024View all 16 articles
Exploring the inhibitory effect and mechanism of 3,4,5trihydroxybiphenyl on α-glucosidase: An integrated experimental and computational approach
Provisionally accepted- 1China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
- 2Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 3Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
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3,4,5-Trihydroxybiphenyl (THB) is a naturally occurring compound derived from Sorbus pohuashanensis, primarily reported for its antifungal activity. However, its potential to inhibit αglucosidase remains unclear. In this study, we assessed the inhibitory effects of THB on α-glucosidase and explored the mechanism of inhibition through kinetic analysis, multispectral techniques, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. Furthermore, a sucrose tolerance test was performed to evaluate the effects of THB on postprandial blood glucose (PBG) levels in mice. The results showed that THB exhibited a non-competitive and reversible inhibitory effect on α-glucosidase, with IC₅₀, Km, and Ki values of 11.52 μM, 0.69 ± 0.02 mM, and 26.26 ± 4.95 μM, respectively. THB showed a good affinity for α-glucosidase, with a KD value of 3.91 × 10 ⁻5 M. The interaction between THB and αglucosidase induced significant changes in the enzyme's microenvironment and secondary structure. The primary driving force for the binding of THB to α-glucosidase was hydrogen bonding. Additionally, THB could significantly reduce PBG levels in mice. Collectively, these findings suggest that THB holds potential as a natural inhibitor for the development of α-glucosidase-targeting agents.
Keywords: α-glucosidase, Inhibition activity, Interaction mechanism, Postprandial blood glucose, diabetes
Received: 27 Feb 2025; Accepted: 03 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guo, Yu, Li, Wang, Fan, Zhang, Wang, Zhou, Yang, Gao and Luo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhiqiang Luo, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
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