Evaluating the potency of three plant compounds as HDAC Inhibitors for the treatment of Huntington’s disease: An in silico study

Abstract

Transcriptional deregulation is one of the key features of Huntington’s disease (HD), which involves the impairment of the general transcription machinery and proteins involved in gene expression. This results in an overall disruption in the transcriptome of cells, namely neurons, leading to defective cellular processes. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are key enzymes in transcription and are known to have increased activities in HD animal models and patient samples. In this paper, we have used molecular docking studies to evaluate the potential of three plant- derived compounds, Fisetin, Ginkgolide A and Ginsenosides, as HDAC inhibitors. The binding energies of each plant compound was evaluated by docking them to three HDACs known to be involved in HD progression; HDAC3, HDAC4, and HDAC6. The binding energy values of the plant compounds were found to be comparable to that of well-known pharmaceutical inhibitors proving them to be promising therapeutic agents in controlling HD progression.