RESEARCH ARTICLE


Non-Intercalative Triterpenoid Inhibitors of Topoisomerase II: A Molecular Docking Study



William N. Setzer*
Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA


© William N. Setzer; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Chemistry, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899, USA; Tel: 256-824-6519; Fax: 256-824-6349; E-mail: wsetzer@chemistry.uah.edu


Abstract

Theoretical flexible docking studies were carried out on a number of triterpenoids previously shown to be inhibitors of topoisomerase II in order to assess the nature of binding of these non-intercalative inhibitors to the enzyme. The molecular docking results suggest that most of the triterpenoids preferentially bind to the DNA binding site of topoisomerase II, while a few also bind to the ATP binding site. These results provide some insight into the mode of activity of these cytotoxic natural products.