Virtual Screening in Chinese Herbs with Multi-Target Effect on Alzheimer's Disease

Multiple targets which closely related to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis were selected for pharmacophore models generation and virtual screening in Chinese herbs. The targets comprised Acetylcholinesterase (AchE), muscarinic receptor 1 (M1), γ-secretase and glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β). The pharmacophore models, which of AchE inhibitors, M1 agonists, γ-secretase inhibitors and GSK-3β inhibitors, were constructed by distance comparison method. Four testing databases for the evaluation of pharmacophore models were constructed with the active compounds with clearly marked activity on each target. The metric CAI (Comprehensive Appraisal Index) was then used to evaluate and obtain the best pharmacophore models of each target, which were then applied to screen the Traditional Chinese Medicine Database for potential active compounds in Chinese herbs. Four common used herbs were obtained, which contain the active compounds and can act on multiple targets, and were expected to have multiple activity of anti-AD disease.