Novel virtual screening approach for the discovery of human tyrosinase inhibitors

Ni Ai, William J. Welsh, Uma Santhanam, Hong Hu, John Lyga

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tyrosinase is the key enzyme involved in the human pigmentation process, as well as the undesired browning of fruits and vegetables. Compounds inhibiting tyrosinase catalytic activity are an important class of cosmetic and dermatological agents which show high potential as depigmentation agents used for skin lightening. The multi-step protocol employed for the identification of novel tyrosinase inhibitors incorporated the Shape Signatures computational algorithm for rapid screening of chemical libraries. This algorithm converts the size and shape of a molecule, as well its surface charge distribution and other bio-relevant properties, into compact histograms (signatures) that lend themselves to rapid comparison between molecules. Shape Signatures excels at scaffold hopping across different chemical families, which enables identification of new actives whose molecular structure is distinct from other known actives. Using this approach, we identified a novel class of depigmentation agents that demonstrated promise for skin lightening product development.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere112788
JournalPloS one
Volume9
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 26 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Novel virtual screening approach for the discovery of human tyrosinase inhibitors'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this