In silico exploration of hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls as estrogen receptor β ligands by 3D-QSAR, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations

Hydroxylated polychlorinated biphenyls (HO-PCBs), as the major metabolites of PCBs, have been reported to act as estrogen receptor beta (ER beta) agonists. However, the chemical-biological interactions governing their activities toward ER beta have not been elucidated. Therefore, three dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR), molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time were performed to explore the correlation between the structures and activities. The best 3D-QSAR model presented higher predictive ability (R (2) (cv)=0.543, R (2) (pred)=0.5793/R (2) (cv)=0.543, R (2) (pred)=0.6795) based on comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA), respectively. At the same time, the derived contour maps indicated the important structural features required for improving the activity. Furthermore, molecular docking studies and MD simulations predicted the binding mode and the interactions between the ligand and the receptor. All the results would lead to a better understanding of the specific mechanism of HO-PCBs on estrogen receptor beta (ER beta). Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Automated summary

This study utilized 3D-QSAR, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the structure-activity relationship of HO-PCBs towards ERβ for the first time. The results revealed important structural features and interactions, providing a better understanding of the specific mechanism of HO-PCBs on ERβ.