Title:Application of In silico Methods in the Design of Drugs for Neurodegenerative Diseases
Volume: 21
Issue: 11
Author(s): Mohamad Haider, Anjali Chauhan, Sana Tariq, Dharam Pal Pathak, Nadeem Siddiqui, Soni Ali, Faheem Hyder Pottoo and Ruhi Ali*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Delhi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research (DIPSAR), New Delhi 110017,India
Keywords:
In silico methods, Drug discovery, Neurodegenerative diseases, CADD, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease,
QSAR, Molecular docking, Homology modeling, Virtual high-throughput screening.
Abstract: Neurodegenerative diseases are complex disorders that cause neuron loss, brain aging
and ultimately lead to death. These diseases are difficult to treat because of the complex nature of
the nervous system, and the available medicines are unable to heal them effectively. This fact implies
the need for novel therapeutics to be designed that are ready to stop or a minimum of retard
the neurodegeneration process. These days, Computer-Assisted Drug Design (CADD) approaches
are a passage to extend the drug development efficiency and to reduce time and cost because traditional
drug discovery is both time-consuming as well as costly. Computational or in silico methods
came up with powerful tools in drug design against neurodegenerative diseases. This review presents
the approaches and theoretical basis of CADD. Also, the successful applications of various in
silico studies, including homology modeling, molecular docking, Quantitative Structure-Activity
Relationship (QSAR), Molecular Dynamic (MD), De novo drug design, Pharmacophore-based
drug design, Virtual Screening (VS), LIGPLOT Analysis, In silico ADMET and drug safety prediction,
for treating neurodegenerative diseases have also been included in this review. Major emphasis
is given to Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease because these two are the most familiar
neurodegenerative diseases.
