Author(s)

Abdullah Al Mamun¹, Michio Hashimoto^1*, Shahdat Hossain^1,2, Masanori Katakura¹, Hiroyuki Arai³, Osamu Shido¹

¹Department of Environmental Physiology, Shimane University Faculty of Medicine, Izumoshi, Japan.
²Laboratory of Alternative Medicine and Behavioral Neurosciences, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
³Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Division of Brain Sciences, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.

The accumulation of amyloid β peptide 1 - 42 (Aβ_1-42) in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients is known to be associated with neurodegeneration and memory impairment. More recently, we reported that madecassoside, an active component of Centella asiatica, improved memory impairment in an Aβ_1-42 infusion rat model of AD, ameliorated neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells, and inhibited in vitro Aβ_1-42 fibril formation. In the present study, we investigated the utility of in silico analyses in corroborating observed in vivo and in vitro effects of madecassoside in AD to further assess the therapeutic benefits of madecassoside. The 3D structure of Aβ_1-42 was downloaded from the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB) Protein Data Bank (PDB). The binding of madecassoside to Aβ_1-42 was assessed by molecular docking. The chemical structure of madecassoside was modeled and converted to the PDB format. Madecassoside was found to successfully dock with Aβ_1-42. Computational demonstration of the binding of madecassoside to Aβ_1-42 further corroborated the inhibitory effect of madecassoside on Aβ_1-42 fibrillogenesis which was demonstrated in our previous study. These data showed the potential utility of madecassoside as a preventive medication in Aβ_1-42-induced neurodegenerative diseases such as AD.

Alzheimer’s Disease, Centella asiatica, Madecassoside, Ayurveda, in Silico, Drug Designing

Mamun, A. , Hashimoto, M. , Hossain, S. , Katakura, M. , Arai, H. and Shido, O. (2015) Confirmation of the Experimentally-Proven Therapeutic Utility of Madecassoside in an Aβ_1-42 Infusion Rat Model of Alzheimer’s Disease by in Silico Analyses. Advances in Alzheimer's Disease, 4, 37-44. doi: 10.4236/aad.2015.42005.