Exploration of phytochemical compounds against Marburg virus using QSAR, molecular dynamics, and free energy landscape

Marburg virus disease (MVD) is caused by the Marburg virus, a one-of-a-kind zoonotic RNA virus from the genus Filovirus. Thus, this current study employed AI-based QSAR and molecular docking-based virtual screening for identifying potential binders against the target protein (nucleoprotein (NP)) of the Marburg virus. A total of 2727 phytochemicals were used for screening, out of which the top three compounds (74977521, 90470472, and 11953909) were identified based on their predicted bioactivity (pIC50) and binding score (< - 7.4 kcal/mol). Later, MD simulation in triplicates and trajectory analysis were performed which showed that 11953909 and 74977521 had the most stable and consistent complex formations and had the most significant interactions with the highest number of hydrogen bonds. PCA (principal component analysis) and FEL (free energy landscape) analysis indicated that these compounds had favourable energy states for most of the conformations. The total binding free energy of the compounds using the MM/GBSA technique showed that 11953909 (ΔG TOTAL = - 30.78 kcal/mol) and 74977521 (ΔG TOTAL = - 30 kcal/mol) had the highest binding affinity with the protein. Overall, this in silico pipeline proposed that the phytochemicals 11953909 and 74977521 could be the possible binders of NP. This study aimed to find phytochemicals inhibiting the protein's function and potentially treating MVD.