RESEARCH PAPER
Network pharmacology and molecular docking of arctic Pseudogymnoascus australis compounds targeting ionotropic glutamate receptors for neuroprotection.
Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases constitute a major public health burden, with neurotoxicity representing a critical pathogenic mechanism underlying Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Current therapeutic approaches are primarily symptomatic and fail to prevent disease progression, highlighting the urgent need for neuroprotective agents that can modulate pathological pathways at their source. Natural fungal metabolites have emerged as promising sources of bioactive compounds with potential neuroprotective properties. This study investigates the neuroprotective potential of bioactive compounds derived from the Arctic fungus Pseudogymnoascus australis (P. australis) using an integrated in silico method. From 120 identified compounds, nine were selected based on favorable blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and pharmacokinetic profiles using ADMET 3.0 predictions. These included 2-aminohexadecanoic acid (AHA), 11-aminoundecanoic acid (AUA), and seven others, all exhibiting optimal drug-likeness (>0.83) and suitable CNS-targeting properties. Network pharmacology analysis identified 226 overlapping targets between the fungal compounds and neurotoxicity-associated genes. Nine hub genes (Gria1, Gria2, Gria4, Grik1, Grik2, Grin1, Grin2a, Grin2b, and Grin2c) were identified as critical nodes. Enrichment analyses revealed significant involvement in the neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathway, suggesting these compounds modulate ionotropic glutamate receptors. Molecular docking analysis showed strong binding affinities, with 78% of ligand-receptor complexes displaying RMSD values below 2.0 Å. AHA and Grik1 emerged as the most promising pair, with a docking score of -7.90 kcal/mol and excellent pharmacokinetic properties (drug-likeness: 0.462, BBB penetration: 0.985). Molecular dynamics simulations over 100 nanoseconds confirmed complex stability, with a mean RMSD of 2.45 Å and binding energies averaging -169.02 kcal/mol, demonstrating sustained ligand-protein interactions. These computational findings provide evidence that P. australis contains bioactive compounds capable of attenuating neurotoxicity through sustained modulation of glutamate receptors, with molecular dynamics validation supporting the thermodynamic stability and potential therapeutic relevance of these interactions.