Najwa mahmoud Almaghrabi

Dr. Najwa mahmoud Almaghrabi

Pharmacy, Taibah University, Medina, Al Madīnah al Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia
orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

4Years (2023-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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18 October 2023 in Metabolites
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
TSTagyedeen H. Shoaib
Tagyedeen H. Shoaib
MAMohammed A. Almogaddam
Mohammed A. Almogaddam
YAYusra Saleh Andijani
Yusra Saleh Andijani
SSSamaher Ahmad Saib
Samaher Ahmad Saib
NANajwa mahmoud Almaghrabi
Najwa mahmoud Almaghrabi
Abdulrahim A. AlzainAbdulrahim A. Alzain
Abdulrahim A. Alzain
Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5) plays a crucial role in various biological processes, including immune response, insulin secretion regulation, apoptosis, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) damage response, epithelial−mesenchymal transition (EMT), cell migration and invasion, angiogenesis, and myogenesis. Overactivation of CDK5 is associated with the initiation and progression of cancer. Inhibiting CDK5 has shown potential in suppressing cancer development. Despite advancements in CDK5-targeted inhibitor research, the range of compounds available for clinical and preclinical trials remains limited. The marine environment has emerged as a prolific source of diverse natural products with noteworthy biological activities, including anti-cancer properties. In this study, we screened a library of 47,450 marine natural compounds from the comprehensive marine natural product database (CMNPD) to assess their binding affinity with CDK5. Marine compounds demonstrating superior binding affinity compared to a reference compound were identified through high-throughput virtual screening, standard precision and extra-precision Glide docking modes. Refinement of the selected molecules involved evaluating molecular mechanics–generalized born surface area (MM/GBSA) free binding energy. The three most promising compounds, (excoecariphenol B, excoecariphenol A, and zyzzyanone B), along with the reference, exhibiting favorable binding characteristics were chosen for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for 200 nanoseconds. These compounds demonstrated interaction stability with the target during MD simulations. The marine compounds identified in this study hold potential as effective CDK5 inhibitors and warrant subsequent experimental validation.