In silico screening of ginsenoside Rh1 with PPARγ and in vitro analysis on 3T3-L1 cell line

Abstract

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a major transcription factor for the process of adipogenesis. Overexpression of PPARγ stimulates other adipogenic-specific proteins, which lead to several disease conditions including obesity. Natural products are of great choice to treat obesity, and Panax ginseng Meyer has been an important option. Ginsenoside Rh1, a protopanaxatriol ginsenoside, has shown to be effective in various diseases including obesity in high fat diet induced mice model. Therefore, considering Rh1 as an important compound, we performed structural analysis and its impact on important genes related to obesity. Initially, molecular interaction was assessed on Rh1 and PPARγ using docking method. The results showed Rh1 had strong hydrogen bond interaction with PPARγ active site. Furthermore, the stability of this complex structure was verified by molecular dynamic simulation. The pharmacokinetic properties of ginsenoside Rh1 were identified using the ADMET and PASS methods. Next, cell cytotoxic assay was performed at different concentrations, and to support the in silico screening, gene expression levels of adipogenic proteins were evaluated. Our findings suggest that ginsenoside Rh1 has binding interaction with PPARγ and from the cell level studies it was shown to interrupt the process of adipogenesis that may lead to work as an anti-obese component.