Comparative Molecular Field Analysis and Molecular Docking Studies on Quinolinone Derivatives Indicate Potential Hepatitis C Virus Inhibitors

Presently, there are no effective vaccines and anti-virals for the prevention and treatment of Hepatitis C virus infections and hence there is an urgent need to develop potent HCV inhibitors. In this study, we have carried out molecular docking, molecular dynamics and 3D-QSAR on heteroaryl 3-(1,1-dioxo-2H-(1,2,4)-benzothiadizin-3-yl)-4-hydroxy-2(1H)-quinolinone series using NS5B protein. Total of 41 quinolinone derivatives is used for molecular modeling study. The binding conformation and hydrogen bond interaction of the docked complexes were analyzed to model the inhibitors. We identified the molecule XXXV that had a higher affinity with NS5B. The molecular dynamics study confirmed the stability of the compound XXXV-NS5B complex. The developed CoMFA descriptors parameters, which were calculated using a test set of 13 compounds, were statistically significant. Our results will provide useful insights and lead to design potent anti-Hepatitis C virus molecules.