Combining experimental techniques with molecular dynamics to investigate the impact of different enzymatic hydrolysis of ß-lactoglobulin on the antigenicity reduction.

ß-Lactoglobulin (ß-LG) is one of the major food allergens. Enzymatic hydrolysis is a promising strategy to reduce the antigenicity of ß-LG in industrial production. The relationship between the cleavage sites of ß-LG by protease and its antigenic active sites were explored in this study. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) were used to analyze the active sites and interaction force of ß-LG and IgG antibody. Whey protein was hydrolyzed by four specific enzymes and the antigenicity of the hydrolysates were determined by ELISA. The results of MD showed that the amino acid residue Gln155 (-4.48 kcal mol-1) played the most important roles in the process of binding. Hydrolysates produced by AY-10, which was the only one with specificity towards cleavage sites next to a Gln, had the lowest antigenicity at the same hydrolysis degree. Antigenicity decrease was related to the energy contribution of the cleavage site in the active sites.

Various machine learning approaches coupled with molecule simulation in the screening of natural compounds with xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity.

Gout is a common inflammatory arthritis associated with various comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. Xanthine oxidase inhibitors (XOIs) have emerged as effective substances to control gout. Much attention has been given to the search for natural XOIs. In this study, a molecular database of natural XOIs was created for modeling purposes. Quantitative structure-activity relationship models were developed by combining various machine learning approaches and three descriptor pools. The models revealed several features of XOIs, including hydrophobicity and steric molecular structures. Experimental results showed the xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity of predicted compounds. Vanillic acid was identified as a promising new XOI candidate, with an IC50 of 0.593 µg mL-1. The functions of hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions in XO activity inhibition were confirmed by molecular docking. This study fills knowledge gaps pertaining to the discovery of natural XOIs and to the interaction mechanisms between XOIs and XO.