γ-sitosterol a potent hypolipidemic agent: In silico docking analysis

A molecular docking analysis has been carried out to examine the hypolipidemic property of γ-sitosterol against five target proteins [acetoacetyl thiolase (PDB ID: 2 F2S), 3-(HMG-CoA) reductase (1DQ8), HMG-CoA synthase (PDB ID: 2P8U), squalene synthase (PDB ID: 3 V66, Oxido squalene cyclase (PDB ID: 1W6J)] which involved in cholesterol biosynthesis. The crystallographic structures of these target proteins were retrieved from PDB data base, and their active sites were identified by CastP server. The target proteins were subjected to docking analysis using Autodock tool v 4.2 and ADT v 1.5.6 programs. The docking studies showed that γ-sitosterol is a good and significant molecule which docks well with least lowest binding energy and inhibition constant values. Hence, γ-sitosterol can be considered for developing into a potent hypolipidemic agent. Graphical Abstract