Abstract:The development of virtual screening techniques represents a major advance in the current drug design era. Through several strategies, virtual screening is able to facilitate the selection of molecules with the desired chemical features to modulate the biological activity of the most attractive molecular targets currently available. From the simplest techniques, as the similarity search or molecular docking, to more complex strategies, including statistical methods and machine learning, the main goal of virtual screening is to improve the searching for molecules with the desired features required for becoming drug candidates, thus accelerating the continuous process of drug design. The aim of this review is to discuss the main virtual screening strategies and how they relate to the drug design process.Keywords: Virtual screening; drug design; molecular modeling. ResumoO desenvolvimento de técnicas de triagem virtual representa um dos maiores avanços na atual era de planejamento de fármacos. A triagem virtual, através de inúmeras estratégias distintas, é capaz de direcionar a seleção de moléculas com as características químicas desejadas para modular a atividade biológica dos mais diversos e atrativos alvos moleculares conhecidos na atualidade. Desde as técnicas mais simples, como a bus a po si ila idade ou do age molecular, até as estratégias mais complexas, que envolvem métodos estatísticos e de aprendizagem de máquinas, o objetivo principal da triagem virtual é aprimorar o processo de busca de novos candidatos a fármacos e acelerar o processo contínuo do seu planejamento. O objetivo desta revisão é discutir as principais técnicas de triagem virtual e como elas se relacionam com o desenvolvimento de novos fármacos.Palavras-chave: Triagem virtual; planejamento de fármacos; modelagem molecular.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized microscopically by the presence of amyloid plaques, which are accumulations of beta-amyloid protein inter-neurons, and neurofibrillary tangles formed predominantly by highly phosphorylated forms of the microtubule-associated protein, tau, which form tangled masses that consume neuronal cell body, possibly leading to neuronal dysfunction and ultimately death. p38α mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) has been implicated in both events associated with AD, tau phosphorylation and inflammation. p38α MAPK pathway is activated by a dual phosphorylation at Thr180 and Tyr182 residues. Drug design of p38α MAPK inhibitors is mainly focused on small molecules that compete for Adenosine triphosphate in the catalytic site. Here, we used different approaches of structure- and ligand-based drug design and medicinal chemistry strategies based on a selected p38α MAPK structure deposited in the Protein Data Bank in complex with inhibitor, as well as others reported in literature. As a result of the virtual screening experiments performed here, as well as molecular dynamics, molecular interaction fields studies, shape and electrostatic similarities, activity and toxicity predictions, and pharmacokinetic and physicochemical properties, we have selected 13 compounds that meet the criteria of low or no toxicity potential, good pharmacotherapeutic profile, predicted activities, and calculated values ​​comparable with those obtained for the reference compounds, while maintaining the main interactions observed for the most potent inhibitors.

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