The interaction of one anticancer drug (caffeic acid phenethyl ester; CAPE) with three proteases (trypsin, pepsin and α-chymotrypsin) has been investigated with multispectral methods and molecular docking. As an active components in propolis, the findings are of great benefit to metabolism, design, and structural modification of drugs. The results show that CAPE has an obvious ability to quench the trypsin, pepsin, or α-chymotrypsin fluorescence mainly through a static quenching procedure.Trypsin has the largest binding affinity to CAPE, and α-chymotrypsin has the smallest binding affinity to CAPE. The data obtained from thermodynamic parameters and molecular docking prove that the spontaneously interaction between CAPE and each protease is mainly due to a combination of van der Waals (vdW) force and hydrogen bond (H-bond), controlled by an enthalpy-driven process. The binding force, strength, position, and the number of H-bond are further obtained from the results of molecular docking. Through ultraviolet spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and circular dichroism experiments, the change in the protease secondary structure induced by CAPE was observed. Additionally, the addition of protease had a positive effect on the antioxidative activity of CAPE, and α-chymotrypsin has the greatest effect on the removal of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radicals by CAPE.α-chymotrypsin, caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), pepsin, trypsin
| INTRODUCTIONCaffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) has been widely used in various regions as a traditional natural medicine. [1] As the main active ingredient of propolis, CAPE has various biological activities, including anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, neuroprotective, etc. [2][3][4] In addition, it has a very strong antioxidant capacity, [5] as a polyphenol containing hydroxyl groups in benzenediol. [6] In previous works, the study of the interaction between CAPE and macromolecules mainly focus on the binding mechanism, influencing factors, drug activities, and pharmacology; many theoretical researches have been done.Studies have shown that poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) fibre can enhance the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of CAPE. [7] CAPE can inhibit iNOS gene transcription by inhibiting the nuclear factor NF-κB site, and can inhibit the catalytic activity of iNOS, [8] which provides a research basis for the anti-inflammatory and antitumour effects of CAPE. According to reports, after CAPE is compounded with γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD), the anticancer activity of CAPE will increase. [9] In addition, in the work of this research group, the binding constant of CAPE and bovine serum albumin was $10 6 , of which the main forces are H-bond and vdW force, and the driving mode is enthalpy drive. However, there are few studies on the interaction