Alpha lipoic acid (ALA) is one of the most powerful antioxidants and a cofactor in enzyme complexes, although its mechanisms are still unknown. The search for protein targets of ALA is fundamental to understand its signaling pathways. A bioinformatics approach was used to find hypothetical targets for ALA using the Target Fishing Dock Server (TarFisDock). Affinity scores for the best hits were calculated by AutoDock Vina. Relevant targets included leukotriene A4 hydrolase, voltage gated potassium channel, alpha hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and epoxide hydrolase, proteins involved in cancer, diabetes, and neurological and cardiovascular disorders. The counterpoise-corrected interaction energies calculated for proteins that bind R-ALA showed favorable interactions R-ALA-residues. Superpositioning of R-ALA with known inhibitors of those proteins, together with the finding that R-ALA adopts different spatial conformations in their binding sites, suggests R-ALA could be a plausible weak inhibitor of these targets, and this effect should be considered when studying its biochemical effects.
antioxidant; cofactor; inhibitor; docking; TarFisDock; AutoDock Vina
