In silico binding characteristics between human histamine H1 receptor and antagonists

It is widely acknowledged that the H(1) receptor antagonists have important therapeutic significance in the treatment of various allergic disorders, but little was known about the binding mode between the receptor and antagonists since the crystal structure of G-protein coupling receptors (GPCRs) were hard to obtain. In this paper, a theoretical three-dimensional model of human histamine H(1) receptor (HHR1) was developed on the basis of recently reported high resolution structures of human A(2A) adenosine receptor, human beta(2)-adrenoceptor and turkey beta(1)-adrenoceptor. Furthermore, three representative H(1) receptor antagonists were chosen for docking studies. Subsequently, a qualitative pharmacophore model was developed by Hiphop algorithm based on the docking conformations of these three antagonists. In this paper, active environment, certain key residues, and the corresponding pharmacophore features of H(1) receptor were identified by such combinations of receptor-based and ligand-based approaches, which would give sufficient guidance for the rational design of novel antihistamine agents.