Unraveling the molecular basis for effective regulation of integrin α5β1 for enhanced therapeutic interventions

Cell attachment to the extracellular matrix significantly impacts the integrity of tissues and human health. The integrin α5β1 is a heterodimer of α5 and β1 subunits and has been identified as a crucial modulator in several human carcinomas. Integrin α5β1 significantly regulates cell proliferation, angiogenesis, inflammation, tumor metastasis, and invasion. This regulatory role of integrin α5β1 in tumor metastasis makes it an appealing target for cancer therapy. The majority of the drugs targeting integrin α5β1 are limited only to clinical trials. In our study, we have performed 94287 compounds screening to determine potential drugs against α5β1 integrin. We have used ATN-161 as a reference and employed combined bioinformatic methodologies, including molecular modelling, virtual screening, MM-GBSA, cell-line cytotoxicity prediction, ADMET, Density Functional Theory (DFT), Non-covalent Interactions (NCI) and molecular simulation, to identify putative integrin α5β1 inhibitors. We found Taxifolin, PD133053, and Acebutolol that possess inhibitory activity against α5β1 integrin and could act as effective drug for the cancer treatment. Taxifolin, PD133053, and Acebutolol exhibited excellent binding to the druggable pocket of integrin α5β1, and also maintained a unique binding mechanism with extra hydrophobic contacts at molecular level. Overall, our study gives new pharmacological candidates that may act as a potential drug against integrin α5β1.