Uncovering a New Weapon Against Alzheimer's: The Hunt for Caspase-6 Inhibitors

Caspase-6, a protein linked to brain cell death and neurodegeneration, has been on scientists’ radar for a while. This protein is especially active during inflammation and may play a role in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers have now combined two drug-designing approaches to find a new caspase-6 inhibitor. Using a structure called US9 (PDB ID 8EG6), they created models to identify the best compounds that could block caspase-6. They rated these models using scores like EF value and GH score. After eliminating unwanted compounds with software called KNIME, they tested the remaining ones using a method called docking-based virtual screening to find promising leads. The top two compounds, ZINC000012563650 and ZINC000069415222, then went through a series of molecular docking studies. One of them, ZINC000069415222, showed better stability, ideal drug properties, and lower risk of toxicity in simulations. This makes it a potential new drug to explore further in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.