Molecular docking predictions of stevioside-insulin receptor (IR) interactions in a Mus musculus IR model (#261)
The escalating numbers of metabolic syndromes like obesity and diabetes due to the adoption of sedentary lifestyles and modern eating habits has been worrying nowadays. Problems introduced by side effects and incompatibilities of current drugs have initiated the rise of alternative therapies, mainly from natural products like stevioside. As one of the steviol glycosides extracted from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, stevioside holds high promises as a possible treatment to insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus. It has zero calories despite having immense sweetening properties exceeding 300 times more than normal sucrose. Past reports have also indicated stevioside’s abilities in lowering postprandial blood glucose levels both in rats and human subjects. Furthermore, it was also discovered that stevioside managed to increase glucose uptake and elevate proteins related to the insulin signalling pathway in 3T3-L1 (Mus musculus) adipocytes. This finding has therefore instigated this project in evaluating the interactions between stevioside and the insulin receptor (IR) via bioinformatics means. A three-dimensional (3D) structure of the Mus musculus IR was initially built with the MODELLER programme based on the human IR structure isolated through x-ray diffraction (PDB ID: 3LOH). This modelled mouse IR was then subjected for the docking of stevioside using the AutoDock Vina programme. Through these docking simulations, it was revealed that stevioside has managed to dock to three different binding pockets within the mouse IR. Most interestingly, stevioside was also seen to favourably dock on the same binding region to that of insulin. As a summary, this discovery may shed some light in understanding the stevioside-IR interactions as part of enhancing the activities of the insulin signalling pathway and improving insulin sensitivity.