Combined magnetic ligand fishing and high-resolution inhibition profiling for identification of α-glucosidase inhibitory ligands: A new screening approach based on complementary inhibition and affinity profiles

Plants are well-recognized sources of inhibitors for α-glucosidase - a key target enzyme for management of type 2 diabetes. Recently, two advanced bioactivity-profiling techniques, i.e., ligand fishing and high-resolution inhibition profiling, have shown great promises for accelerating identification of α-glucosidase inhibitors from complex plant extracts. Non-specific affinities and non-specific inhibitions are major sources of false positive hits from ligand fishing and high-resolution inhibition profiling, respectively. In an attempt to minimize such false positive hits, we describe a new screening approach based on ligand fishing and high-resolution inhibition profiling for detection of high-affinity ligands and assessment of inhibitory activity, respectively. The complementary nature of ligand fishing and high-resolution inhibition profiling was explored to identify α-glucosidase inhibitory ligands from a complex mixture, and proof-of-concept was demonstrated with crude ethyl acetate extract of Ginkgo biloba. In addition to magnetic beads with a 3-carbon aliphatic linker, α-glucosidase was immobilized on magnetic beads with a 21-carbon aliphatic linker; and the two different types of magnetic beads were compared for their hydrolytic activity and fishing efficiency.