Design of vilazodone-donepezil chimeric derivatives as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors by QSAR, molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a disease that affects the cognitive abilities of older adults, and it is one of the biggest global medical challenges of the 21st century. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) can increase acetylcholine concentrations and improve cognitive function in patients, and is a potential target to develop small molecule inhibitors for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, 29 vilazodone-donepezil chimeric derivatives are systematically studied using 3D-QSAR modeling, and a robust and reliable Topomer CoMFA model was obtained with: q² = 0.720, r² = 0.991, F = 287.234, N = 6, and SEE = 0.098. Based on the established model and combined with the ZINC20 database, 33 new compounds with ideal inhibitory activity are successfully designed. Molecular docking and ADMET property prediction also show that these newly designed compounds have a good binding ability to the target protein and can meet the medicinal conditions. Subsequently, four new compounds with good comprehensive ability are selected for molecular dynamics simulation, and the simulation results confirm that the newly designed compounds have a certain degree of reliability and stability. This study provides guidance for vilazodone-donepezil chimeric derivatives as a potential AChE inhibitor and has certain theoretical value.