Structural analysis and ensemble docking revealed the binding modes of selected progesterone receptor modulators

Uterine fibroids (UF) are benign smooth muscle neoplasm of uterus that have a significant impact on a woman’s quality of life as they perturb hormonal homeostasis resulting in heavy menstrual bleeding, impaired fertility, pregnancy complications and loss. UF can be surgically removed through invasive procedures, but their recurrence rate is often high. Progesterone receptor (PR) has an imperative role in UF management. Mifepristone, ulipristal acetate (UPA) and asoprisnil (ASO) are some promising selective progesterone receptor modulators (SPRMs), acts on PR, but due to their side effects in long term use, they were withdrawn from the market. Hence, there is a dire need for novel, highly efficient with least side effects, therapeutics for the treatment of UF. To contribute towards the drug discovery for UF, we made an extensive structural comparison of reported PR crystal structures, also elucidated the binding modes of four existing SPRMs against human PR through ensemble docking approach. Our studies revealed the presence of 5 highly repeating water molecules that has an important role in ligand binding and structural stability. Our ensemble docking and MD simulation revealed that studied ligands have preferential selectivity towards the specific conformation of PR. It is anticipated that our study will be a useful resource to all the drug discovery scientists who are engaged in the identification of lead molecules against UF.