In-Silico Screening of Jasmine Volatiles Against Human Serotonin Transporter for Antidepressant Potential

In-Silico Screening of Jasmine Volatiles Against Human Serotonin Transporter for Antidepressant Potential | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article In-Silico Screening of Jasmine Volatiles Against Human Serotonin Transporter for Antidepressant Potential Vishnupandi S, Manikanda Boopathi N, Sathish Kumar Konidala, Harsha Sri Kamma This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8395350/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Depression is a major mood disorder associated with impaired monoaminergic neurotransmission, for which current antidepressants often show limited efficacy and adverse side effects. This has intensified interest in plant-derived compounds as safer therapeutic alternatives. Jasminum sambac is traditionally recognized for its mood-modulating properties and is rich in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with potential neuroactive functions. In this study, floral volatiles of J. sambac were extracted using Soxhlet extraction, profiled through GC-MS analysis, and subsequently evaluated for their interaction with the human serotonin transporter (SERT) using molecular docking. GC–MS profiling revealed a diverse blend of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, benzenoids, and other aromatic derivatives, with key constituents including linalool, benzyl acetate, α-farnesene and germacrene-D. Docking studies demonstrated that germacrene-D exhibited the strongest binding affinity among jasmine volatiles (-7.9 kcal/mol), closely approaching the standard antidepressant fluoxetine (-8.9 kcal/mol). Hydrophobic interactions dominated the binding mechanism, with Ile172 serving as a conserved interacting residue for most compounds. These results suggested that selected J. sambac volatiles possess promising affinity toward SERT, supporting their potential role in modulating serotonergic signalling. Overall, this study provides molecular evidence for the antidepressant potential of jasmine floral metabolites and highlights their suitability for further pharmacological validation. J. sambac Anti-depression Molecular docking serotonin transporter metabolites Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8395350","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":603989887,"identity":"58f51059-e675-4d6a-a1fc-3c64e546dd9f","order_by":0,"name":"Vishnupandi S","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tamil Nadu Agricultural University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Vishnupandi","middleName":"","lastName":"S","suffix":""},{"id":603989888,"identity":"94b1acc1-9488-47dc-b97d-6650e441a4fe","order_by":1,"name":"Manikanda Boopathi N","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHghlwMx8AC52AKtKNC0SBsxsiQ0kamHgMWzArxIKzMXOHnzwcYddnTk7z/fHBTWHGfjbDzAeLsCjxXJ2XrLhzDPJEpbNvBubZxw7zCBxJoHh8Aw8Wgxu55hJ87YxSxgcBmrhYTvMwHCDgeEwD2Et9UAtPA+bef4dZpAnUsthkBbGZiCDwYCwFrBfjktuOMxmOJu3L53H8ExiAwEtuaAQq+Y3OH/4wWeeb9ZycscPH/6MTwsYMDYg2DyoXGK0jIJRMApGwSjAAAAqX0w9Py1XFgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Tamil Nadu Agricultural University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Manikanda","middleName":"Boopathi","lastName":"N","suffix":""},{"id":603989889,"identity":"c133400c-9f6d-43c9-ba75-33dfc3260518","order_by":2,"name":"Sathish Kumar Konidala","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sathish","middleName":"Kumar","lastName":"Konidala","suffix":""},{"id":603989890,"identity":"bcfff48d-d78e-4c83-82b0-802df8a8a980","order_by":3,"name":"Harsha Sri Kamma","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Harsha","middleName":"Sri","lastName":"Kamma","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-18 12:23:13","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8395350/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8395350/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104782533,"identity":"1a5c8350-3898-4500-aaa2-3facba4cda50","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-17 07:57:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":870673,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"InSilicoEvaluationofAntidepressantPotentialofJasmineFloralVolatilesv2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8395350/v1_covered_4e985f6d-08ee-4df8-a48d-7837ce844206.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"In-Silico Screening of Jasmine Volatiles Against Human Serotonin Transporter for Antidepressant Potential","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"J. sambac, Anti-depression, Molecular docking, serotonin transporter, metabolites","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8395350/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8395350/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Depression is a major mood disorder associated with impaired monoaminergic neurotransmission, for which current antidepressants often show limited efficacy and adverse side effects. This has intensified interest in plant-derived compounds as safer therapeutic alternatives. Jasminum sambac is traditionally recognized for its mood-modulating properties and is rich in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with potential neuroactive functions. In this study, floral volatiles of J. sambac were extracted using Soxhlet extraction, profiled through GC-MS analysis, and subsequently evaluated for their interaction with the human serotonin transporter (SERT) using molecular docking. GC–MS profiling revealed a diverse blend of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, benzenoids, and other aromatic derivatives, with key constituents including linalool, benzyl acetate, α-farnesene and germacrene-D. Docking studies demonstrated that germacrene-D exhibited the strongest binding affinity among jasmine volatiles (-7.9 kcal/mol), closely approaching the standard antidepressant fluoxetine (-8.9 kcal/mol). Hydrophobic interactions dominated the binding mechanism, with Ile172 serving as a conserved interacting residue for most compounds. These results suggested that selected J. sambac volatiles possess promising affinity toward SERT, supporting their potential role in modulating serotonergic signalling. 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