ER/AR Multi-Conformational Docking Server: A Tool for Discovering and Studying Estrogen and Androgen Receptor Modulators

Front Pharmacol. 2022 Jan 24:13:800885. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.800885. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

The prediction of the estrogen receptor (ER) and androgen receptor (AR) activity of a compound is quite important to avoid the environmental exposures of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The Estrogen and Androgen Receptor Database (EARDB, http://eardb.schanglab.org.cn/) provides a unique collection of reported ERα, ERβ, or AR protein structures and known small molecule modulators. With the user-uploaded query molecules, molecular docking based on multi-conformations of a single target will be performed. Moreover, the 2D similarity search against known modulators is also provided. Molecules predicted with a low binding energy or high similarity to known ERα, ERβ, or AR modulators may be potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals or new modulators. The server provides a tool to predict the endocrine activity for compounds of interests, benefiting for the ER and AR drug design and endocrine-disrupting chemical identification.

Keywords: androgen receptor (AR); estrogen receptor (ER); molecular docking; similarity search; web-server.