Home › Research › Drug development
Exploring Natural Compounds for Alzheimer's Disease: Virtual Screening and Docking Study with KIBRA Protein
Ferrari IV.. Preprints.org, 2024-02-05
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Therapies targeting amyloid, such as monoclonal antibodies like Lecanemab, Aducanumab, and Donanemab, have garnered FDA approval but remain controversial due to limited clinical benefits and significant side effects against Alzheimer. The present theorical work utilized Virtual Screening and Docking techniques to explore potential small natural molecules' interactions with the KIBRA protein, a promising target for drug development. Kibra protein is considered a biomarker for synaptic dysfunction and cognitive decline.
Key findings
- The present theorical work utilized Virtual Screening and Docking techniques to explore potential small natural molecules' interactions with the KIBRA protein, a promising target for drug development.
- Kibra protein is considered a biomarker for synaptic dysfunction and cognitive decline.
- Employing Autodock Vina and Pyrx software, on several natural compounds and found Hypericin to exhibit the lowest binding energy of approximately -9 kcal/mol.
- Previous studies have highlighted Hypericin's strong affinity for Alzheimer's Disease-associated targets like ABAD and BACE1.
Why it matters
This theoretical work used virtual screening and docking to explore interactions between small natural molecules and the KIBRA protein, a biomarker for synaptic dysfunction and cognitive decline, finding Hypericin had the lowest binding energy of approximately -9 kcal/mol. It notes that amyloid-targeting monoclonal antibodies such as lecanemab, aducanumab and donanemab remain controversial due to limited clinical benefits and significant side effects.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Treatments →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 16 on the same rubric, which is below the 16 cap we apply to non-peer-reviewed sources. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on impact for its field and year, so that was left out: it earned 15 of the 94 points we could judge it on, which is 16 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (Preprints.org) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2024 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 1 / 7 | Cited 1 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.2 citations a year over 4 year(s) since 2024 |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Ivan Vito Ferrari: h-index 10 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | National Research Council: institution h-index 840 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 15 / 94 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 15 of the 94 points we could judge it on is 16 out of 100. |
| Total | 16 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Ferrari, IV. (2024). Exploring Natural Compounds for Alzheimer's Disease: Virtual Screening and Docking Study with KIBRA Protein. Preprints.org. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.0232.v1
Vancouver
Ferrari IV. Exploring Natural Compounds for Alzheimer's Disease: Virtual Screening and Docking Study with KIBRA Protein. Preprints.org. 2024. doi:10.20944/preprints202402.0232.v1.
BibTeX
@article{ferrari2024-a3b419d0,
author = {Ferrari, IV.},
title = {{Exploring Natural Compounds for Alzheimer's Disease: Virtual Screening and Docking Study with KIBRA Protein}},
journal = {Preprints.org},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.20944/preprints202402.0232.v1},
url = {https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202402.0232.v1}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Related studies in Drug development
Also tagged “amyloid-beta”
1,339 studies in the library carry the topic tag “amyloid-beta”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,339 tagged studies.