Discovery of vitexin as a novel α‐glucosidase inhibitors in mulberry (Morus alba L.) by untargeted metabolomics combined with molecular docking: A comprehensive study from mechanism to synergy effects
Zichun Wang,
Lu Zhang,
Meng Wang,
Zhenjiang Ding,
Difeng Ren,
Shenglin Duan
Affiliations
Zichun Wang
State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing Key Laboratory of Food Processing and Safety in Forestry, Department of Food Science and Engineering, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Beijing Forestry University Beijing China
Lu Zhang
Beijing Key Laboratory of the Innovative Development of Functional Staple and Nutritional Intervention for Chronic Diseases China National Research Institute of Food and Fermentation Industries Co., LTD Beijing China
Meng Wang
Beijing Key Laboratory of the Innovative Development of Functional Staple and Nutritional Intervention for Chronic Diseases China National Research Institute of Food and Fermentation Industries Co., LTD Beijing China
Zhenjiang Ding
Beijing Key Laboratory of the Innovative Development of Functional Staple and Nutritional Intervention for Chronic Diseases China National Research Institute of Food and Fermentation Industries Co., LTD Beijing China
Difeng Ren
State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing Key Laboratory of Food Processing and Safety in Forestry, Department of Food Science and Engineering, College of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Beijing Forestry University Beijing China
Shenglin Duan
Beijing Key Laboratory of the Innovative Development of Functional Staple and Nutritional Intervention for Chronic Diseases China National Research Institute of Food and Fermentation Industries Co., LTD Beijing China
Abstract Mulberry (Morus alba L.) leaf can effectively inhibit the digestion of starchy foods, and α‐glucosidase (AG) is its main target. This study employed an untargeted metabolomics approach combined with molecular docking to identify AG inhibitors. Subsequently, inhibition kinetics, fluorescence spectroscopy, and interaction force analysis were utilized to investigate the inhibitory mechanism. Results indicated that vitexin exhibited significant reversible inhibition of AG through competitive inhibition, with an IC50 value of 105.50 ± 1.30 μg/mL. Molecular docking revealed hydrogen bonding as the main interaction force between vitexin and AG, and quenching mechanism analysis showed that they underwent static quenching driven by entropy. The results of the combined experiment showed that 1‐deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), a known bioactive component in mulberry, has a synergistic effect of inhibiting AG activity with vitexin. This study elucidates the potential mechanism of vitexin in inhibiting AG activity and provides theoretical evidence for utilizing vitexin‐DNJ complexes as functional components of AG inhibitors.
