In silico multi-filter screening approaches for developing novel β-secretase inhibitors

A large database of chemical structures was screened for potential inhibitors of β-secretase was carried out using in silico multi-filter techniques. Substructure screening, computer-aided ligand docking, binding free energy calculations, and partial interaction energy analyses were performed successively to identify chemical compounds which could serve as different scaffolds from known β-secretase inhibitors for future drug design. We showed that our in silico multi-filter screening retrieved all known inhibitors from the compound database investigated, which suggests that the other compounds identified as inhibitors by this computerized screening process are potential β-secretase inhibitors.