Key result
In-silico molecular docking revealed that doxorubicin strongly binds to phosphofructokinase, alpha-enolase, HMOX1, and PINK1, suggesting a mechanism for disrupted cardiac energy metabolism.
Why the study?
Clinical use of doxorubicin is limited by adverse consequences, most notably cardiomyopathy, motivating an evaluation of the molecular mechanisms behind impaired cardiac energetics.
In-silico modeling suggests that doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy may be driven by direct binding and inhibition of key enzymes in glycolysis, iron/calcium homeostasis, and the electron transport chain, leading to cardiac ATP depletion.
Hypothesis-generating for doxorubicin cardiotoxicity mechanisms; leaves open clinical relevance pending experimental validation.
Doxorubicin is a well-known anthracycline antibiotic that is frequently used to treat a variety of malignancies. However, its clinical use is limited due to its adverse consequences, most notably cardiomyopathy. In the present work, we evaluated the molecular mechanisms behind the impairment of cardiac energetics in doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy. According to molecular docking, the interaction of doxorubicin with phosphofructokinase (PKF) and α-enolase is likely to negatively affect glycolysis. The interaction between doxorubicin with HMOX1 results in the accumulation of free iron. The free iron contributes to the heme-driven toxicity and the oxidizing environment that results in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production resulting from cell death. Additionally, the interaction of doxorubicin with HMOX1 impairs the availability of iron required for the Krebs cycle and ETC function. The interaction between doxorubicin and PINK1 results in a reduced membrane potential, which results in calcium accumulation. On the other hand, a lack of iron and calcium in the mitochondrial matrix results in ATP depletion, impairing the Krebs cycle activity. At the same time, the primary cause of doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy is cardiac energy metabolism. Thus, our work shows that doxorubicin impairs the activity of PFK, α-enolase, HMOX1, and PINK1, resulting in ATP production failure. As a result of changes in the heart energy metabolism, this ultimately leads to dilated cardiomyopathy caused by doxorubicin. Understanding the critical function of cardiac energy metabolism in doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy is critical for overcoming the obstacles that effectively limit the clinical effectiveness of this life-saving anti-cancer treatment.
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A 2021 study studied Doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy. Doxorubicin was evaluated on Molecular binding energy and interactions with metabolic enzymes. In-silico molecular docking revealed that doxorubicin strongly binds to phosphofructokinase, alpha-enolase, HMOX1, and PINK1, suggesting a mechanism for disrupted cardiac energy metabolism.
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