3D QSAR studies of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds using CoMFA and CoMSIA

In the present study we have performed comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) on structurally diverse ligands of Ah (dioxin) receptor to explore the physico-chemical requirements for binding. All CoMFA and CoMSIA models have given q² value of more than 0.5 and r² value of more than 0.84. The predictive ability of the models was validated by an external test set, which gave satisfactory predictive r² values. Best predictions were obtained with CoMFA model of combined modified training set (q² = 0.631, r² = 0.900), giving predictive residual value = 0.02 log unit for the test compound. Addition of CoMSIA study has elucidated the role of hydrophobicity and hydrogen bonding along with the effect of steric and electrostatic properties revealed by CoMFA. We have suggested a model comprises of four structurally different compounds, which offers a good predictability for various ligands. Our QSAR model is consistent with all previously established QSAR models with less structurally diverse ligands.