Structure-based design of eugenol analogs as potential estrogen receptor antagonists

Eugenol is an essential oil mainly found in the buds and leaves of clove (Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merrill and Perry), which hasbeen reported to have activity on inhibition of cell proliferation and apoptosis induction in human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Thisbiological activity is correlated to its activity as an estrogen receptor antagonist. In this article, we present the construction andvalidation of structure-based virtual screening (SBVS) protocols to identify the potent estrogen receptor α (ER) antagonists. Theselected protocol, which gave acceptable enrichment factors as a virtual screening protocol, subsequently used to virtually screeneugenol, its analogs and their dimers. Based on the virtual screening results, dimer eugenol of 4-[4-hydroxy-3-(prop-2-en-1-yl)phenyl]-2-(prop-2-en-1-yl)phenol is recommended to be developed further in order to discover novel and potent ER antagonists.