Identification of Bichalcones as Sirtuin Inhibitors by Virtual Screening and In Vitro Testing.

Sirtuins are nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺)-dependent class III histone deacetylases, which have been linked to the pathogenesis of numerous diseases, including HIV, metabolic disorders, neurodegeneration and cancer. Docking of the virtual pan-African natural products library (p-ANAPL), followed by in vitro testing, resulted in the identification of two inhibitors of sirtuin 1, 2 and 3 (sirt1-3). Two bichalcones, known as rhuschalcone IV () and an analogue of rhuschalcone I (), previously isolated from the medicinal plant , were shown to be active in the in vitro assay.