Wound healing activity and docking of glycogen-synthase-kinase-3-β-protein with isolated triterpenoid lupeol in rats

A triterpene compound lupeol isolated from petroleum ether extract of leaves of Celastrus paniculatus was screened for wound healing activity (8 mg/ml of 0.2% sodium alginate gel) by excision, incision and dead space wound models on Swiss Albino rats (175–225 g). In lupeol treated groups wound healing activity was more significant (17.83±0.48) than the standard skin ointment nitrofurazone (18.33±0.42). Epithelialization of the incision wound was faster with a high rate of wound contraction (571.50±5.07) as compared with the control group. In dead space wound model also the weight of the granulation tissue of the lupeol treated animal was increased indicating increase of collagenation and absence of monocytes. The comparative docking of isolated lupeol molecule and standard drug nitrofurazone to glycogen synthase kinase3-β protein by Wnt signaling pathway also supported the wound healing property of lupeol. The activation domain of GSK3-β consisted of Tyr216, with residues Asn64, Gly65, Ser66, Phe67, Gly68, Val70, Lys85, Leu132, Val135, Asp181 in the active pocket docked with lupeol at the torsional degree of freedom 0.5 units with Lamarckian genetic algorithm showed the inhibition constant of 1.38×10−7. The inhibition constant of nitrofurazone was only 1.35×10−4.