Author(s):
Gagan Kumar Panigrahi, Annapurna Sahoo, Sanjoy Majumder, Amrita Behera, Asish Kumar Patro, Rutupurna Das
Email(s):
gagan.panigrahi@cutm.ac.in , gagan.rie@gmail.com , annapurna.mju@gmail.com
DOI:
10.52711/0974-360X.2026.00344 
Address:
Gagan Kumar Panigrahi1*, Annapurna Sahoo2*, Sanjoy Majumder3, Amrita Behera1, Asish Kumar Patro1, Rutupurna Das1
1Department of Zoology, School of Applied Sciences, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Odisha, India.
2Department of Zoology, Jatni College, Khordha, Odisha, India.
3School of Biotechnology, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Odisha, India.
*Corresponding Author
Published In:
Volume - 19,
Issue - 6,
Year - 2026
ABSTRACT:
Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is an mRNA-level quality control mechanism that detects and degrades premature termination codons (PTC) containing transcripts and it also takes part in gene expression regulation by regulating the endogenous transcripts. Various proteins are associated with the NMD pathway (such as UPFs, SMGs), any alteration or mutation within these proteins may facilitate various pathophysiological consequences. The serine/threonine protein kinase SMG1, also known as Suppressor with Morphogenetic Effect on Genitalia 1, has a crucial function in the pathway of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). Its primary function in NMD is to phosphorylate the RNA helicase UPF1, making it a promising target in therapeutic development. In this research, our goal was to identify small molecule inhibitors that can bind to SMG1 and potentially inhibit or modulates its activity. We employed computational docking to screen a library of hundreds FDA-approved cancer drugs against the SMG1 protein. The docking results revealed several promising candidates with high binding affinities to the binding site of SMG1. We have selected compounds which shows binding energy score less than -10.0 Kcal/mol. Analysis of the docking results revealed that eleven compounds are having binding energy score less than our threshold value of -10 Kcal/mol and the anticancer drug Nilotinib with binding energy score of -11.25Kcal/mol shows the strongest binding affinity towards SMG1 protein among all ligands. These findings provide a foundation for further experimental validation and development of SMG1 inhibitors, offering a novel therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment by targeting the NMD pathway.
Cite this article:
Gagan Kumar Panigrahi, Annapurna Sahoo, Sanjoy Majumder, Amrita Behera, Asish Kumar Patro, Rutupurna Das. Targeting SMG1: Screening and Identification of Small Molecule Modulators of Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay. Research Journal Pharmacy and Technology. 2026;19(6):2409-5. doi: 10.52711/0974-360X.2026.00344
Cite(Electronic):
Gagan Kumar Panigrahi, Annapurna Sahoo, Sanjoy Majumder, Amrita Behera, Asish Kumar Patro, Rutupurna Das. Targeting SMG1: Screening and Identification of Small Molecule Modulators of Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay. Research Journal Pharmacy and Technology. 2026;19(6):2409-5. doi: 10.52711/0974-360X.2026.00344 Available on: https://www.rjptonline.org/AbstractView.aspx?PID=2026-19-6-1
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