Tyrosinase inhibition by a rare neolignan: Inhibition kinetics and mechanistic insights through in vitro and in silico studies

Neolignans are a large group of polyphenols found in plants and exhibit a wide range of bioactivities including cytotoxicity, apoptosis inducer, antimalarial and antifungal effects, acetylcholinesterase, tyrosinase, and alpha-glucosidase inhibition. In this study we tested acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), tyrosinase, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitory effects of a rare neolignan, (-)-4-O-methyldehydrodiconiferyl alcohol 9'-O-beta-glucopyranoside (1) in search for its new pharmaceutical effects. This compound exhibited good tyrosinase inhibition with an IC50 value of 44.62 +/- 3.99 mu g/mL. Enzyme kinetics and molecular modelling studies were performed to provide insights into its tyrosinase inhibition mechanism.