Identification of novel human neutrophil elastase inhibitors from dietary phytochemicals using in silico and in vitro studies

Human neutrophil elastase (HNE) has been well studied as a therapeutic target for inflammatory diseases for several decades. A variety of small-molecule HNE inhibitors have been well known, and their mode of binding at the active site of the enzyme has been determined, but none of them reached clinical trials except sivelestat. In this study, we intended to identify potent dietary phytochemicals that can target the active site of HNE by...