Molecular Docking Studies of Arbutin Derivatives as Tyrosinase Inhibitors

Arbutin is a natural skin-whitening agent as a tyrosinase inhibitor. Arbutin could effectively inhibit the activity of tyrosinase in skin cells and block the formation of melanin without affecting cell proliferation. In the development of drugs, such as arbutin derivatives, a simulation of interactions between tyrosinase enzymes as the target proteins with ligands (arbutin derivatives) is required, by using molecular docking simulation method. Preparation of ligands and proteins was performed using AutoDock 4.2. The results show that α-arbutin derivatives (α-arbutin-undecylinate ester and deoxy-α-arbutin) is able to inhibit a tyrosinase.