# Evaluation of molecular interactions of vaping juice components with ACE2 receptor

## TL;DR

This study explores how chemicals in vaping juice interact with the ACE2 receptor, which could help explain health effects of vaping.

## Contribution

The study is the first to evaluate molecular interactions of vaping juice components with ACE2 using docking, simulations, and BLI experiments.

## Key findings

- Menthol, nicotine, and capsaicin showed strong binding to ACE2, with capsaicin forming multiple hydrogen bonds.
- Formaldehyde and acrolein had moderate binding but no significant interactions due to their small size.
- Nicotine demonstrated the most stable binding to ACE2 in BLI experiments.

## Abstract

Electronic nicotine delivery systems have recently achieved great popularity as safer alternatives to traditional tobacco. However, there is growing evidence that vaping is not harmless, with documented acute and chronic health effects. This study investigated how components of vape juice interact with human Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors, using molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and Biolayer Interferometry (BLI). In the initial docking, menthol showed the strongest binding, followed by nicotine and capsaicin, while formaldehyde and acrolein demonstrated moderate binding to the zinc ion binding site of ACE2. Capsaicin formed the greatest number of interactions with multiple hydrogen bonds targeting the catalytic HIS374 residue. Menthol, glycerol, and propylene glycol also formed hydrogen bonds in the active site region, while nicotine formed polar interactions. In contrast, formaldehyde and acrolein, the product of glycerol and propylene glycol, did not form any significant interactions with ACE2, maybe due to their small molecule size. All vaping components formed interactions with the Zn2+ ion, suggesting potential implications on active site functionality. In the BLI experiments, nicotine demonstrated the most stable binding to ACE2, as evidenced by slow dissociation. The binding of menthol and capsaicin to ACE2 was less stable compared to nicotine, possibly due to their hydrophobic nature. These findings can pave the way for future studies exploring the vaping-related effects within a receptor-centric systems biology framework.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-39533-0.