101
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Palermo G, Miao Y, Walker RC, Jinek M, McCammon JA. Striking Plasticity of CRISPR-Cas9 and Key Role of Non-target DNA, as Revealed by Molecular Simulations. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2016; 2:756-763. [PMID: 27800559 PMCID: PMC5084073 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.6b00218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2016] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
The CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas9 system recently emerged as a transformative genome-editing technology that is innovating basic bioscience and applied medicine and biotechnology. The endonuclease Cas9 associates with a guide RNA to match and cleave complementary sequences in double stranded DNA, forming an RNA:DNA hybrid and a displaced non-target DNA strand. Although extensive structural studies are ongoing, the conformational dynamics of Cas9 and its interplay with the nucleic acids during association and DNA cleavage are largely unclear. Here, by employing multi-microsecond time scale molecular dynamics, we reveal the conformational plasticity of Cas9 and identify key determinants that allow its large-scale conformational changes during nucleic acid binding and processing. We show how the "closure" of the protein, which accompanies nucleic acid binding, fundamentally relies on highly coupled and specific motions of the protein domains, collectively initiating the prominent conformational changes needed for nucleic acid association. We further reveal a key role of the non-target DNA during the process of activation of the nuclease HNH domain, showing how the nontarget DNA positioning triggers local conformational changes that favor the formation of a catalytically competent Cas9. Finally, a remarkable conformational plasticity is identified as an intrinsic property of the HNH domain, constituting a necessary element that allows for the HNH repositioning. These novel findings constitute a reference for future experimental studies aimed at a full characterization of the dynamic features of the CRISPR-Cas9 system, and-more importantly-call for novel structure engineering efforts that are of fundamental importance for the rational design of new genome-engineering applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Palermo
- Department
of Pharmacology, University of California
San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, University of
California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Yinglong Miao
- Department
of Pharmacology, University of California
San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, University of
California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Ross C. Walker
- San
Diego Supercomputer Center, University of
California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC0505, La Jolla, California 92093-0505, United States
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Martin Jinek
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - J. Andrew McCammon
- Department
of Pharmacology, University of California
San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, University of
California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- San
Diego Supercomputer Center, University of
California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC0505, La Jolla, California 92093-0505, United States
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- National
Biomedical Computation Resource, University
of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0608, United States
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102
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Chakraborty A, Kinney RG, Krause JA, Guan H. Cooperative Iron–Oxygen–Copper Catalysis in the Reduction of Benzaldehyde under Water-Gas Shift Reaction Conditions. ACS Catal 2016. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.6b01994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Arundhoti Chakraborty
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210172, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0172, United States
| | - R. Garrison Kinney
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210172, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0172, United States
| | - Jeanette A. Krause
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210172, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0172, United States
| | - Hairong Guan
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210172, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0172, United States
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103
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Casalino L, Magistrato A. Structural, dynamical and catalytic interplay between Mg2+ ions and RNA. Vices and virtues of atomistic simulations. Inorganica Chim Acta 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ica.2016.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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104
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Genna V, Vidossich P, Ippoliti E, Carloni P, De Vivo M. A Self-Activated Mechanism for Nucleic Acid Polymerization Catalyzed by DNA/RNA Polymerases. J Am Chem Soc 2016; 138:14592-14598. [PMID: 27530537 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b05475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
The enzymatic polymerization of DNA and RNA is the basis for genetic inheritance for all living organisms. It is catalyzed by the DNA/RNA polymerase (Pol) superfamily. Here, bioinformatics analysis reveals that the incoming nucleotide substrate always forms an H-bond between its 3'-OH and β-phosphate moieties upon formation of the Michaelis complex. This previously unrecognized H-bond implies a novel self-activated mechanism (SAM), which synergistically connects the in situ nucleophile formation with subsequent nucleotide addition and, importantly, nucleic acid translocation. Thus, SAM allows an elegant and efficient closed-loop sequence of chemical and physical steps for Pol catalysis. This is markedly different from previous mechanistic hypotheses. Our proposed mechanism is corroborated via ab initio QM/MM simulations on a specific Pol, the human DNA polymerase-η, an enzyme involved in repairing damaged DNA. The structural conservation of DNA and RNA Pols supports the possible extension of SAM to Pol enzymes from the three domains of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vito Genna
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling & Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia , Via Morego 30, 16163, Genoa, Italy.,IAS-5/INM-9 Computational Biomedicine and JARA-HPC, Forschungszentrum Jülich , Wilhelm-Johnen-Strasse, 52428 Jülich, Germany
| | - Pietro Vidossich
- IAS-5/INM-9 Computational Biomedicine and JARA-HPC, Forschungszentrum Jülich , Wilhelm-Johnen-Strasse, 52428 Jülich, Germany
| | - Emiliano Ippoliti
- IAS-5/INM-9 Computational Biomedicine and JARA-HPC, Forschungszentrum Jülich , Wilhelm-Johnen-Strasse, 52428 Jülich, Germany
| | - Paolo Carloni
- IAS-5/INM-9 Computational Biomedicine and JARA-HPC, Forschungszentrum Jülich , Wilhelm-Johnen-Strasse, 52428 Jülich, Germany
| | - Marco De Vivo
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling & Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia , Via Morego 30, 16163, Genoa, Italy.,IAS-5/INM-9 Computational Biomedicine and JARA-HPC, Forschungszentrum Jülich , Wilhelm-Johnen-Strasse, 52428 Jülich, Germany
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105
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Matute RA, Yoon H, Warshel A. Exploring the mechanism of DNA polymerases by analyzing the effect of mutations of active site acidic groups in Polymerase β. Proteins 2016; 84:1644-1657. [PMID: 27488241 DOI: 10.1002/prot.25106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2016] [Accepted: 07/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Elucidating the catalytic mechanism of DNA polymerase is crucial for a progress in the understanding of the control of replication fidelity. This work tries to advance the mechanistic understanding by analyzing the observed effect of mutations of the acidic groups in the active site of Polymerase β as well as the pH effect on the rate constant. The analysis involves both empirical valence bond (EVB) free energy calculations and considerations of the observed pH dependence of the reaction. The combined analysis indicates that the proton transfer (PT) from the nucleophilic O3' has two possible pathways, one to D256 and the second to the bulk. We concluded based on calculations and the experimental pH profile that the most likely path for the wild-type (WT) and the D256E and D256A mutants is a PT to the bulk, although the WT may also use a PT to Asp 256. Our analysis highlights the need for very extensive sampling in the calculations of the activation barrier and also clearly shows that ab initio QM/MM calculations that do not involve extensive sampling are unlikely to give a clear quantitative picture of the reaction mechanism. Proteins 2016; 84:1644-1657. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo A Matute
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, 418 SGM Building, 3620 McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90089-1062
| | - Hanwool Yoon
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, 418 SGM Building, 3620 McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90089-1062
| | - Arieh Warshel
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, 418 SGM Building, 3620 McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90089-1062.
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106
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Das K, Balzarini J, Miller MT, Maguire AR, DeStefano JJ, Arnold E. Conformational States of HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase for Nucleotide Incorporation vs Pyrophosphorolysis-Binding of Foscarnet. ACS Chem Biol 2016; 11:2158-64. [PMID: 27192549 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.6b00187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) catalytically incorporates individual nucleotides into a viral DNA strand complementing an RNA or DNA template strand; the polymerase active site of RT adopts multiple conformational and structural states while performing this task. The states associated are dNTP binding at the N site, catalytic incorporation of a nucleotide, release of a pyrophosphate, and translocation of the primer 3'-end to the P site. Structural characterization of each of these states may help in understanding the molecular mechanisms of drug activity and resistance and in developing new RT inhibitors. Using a 38-mer DNA template-primer aptamer as the substrate mimic, we crystallized an RT/dsDNA complex that is catalytically active, yet translocation-incompetent in crystals. The ability of RT to perform dNTP binding and incorporation in crystals permitted obtaining a series of structures: (I) RT/DNA (P-site), (II) RT/DNA/AZTTP ternary, (III) RT/AZT-terminated DNA (N-site), and (IV) RT/AZT-terminated DNA (N-site)/foscarnet complexes. The stable N-site complex permitted the binding of foscarnet as a pyrophosphate mimic. The Mg(2+) ions dissociated after catalytic addition of AZTMP in the pretranslocated structure III, whereas ions A and B had re-entered the active site to bind foscarnet in structure IV. The binding of foscarnet involves chelation with the Mg(2+) (B) ion and interactions with K65 and R72. The analysis of interactions of foscarnet and the recently discovered nucleotide-competing RT inhibitor (NcRTI) α-T-CNP in two different conformational states of the enzyme provides insights for developing new classes of polymerase active site RT inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kalyan Das
- Center
for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), Department of Chemistry
and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States
| | - Jan Balzarini
- Rega
Institute for Medical Research and Department of Microbiology and
Immunology, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Matthew T. Miller
- Center
for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), Department of Chemistry
and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States
| | - Anita R. Maguire
- Department
of Chemistry and School of Pharmacy, Analytical and Biological Chemistry
Research Facility, Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Jeffrey J. DeStefano
- Department
of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland, United States
| | - Eddy Arnold
- Center
for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), Department of Chemistry
and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States
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107
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Ogrizek M, Konc J, Bren U, Hodošček M, Janežič D. Role of magnesium ions in the reaction mechanism at the interface between Tm1631 protein and its DNA ligand. Chem Cent J 2016; 10:41. [PMID: 27398092 PMCID: PMC4939058 DOI: 10.1186/s13065-016-0188-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2016] [Accepted: 06/27/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
A protein, Tm1631 from the hyperthermophilic organism Thermotoga maritima belongs to a domain of unknown function protein family. It was predicted that Tm1631 binds with the DNA and that the Tm1631–DNA complex is an endonuclease repair system with a DNA repair function (Konc et al. PLoS Comput Biol 9(11): e1003341, 2013). We observed that the severely bent, strained DNA binds to the protein for the entire 90 ns of classical molecular dynamics (MD) performed; we could observe no significant changes in the most distorted region of the DNA, where the cleavage of phosphodiester bond occurs. In this article, we modeled the reaction mechanism at the interface between Tm1631 and its proposed ligand, the DNA molecule, focusing on cleavage of the phosphodiester bond. After addition of two Mg2+ ions to the reaction center and extension of classical MD by 50 ns (totaling 140 ns), the DNA ligand stayed bolted to the protein. Results from density functional theory quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations suggest that the reaction is analogous to known endonuclease mechanisms: an enzyme reaction mechanism with two Mg2+ ions in the reaction center and a pentacovalent intermediate. The minimum energy pathway profile shows that the phosphodiester bond cleavage step of the reaction is kinetically controlled and not thermodynamically because of a lack of any energy barrier above the accuracy of the energy profile calculation. The role of ions is shown by comparing the results with the reaction mechanisms in the absence of the Mg2+ ions where there is a significantly higher reaction barrier than in the presence of the Mg2+ ions.A protein, Tm1631 from the hyperthermophilic organism Thermotoga maritima belongs to a domain of unknown function protein family. We modeled the reaction mechanism at the interface between Tm1631 and its proposed ligand, the DNA molecule, focusing on cleavage of the phosphodiester bond ![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitja Ogrizek
- National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Janez Konc
- National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia ; Laboratory for Physical Chemistry and Thermodynamics, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Maribor, Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia ; Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, University of Primorska, Glagoljaška 8, 6000 Koper, Slovenia
| | - Urban Bren
- National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia ; Laboratory for Physical Chemistry and Thermodynamics, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Maribor, Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia ; Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, University of Primorska, Glagoljaška 8, 6000 Koper, Slovenia
| | - Milan Hodošček
- National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Dušanka Janežič
- Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, University of Primorska, Glagoljaška 8, 6000 Koper, Slovenia
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108
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Jara GE, Martínez L. Anthrax Edema Factor: An Ion-Adaptive Mechanism of Catalysis with Increased Transition-State Conformational Flexibility. J Phys Chem B 2016; 120:6504-14. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b02527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel E. Jara
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP 13083-861, Brazil
| | - Leandro Martínez
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP 13083-861, Brazil
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109
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Casalino L, Palermo G, Rothlisberger U, Magistrato A. Who Activates the Nucleophile in Ribozyme Catalysis? An Answer from the Splicing Mechanism of Group II Introns. J Am Chem Soc 2016; 138:10374-7. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b01363] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Casalino
- International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Giulia Palermo
- Laboratory
of Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute of Chemical
Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Ursula Rothlisberger
- Laboratory
of Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute of Chemical
Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alessandra Magistrato
- CNR-IOM-Democritos
National Simulation Center c/o SISSA, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
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110
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New Insight into Metal Ion-Driven Catalysis of Nucleic Acids by Influenza PA-Nter. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0156972. [PMID: 27300442 PMCID: PMC4907508 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2016] [Accepted: 05/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
PA subunit of influenza RNA-dependent RNA polymerase deserves constantly increasing attention due to its essential role in influenza life cycle. N-terminal domain of PA (PA-Nter) harbors endonuclease activity, which is indispensable in viral transcription and replication. Interestingly, existing literature reports on in vitro ion preferences of the enzyme are contradictory. Some show PA-Nter activity exclusively with Mn2+, whereas others report Mg2+ as a natural cofactor. To clarify it, we performed a series of experiments with varied ion concentrations and substrate type. We observed cleavage in the presence of both ions, with a slight preference for manganese, however PA-Nter activity highly depended on the amount of residual, co-purified ions. Furthermore, to quantify cleavage reaction rate, we applied fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy (FCCS), providing highly sensitive and real-time monitoring of single molecules. Using nanomolar ssDNA in the regime of enzyme excess, we estimated the maximum reaction rate at 0.81± 0.38 and 1.38± 0.34 nM/min for Mg2+ and Mn2+, respectively. However, our calculations of PA-Nter ion occupancy, based on thermodynamic data, suggest Mg2+ to be a canonical metal in PA-Nter processing of RNA in vivo. Presented studies constitute a step toward better understanding of PA-Nter ion-dependent activity, which will possibly contribute to new successful inhibitor design in the future.
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111
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Gone S, Alfonso-Prieto M, Paudyal S, Nicholson AW. Mechanism of Ribonuclease III Catalytic Regulation by Serine Phosphorylation. Sci Rep 2016; 6:25448. [PMID: 27150669 PMCID: PMC4858673 DOI: 10.1038/srep25448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2016] [Accepted: 04/15/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Ribonuclease III (RNase III) is a conserved, gene-regulatory bacterial endonuclease that cleaves double-helical structures in diverse coding and noncoding RNAs. RNase III is subject to multiple levels of control, reflective of its global regulatory functions. Escherichia coli (Ec) RNase III catalytic activity is known to increase during bacteriophage T7 infection, reflecting the expression of the phage-encoded protein kinase, T7PK. However, the mechanism of catalytic enhancement is unknown. This study shows that Ec-RNase III is phosphorylated on serine in vitro by purified T7PK, and identifies the targets as Ser33 and Ser34 in the N-terminal catalytic domain. Kinetic experiments reveal a 5-fold increase in kcat and a 1.4-fold decrease in Km following phosphorylation, providing a 7.4–fold increase in catalytic efficiency. Phosphorylation does not change the rate of substrate cleavage under single-turnover conditions, indicating that phosphorylation enhances product release, which also is the rate-limiting step in the steady-state. Molecular dynamics simulations provide a mechanism for facilitated product release, in which the Ser33 phosphomonoester forms a salt bridge with the Arg95 guanidinium group, thereby weakening RNase III engagement of product. The simulations also show why glutamic acid substitution at either serine does not confer enhancement, thus underscoring the specific requirement for a phosphomonoester.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swapna Gone
- Department of Chemistry, Philadelphia PA, 19122, USA
| | | | - Samridhdi Paudyal
- Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia PA, 19122, USA
| | - Allen W Nicholson
- Department of Chemistry, Philadelphia PA, 19122, USA.,Department of Biology, Temple University, Philadelphia PA, 19122, USA
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112
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Genna V, Gaspari R, Dal Peraro M, De Vivo M. Cooperative motion of a key positively charged residue and metal ions for DNA replication catalyzed by human DNA Polymerase-η. Nucleic Acids Res 2016; 44:2827-36. [PMID: 26935581 PMCID: PMC4824119 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkw128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2015] [Accepted: 02/19/2016] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Trans-lesion synthesis polymerases, like DNA Polymerase-η (Pol-η), are essential for cell survival. Pol-η bypasses ultraviolet-induced DNA damages via a two-metal-ion mechanism that assures DNA strand elongation, with formation of the leaving group pyrophosphate (PPi). Recent structural and kinetics studies have shown that Pol-η function depends on the highly flexible and conserved Arg61 and, intriguingly, on a transient third ion resolved at the catalytic site, as lately observed in other nucleic acid-processing metalloenzymes. How these conserved structural features facilitate DNA replication, however, is still poorly understood. Through extended molecular dynamics and free energy simulations, we unravel a highly cooperative and dynamic mechanism for DNA elongation and repair, which is here described by an equilibrium ensemble of structures that connect the reactants to the products in Pol-η catalysis. We reveal that specific conformations of Arg61 help facilitate the recruitment of the incoming base and favor the proper formation of a pre-reactive complex in Pol-η for efficient DNA editing. Also, we show that a third transient metal ion, which acts concertedly with Arg61, serves as an exit shuttle for the leaving PPi. Finally, we discuss how this effective and cooperative mechanism for DNA repair may be shared by other DNA-repairing polymerases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vito Genna
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling & Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genoa, Italy
| | - Roberto Gaspari
- CONCEPT Lab., Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163, Genoa, Italy
| | - Matteo Dal Peraro
- Institute of Bioengineering, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marco De Vivo
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling & Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genoa, Italy IAS-5 / INM-9 Computational Biomedicine Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße 52428 Jülich, Germany
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113
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Palermo G, Magistrato A, Riedel T, von Erlach T, Davey CA, Dyson PJ, Rothlisberger U. Fighting Cancer with Transition Metal Complexes: From Naked DNA to Protein and Chromatin Targeting Strategies. ChemMedChem 2015; 11:1199-210. [PMID: 26634638 PMCID: PMC5063137 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201500478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Many transition metal complexes have unique physicochemical properties that can be efficiently exploited in medicinal chemistry for cancer treatment. Traditionally, double-stranded DNA has been assumed to be the main binding target; however, recent studies have shown that nucleosomal DNA as well as proteins can act as dominant molecular binding partners. This has raised new questions about the molecular determinants that govern DNA versus protein binding selectivity, and has offered new ways to rationalize their biological activity and possible side effects. To address these questions, molecular simulations at an atomistic level of detail have been used to complement, support, and rationalize experimental data. Herein we review some relevant studies-focused on platinum and ruthenium compounds-to illustrate the power of state-of-the-art molecular simulation techniques and to demonstrate how the interplay between molecular simulations and experiments can make important contributions to elucidating the target preferences of some promising transition metal anticancer agents. This contribution aims at providing relevant information that may help in the rational design of novel drug-discovery strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Palermo
- Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alessandra Magistrato
- CNR-IOM-Democritos National Simulation Center, c/o SISSA, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Tina Riedel
- Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Thibaud von Erlach
- Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Curt A Davey
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637551, Singapore
| | - Paul J Dyson
- Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Ursula Rothlisberger
- Institut des Sciences et Ingénierie Chimiques, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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114
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Palermo G, Favia AD, Convertino M, De Vivo M. The Molecular Basis for Dual Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase (FAAH)/Cyclooxygenase (COX) Inhibition. ChemMedChem 2015; 11:1252-8. [PMID: 26593700 PMCID: PMC5063142 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201500507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The design of multitarget‐directed ligands is a promising strategy for discovering innovative drugs. Here, we report a mechanistic study that clarifies key aspects of the dual inhibition of the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and the cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes by a new multitarget‐directed ligand named ARN2508 (2‐[3‐fluoro‐4‐[3‐(hexylcarbamoyloxy)phenyl]phenyl]propanoic acid). This potent dual inhibitor combines, in a single scaffold, the pharmacophoric elements often needed to block FAAH and COX, that is, a carbamate moiety and the 2‐arylpropionic acid functionality, respectively. Molecular modeling and molecular dynamics simulations suggest that ARN2508 uses a noncovalent mechanism of inhibition to block COXs, while inhibiting FAAH via the acetylation of the catalytic Ser241, in line with previous experimental evidence for covalent FAAH inhibition. This study proposes the molecular basis for the dual FAAH/COX inhibition by this novel hybrid scaffold, stimulating further experimental studies and offering new insights for the rational design of novel anti‐inflammatory agents that simultaneously act on FAAH and COX.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Palermo
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling & Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163, Genoa, Italy
| | - Angelo D Favia
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling & Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marino Convertino
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling & Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163, Genoa, Italy
| | - Marco De Vivo
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling & Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163, Genoa, Italy. .,Computational Biomedicine (IAS-5/INM-9), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428, Jülich, Germany.
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115
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Palermo G, Minniti E, Greco ML, Riccardi L, Simoni E, Convertino M, Marchetti C, Rosini M, Sissi C, Minarini A, De Vivo M. An optimized polyamine moiety boosts the potency of human type II topoisomerase poisons as quantified by comparative analysis centered on the clinical candidate F14512. Chem Commun (Camb) 2015; 51:14310-3. [PMID: 26234198 DOI: 10.1039/c5cc05065k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Combined computational-experimental analyses explain and quantify the spermine-vectorized F14512's boosted potency as a topoII poison. We found that an optimized polyamine moiety boosts drug binding to the topoII/DNA cleavage complex, rather than to the DNA alone. These results provide new structural bases and key reference data for designing new human topoII poisons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Palermo
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling and Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, 16163 Genoa, Italy.
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116
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Palermo G, Bauer I, Campomanes P, Cavalli A, Armirotti A, Girotto S, Rothlisberger U, De Vivo M. Keys to Lipid Selection in Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase Catalysis: Structural Flexibility, Gating Residues and Multiple Binding Pockets. PLoS Comput Biol 2015; 11:e1004231. [PMID: 26111155 PMCID: PMC4481349 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2015] [Accepted: 03/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) regulates the endocannabinoid system cleaving primarily the lipid messenger anandamide. FAAH has been well characterized over the years and, importantly, it represents a promising drug target to treat several diseases, including inflammatory-related diseases and cancer. But its enzymatic mechanism for lipid selection to specifically hydrolyze anandamide, rather than similar bioactive lipids, remains elusive. Here, we clarify this mechanism in FAAH, examining the role of the dynamic paddle, which is formed by the gating residues Phe432 and Trp531 at the boundary between two cavities that form the FAAH catalytic site (the “membrane-access” and the “acyl chain-binding” pockets). We integrate microsecond-long MD simulations of wild type and double mutant model systems (Phe432Ala and Trp531Ala) of FAAH, embedded in a realistic membrane/water environment, with mutagenesis and kinetic experiments. We comparatively analyze three fatty acid substrates with different hydrolysis rates (anandamide > oleamide > palmitoylethanolamide). Our findings identify FAAH’s mechanism to selectively accommodate anandamide into a multi-pocket binding site, and to properly orient the substrate in pre-reactive conformations for efficient hydrolysis that is interceded by the dynamic paddle. Our findings therefore endorse a structural framework for a lipid selection mechanism mediated by structural flexibility and gating residues between multiple binding cavities, as found in FAAH. Based on the available structural data, this exquisite catalytic strategy for substrate specificity seems to be shared by other lipid-degrading enzymes with similar enzymatic architecture. The mechanistic insights for lipid selection might assist de-novo enzyme design or drug discovery efforts. We describe a new structural enzymatic framework to regulate substrate specificity in lipid-degrading enzymes such as fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), a key enzyme for the endocannabinoid lipid signaling that hydrolyzes a variety of lipids, however with different catalytic rates. The identified novel mechanism and key features for lipid selection in FAAH are then analysed in the context of other relevant lipid-degrading enzymes. Through the integration of microsecond-long molecular dynamics simulations with mutagenesis and kinetic experiments, our study suggests that structural flexibility, gating residues and multiple cavities in one catalytic site are keys to lipid selection in the endocannabinoid system. Our results suggest that the structural framework proposed here could likely be a general enzymatic strategy of other lipid-degrading enzymes to select the preferred lipid substrate within a broad spectrum of biologically active lipids. This new, and likely general, structural framework for lipid selection in FAAH could therefore now encourage additional experimental verifications of the role of ligand and structural flexibility, as regulated by key gating residues at the boundaries of multiple cavities forming a single catalytic site, as observed in several other lipid-degrading enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Palermo
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling and Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Inga Bauer
- CompuNet, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | - Pablo Campomanes
- Laboratory of Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Andrea Cavalli
- CompuNet, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
- Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Andrea Armirotti
- D3-PharmaChemistry, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
| | | | - Ursula Rothlisberger
- Laboratory of Computational Chemistry and Biochemistry, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marco De Vivo
- Laboratory of Molecular Modeling and Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genova, Italy
- * E-mail:
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117
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Sgrignani J, Magistrato A. QM/MM MD Simulations on the Enzymatic Pathway of the Human Flap Endonuclease (hFEN1) Elucidating Common Cleavage Pathways to RNase H Enzymes. ACS Catal 2015. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.5b00178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jacopo Sgrignani
- Institute of Research in Biomedicine (IRB), Via Vincenzo Vela, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Alessandra Magistrato
- CNR-IOM-Democritos
National Simulation Center c/o International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA/ISAS), Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
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118
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Lopata A, Jambrina PG, Sharma PK, Brooks BR, Toth J, Vertessy BG, Rosta E. Mutations Decouple Proton Transfer from Phosphate Cleavage in the dUTPase Catalytic Reaction. ACS Catal 2015. [DOI: 10.1021/cs502087f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Lopata
- Institute
of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest H1113, Hungary
| | - Pablo G. Jambrina
- Department
of Chemistry, King’s College London, London SE1 1DB, United Kingdom
| | - Pankaz K. Sharma
- College
of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 120-750, Korea
| | - Bernard R. Brooks
- Laboratory
of Computational Biology, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland 20892-9314, United States
| | - Judit Toth
- Institute
of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest H1113, Hungary
| | - Beata G. Vertessy
- Institute
of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest H1113, Hungary
- Department
of Applied Biotechnology and Food Science, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest H1111, Hungary
| | - Edina Rosta
- Department
of Chemistry, King’s College London, London SE1 1DB, United Kingdom
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