1
|
Frumenzio G, Chandramouli B, Besker N, Grottesi A, Talarico C, Frigerio F, Emerson A, Musiani F. Conformational response to ligand binding of TMPRSS2, a protease involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection: Insights through computational modeling. Proteins 2023; 91:1288-1297. [PMID: 37409524 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Thanks to the considerable research which has been undertaken in the last few years to improve our understanding of the biology and mechanism of action of SARS-CoV-2, we know how the virus uses its surface spike protein to infect host cells. The transmembrane prosthesis, serine 2 (TMPRSS2) protein, located on the surface of human cells, recognizes the cleavage site in the spike protein, leading to the release of the fusion peptide and entry of the virus into the host cells. Because of its role, TMPRSS2 has been proposed as a drug target to prevent infection by the virus. In this study, we aim to increase our understanding of TMPRSS2 using long scale microsecond atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, focusing on the conformational changes over time. The comparison between simulations conducted on the protein in the native (apo) and inhibited form (holo), has shown that in the holo form the inhibitor stabilizes the catalytic site and induces rearrangements in the extracellular domain of the protein. In turn, it leads to the formation of a new cavity in the vicinity of the ligand binding pocket that is stable in the microsecond time scale. Given the low specificity of known protease inhibitors, these findings suggest a new potential drug target site that can be used to improve TMPRSS2 specific recognition by newly designed inhibitors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giorgia Frumenzio
- Super Computing Applications and Innovation, Department HPC, CINECA, Casalecchio di Reno, Italy
- Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Andrew Emerson
- Super Computing Applications and Innovation, Department HPC, CINECA, Casalecchio di Reno, Italy
| | - Francesco Musiani
- Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Barone V, Puzzarini C, Mancini G. Integration of theory, simulation, artificial intelligence and virtual reality: a four-pillar approach for reconciling accuracy and interpretability in computational spectroscopy. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:17079-17096. [PMID: 34346437 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp02507d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
The established pillars of computational spectroscopy are theory and computer based simulations. Recently, artificial intelligence and virtual reality are becoming the third and fourth pillars of an integrated strategy for the investigation of complex phenomena. The main goal of the present contribution is the description of some new perspectives for computational spectroscopy, in the framework of a strategy in which computational methodologies at the state of the art, high-performance computing, artificial intelligence and virtual reality tools are integrated with the aim of improving research throughput and achieving goals otherwise not possible. Some of the key tools (e.g., continuous molecular perception model and virtual multifrequency spectrometer) and theoretical developments (e.g., non-periodic boundaries, joint variational-perturbative models) are shortly sketched and their application illustrated by means of representative case studies taken from recent work by the authors. Some of the results presented are already well beyond the state of the art in the field of computational spectroscopy, thereby also providing a proof of concept for other research fields.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Léon I, Tasinato N, Spada L, Alonso ER, Mata S, Balbi A, Puzzarini C, Alonso JL, Barone V. Looking for the Elusive Imine Tautomer of Creatinine: Different States of Aggregation Studied by Quantum Chemistry and Molecular Spectroscopy. Chempluschem 2021; 86:1374-1386. [PMID: 34255935 PMCID: PMC8519097 DOI: 10.1002/cplu.202100224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Revised: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
New spectroscopic experiments and state-of-the-art quantum-chemical computations of creatinine in different aggregation states unequivocally unveiled a significant tuning of tautomeric equilibrium by the environment: from the exclusive presence of the amine tautomer in the solid state and aqueous solution to a mixture of amine and imine tautomers in the gas phase. Quantum-chemical calculations predict the amine species as the most stable tautomer by about 30 kJ mol-1 in condensed phases. On the contrary, moving to the isolated forms, both Z and E imine isomers become more stable by about 7 kJ mol-1 . Since the imine isomers and one amine tautomer are separated by significant energy barriers, all of them should be present in the gas phase. This prediction has indeed been confirmed by high-resolution rotational spectroscopy, which provides the first experimental characterization of the elusive imine tautomer. The interpretation of the complicated hyperfine structure of the rotational spectrum, originated by three 14 N nuclei, makes it possible to use the spectral signatures as a sort of fingerprint for each individual tautomer in the complex sample.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Iker Léon
- Grupo de Espectroscopia Molecular (GEM), Edificio Quifima, Laboratorios de Espectroscopia y Bioespectroscopia Parque Cientifico UVa, Universidad de Valladolid, 47011, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Nicola Tasinato
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126, Pisa, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Spada
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126, Pisa, Italy.,Dipartimento di Chimica "Giacomo Ciamician", Alma Mater Studiorum -, Università di Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Elena R Alonso
- Grupo de Espectroscopia Molecular (GEM), Edificio Quifima, Laboratorios de Espectroscopia y Bioespectroscopia Parque Cientifico UVa, Universidad de Valladolid, 47011, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Santiago Mata
- Grupo de Espectroscopia Molecular (GEM), Edificio Quifima, Laboratorios de Espectroscopia y Bioespectroscopia Parque Cientifico UVa, Universidad de Valladolid, 47011, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Alice Balbi
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126, Pisa, Italy
| | - Cristina Puzzarini
- Dipartimento di Chimica "Giacomo Ciamician", Alma Mater Studiorum -, Università di Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Jose L Alonso
- Grupo de Espectroscopia Molecular (GEM), Edificio Quifima, Laboratorios de Espectroscopia y Bioespectroscopia Parque Cientifico UVa, Universidad de Valladolid, 47011, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126, Pisa, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Mancini G, Fusè M, Lazzari F, Chandramouli B, Barone V. Unsupervised search of low-lying conformers with spectroscopic accuracy: A two-step algorithm rooted into the island model evolutionary algorithm. J Chem Phys 2020; 153:124110. [DOI: 10.1063/5.0018314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Giordano Mancini
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56125 Pisa, Italy
| | - Marco Fusè
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56125 Pisa, Italy
| | - Federico Lazzari
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56125 Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56125 Pisa, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Mancini G, Del Galdo S, Chandramouli B, Pagliai M, Barone V. Computational Spectroscopy in Solution by Integration of Variational and Perturbative Approaches on Top of Clusterized Molecular Dynamics. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:5747-5761. [PMID: 32697580 PMCID: PMC8009517 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
![]()
Multiscale QM/MM approaches have
become the most suitable and effective
methods for the investigation of spectroscopic properties of medium-
or large-size chromophores in condensed phases. On these grounds,
we are developing a novel workflow aimed at improving the generality,
reliability, and ease of use of the available tools. In the present
paper, we report the latest developments of such an approach with
specific reference to a general workplan starting with the addition
of acetonitrile to the panel of solvents already available in the
General Liquid Optimized Boundary (GLOB) model enforcing nonperiodic
boundary conditions (NPBC). Next, the solvatochromic shifts induced
by acetonitrile on both rigid (uracil and thymine) and flexible (thyrosine)
chromophores have been studied introducing in our software a number
of new features ranging from rigid-geometry NPBC molecular dynamics
based on the quaternion formalism to a full integration of variational
(ONIOM) and perturbative (perturbed matrix method (PMM)) approaches
for describing different solute–solvent topologies and local
fluctuations, respectively. Finally, thymine and uracil have been
studied also in methanol to point out the generality of the computational
strategy. While further developments are surely needed, the strengths
of our integrated approach even in its present version are demonstrated
by the accuracy of the results obtained by an unsupervised approach
and coupled to a computational cost strongly reduced with respect
to that of conventional QM/MM models without any appreciable accuracy
deterioration.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giordano Mancini
- Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.,Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) sezione di Pisa, Largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy
| | - Sara Del Galdo
- Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Marco Pagliai
- Dipartimento di Chimica "Ugo Schiff", Università degli Studi di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.,Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) sezione di Pisa, Largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, 56127 Pisa, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Puzzarini C, Bloino J, Tasinato N, Barone V. Accuracy and Interpretability: The Devil and the Holy Grail. New Routes across Old Boundaries in Computational Spectroscopy. Chem Rev 2019; 119:8131-8191. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Puzzarini
- Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Julien Bloino
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Nicola Tasinato
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Chandramouli B, Del Galdo S, Fusè M, Barone V, Mancini G. Two-level stochastic search of low-energy conformers for molecular spectroscopy: implementation and validation of MM and QM models. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:19921-19934. [DOI: 10.1039/c9cp03557e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The search for stationary points in the molecular potential energy surfaces (PES) is a problem of increasing relevance in molecular sciences especially for large, flexible systems featuring several large-amplitude internal motions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore
- 56126 Pisa
- Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)
- Sezione di Pisa
| | - Giordano Mancini
- Scuola Normale Superiore
- 56126 Pisa
- Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)
- Sezione di Pisa
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Licari D, Fusè M, Salvadori A, Tasinato N, Mendolicchio M, Mancini G, Barone V. Towards the SMART workflow system for computational spectroscopy. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2018; 20:26034-26052. [DOI: 10.1039/c8cp03417f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Is it possible to convert highly specialized research in the field of computational spectroscopy into robust and user-friendly aids to experiments and industrial applications?
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniele Licari
- Scuola Normale Superiore
- 56126 Pisa
- Italy
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
- 16163 Genova
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|