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Liu P, Li Y, Liu Y, Liu J, Dong K, Jia Q. Molecular Insights into the Binding Behavior of Imidazolium Ionic Liquids to the Receptor Binding Domain of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:4396-4405. [PMID: 37194950 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c00593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is considered as a key target for the design and development of COVID-19 drugs and inhibitors. Due to their unique structure and properties, ionic liquids (ILs) have many special interactions with proteins, showing great potential in biomedicine. Nevertheless, few research studies have been carried out on ILs and the spike RBD protein. Here, we explore the interaction of ILs and the RBD protein through large-scale molecular dynamics simulations (4 μs in total). It was found that IL cations with long alkyl chain lengths (nchain) could spontaneously bind to the cavity region of the RBD protein. The longer the alkyl chain is, the stabler the cations bind to the protein. The binding free energy (ΔG) had the same trend, peaking at nchain = 12 with -101.19 kJ/mol. The cationic chain lengths and their fit to the pocket are decisive factors that influence the binding strength of cations and proteins. The cationic imidazole ring has a high contact frequency with phenylalanine and tryptophan, and the hydrophobic residues phenylalanine, valine, leucine, and isoleucine are the most interacting residues with side chains of cations. Meanwhile, through analysis of the interaction energy, the hydrophobic and π-π interactions are the main contributors to the high affinity between cations and the RBD protein. In addition, the long-chain ILs would also act on the protein through clustering. These studies not only provide insights into the molecular interaction between ILs and the RBD of SARS-CoV-2 but also contribute to the rational design of IL-based drugs, drug carriers, and selective inhibitors as a therapeutic for SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Liu
- School of Marine and Environmental Science, Tianjin Marine Environmental Protection and Restoration Technology Engineering Center, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, 13St. 29, TEDA, 300457 Tianjin, P. R. China
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
| | - Yao Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
- Zhengzhou Institute of Emerging Industrial Technology, Zhengzhou 450000, P. R. China
- Longzihu New Energy Laboratory, Zhengzhou Institute of Emerging Industrial Technology, Henan University, Zhengzhou 450000, P. R. China
| | - Yawei Liu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
- Longzihu New Energy Laboratory, Zhengzhou Institute of Emerging Industrial Technology, Henan University, Zhengzhou 450000, P. R. China
| | - Ju Liu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
| | - Kun Dong
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Ionic Liquids Clean Process, State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, CAS Key Laboratory of Green Process and Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, P. R. China
- Longzihu New Energy Laboratory, Zhengzhou Institute of Emerging Industrial Technology, Henan University, Zhengzhou 450000, P. R. China
| | - Qingzhu Jia
- School of Marine and Environmental Science, Tianjin Marine Environmental Protection and Restoration Technology Engineering Center, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, 13St. 29, TEDA, 300457 Tianjin, P. R. China
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An G, Xia Y, Xue Z, Shang H, Cui S, Lu C. Combination of Theoretical and Experimental Insights into the Oxygenated Fuel Poly(oxymethylene) Dibutyl Ether from n-Butanol and Paraformaldehyde. ACS OMEGA 2022; 7:3064-3072. [PMID: 35097301 PMCID: PMC8793044 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c06452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/31/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Oxygenated fuel has the function of self-supplying oxygen during the combustion process, which can greatly improve emission performance and reduce diesel fuel soot production. In this paper, a novel oxygenated fuel poly(oxymethylene) dibutyl ether (PODBE n ) is designed and synthesized through experiments in combination with density functional theory (DFT) calculation. The experimental results show that PODBE n has the advantages of high cetane number (73.6), moderate density (868 kg/m3), and low condensation point (-72 °C). According to the DFT calculation results, the molecular (PODBE n ) polarity index of different polymerization degrees is similar to the value of diesel and has good mutual solubility with diesel. Moreover, the mechanism of the entire path of synthesis is calculated at the M06-2X/6-311G(d,p) level of theory. The energetic profile reveals that the rate-determining step is the nucleophilic addition step with the highest barrier energy (TS1 = 21.59 kcal/mol). This work provides a feasible method to synthesize high-performance oxygenated fuel PODBE n using NKC-9 ion-exchange resins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaojun An
- Beijing
Institute of New Energy Technology, Beijing 102300, P. R.
China
| | - Yangfeng Xia
- Beijing
Institute of New Energy Technology, Beijing 102300, P. R.
China
| | - Zhenzhen Xue
- Beijing
Institute of New Energy Technology, Beijing 102300, P. R.
China
| | - Hongyan Shang
- College
of Science, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao, Shandong 266580, P. R. China
| | - Sainan Cui
- Beijing
Institute of New Energy Technology, Beijing 102300, P. R.
China
| | - Changbo Lu
- Beijing
Institute of New Energy Technology, Beijing 102300, P. R.
China
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Ionic liquids for regulating biocatalytic process: Achievements and perspectives. Biotechnol Adv 2021; 51:107702. [PMID: 33515671 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2021.107702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Revised: 12/26/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Biocatalysis has found enormous applications in sorts of fields as an alternative to chemical catalysis. In the pursue of green and sustainable chemistry, ionic liquids (ILs) have been considered as promising reaction media for biocatalysis, owing to their unique characteristics, such as nonvolatility, inflammability and tunable properties as regards polarity and water miscibility behavior, compared to organic solvents. In recent years, great developments have been achieved in respects to biocatalysis in ILs, especially for preparing various chemicals. This review tends to give illustrative examples with a focus on representative chemicals production by biocatalyst in ILs and elucidate the possible mechanism in such systems. It also discusses how to regulate the catalytic efficiency from several aspects and finally provides an outlook on the opportunities to broaden biocatalysis in ILs.
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