1
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Ries B, Alibay I, Swenson DWH, Baumann HM, Henry MM, Eastwood JRB, Gowers RJ. Kartograf: A Geometrically Accurate Atom Mapper for Hybrid-Topology Relative Free Energy Calculations. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:1862-1877. [PMID: 38330251 PMCID: PMC10941767 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c01206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
Relative binding free energy (RBFE) calculations have emerged as a powerful tool that supports ligand optimization in drug discovery. Despite many successes, the use of RBFEs can often be limited by automation problems, in particular, the setup of such calculations. Atom mapping algorithms are an essential component in setting up automatic large-scale hybrid-topology RBFE calculation campaigns. Traditional algorithms typically employ a 2D subgraph isomorphism solver (SIS) in order to estimate the maximum common substructure. SIS-based approaches can be limited by time-intensive operations and issues with capturing geometry-linked chemical properties, potentially leading to suboptimal solutions. To overcome these limitations, we have developed Kartograf, a geometric-graph-based algorithm that uses primarily the 3D coordinates of atoms to find a mapping between two ligands. In free energy approaches, the ligand conformations are usually derived from docking or other previous modeling approaches, giving the coordinates a certain importance. By considering the spatial relationships between atoms related to the molecule coordinates, our algorithm bypasses the computationally complex subgraph matching of SIS-based approaches and reduces the problem to a much simpler bipartite graph matching problem. Moreover, Kartograf effectively circumvents typical mapping issues induced by molecule symmetry and stereoisomerism, making it a more robust approach for atom mapping from a geometric perspective. To validate our method, we calculated mappings with our novel approach using a diverse set of small molecules and used the mappings in relative hydration and binding free energy calculations. The comparison with two SIS-based algorithms showed that Kartograf offers a fast alternative approach. The code for Kartograf is freely available on GitHub (https://github.com/OpenFreeEnergy/kartograf). While developed for the OpenFE ecosystem, Kartograf can also be utilized as a standalone Python package.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Ries
- Medicinal
Chemistry, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH
& Co KG, Birkendorfer Str 65, 88397 Biberach an der Riss, Germany
- Open
Free Energy, Open Molecular Software Foundation, Davis, 95616 California, United States
| | - Irfan Alibay
- Open
Free Energy, Open Molecular Software Foundation, Davis, 95616 California, United States
| | - David W. H. Swenson
- Open
Free Energy, Open Molecular Software Foundation, Davis, 95616 California, United States
| | - Hannah M. Baumann
- Open
Free Energy, Open Molecular Software Foundation, Davis, 95616 California, United States
| | - Michael M. Henry
- Open
Free Energy, Open Molecular Software Foundation, Davis, 95616 California, United States
- Computational
and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering
Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, 1275 New York, United States
| | - James R. B. Eastwood
- Open
Free Energy, Open Molecular Software Foundation, Davis, 95616 California, United States
| | - Richard J. Gowers
- Open
Free Energy, Open Molecular Software Foundation, Davis, 95616 California, United States
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2
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Rieder SR, Ries BJ, Kubincová A, Champion C, Barros EP, Hünenberger PH, Riniker S. Leveraging the Sampling Efficiency of RE-EDS in OpenMM Using a Shifted Reaction-Field With an Atom-Based Cutoff. J Chem Phys 2022; 157:104117. [DOI: 10.1063/5.0107935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Replica-exchange enveloping distribution sampling (RE-EDS) is a pathway-independent multistate free-energy method, currently implemented in the GROMOS software package for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. It has a high intrinsic sampling efficiency as the interactions between the unperturbed particles have to be calculated only once for multiple end-states. As a result, RE-EDS is an attractive method for the calculation of relative solvation and binding free energies. An essential requirement for reaching this high efficiency is the separability of the nonbonded interactions into solute-solute, solute-environment, and environment-environment contributions. Such a partitioning is trivial when using a Coulomb term with a reaction-field (RF) correction to model the electrostatic interactions, but not when using lattice- sum schemes. To avoid cutoff artifacts, the RF correction is typically used in combination with a charge-group based cutoff, which is not supported by most small-molecule force fields and other MD engines. To address this issue, we investigate the combination of RE-EDS simulations with a recently introduced RF scheme including a shifting function that enables the rigorous calculation of RF electrostatics with atom-based cutoffs. The resulting approach is validated by calculating solvation free energies with the generalized AMBER force field (GAFF) in water and chloroform using both the GROMOS software package and a proof-of-concept implementation in OpenMM.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Sereina Riniker
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich D-CHAB, Switzerland
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3
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Rieder SR, Ries B, Schaller K, Champion C, Barros EP, Hünenberger PH, Riniker S. Replica-Exchange Enveloping Distribution Sampling Using Generalized AMBER Force-Field Topologies: Application to Relative Hydration Free-Energy Calculations for Large Sets of Molecules. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:3043-3056. [PMID: 35675713 PMCID: PMC9241072 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Free-energy differences
between pairs of end-states can be estimated
based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using standard pathway-dependent
methods such as thermodynamic integration (TI), free-energy perturbation,
or Bennett’s acceptance ratio. Replica-exchange enveloping
distribution sampling (RE-EDS), on the other hand, allows for the
sampling of multiple end-states in a single simulation without the
specification of any pathways. In this work, we use the RE-EDS method
as implemented in GROMOS together with generalized AMBER force-field
(GAFF) topologies, converted to a GROMOS-compatible format with a
newly developed GROMOS++ program amber2gromos, to
compute relative hydration free energies for a series of benzene derivatives.
The results obtained with RE-EDS are compared to the experimental
data as well as calculated values from the literature. In addition,
the estimated free-energy differences in water and in vacuum are compared
to values from TI calculations carried out with GROMACS. The hydration
free energies obtained using RE-EDS for multiple molecules are found
to be in good agreement with both the experimental data and the results
calculated using other free-energy methods. While all considered free-energy
methods delivered accurate results, the RE-EDS calculations required
the least amount of total simulation time. This work serves as a validation
for the use of GAFF topologies with the GROMOS simulation package
and the RE-EDS approach. Furthermore, the performance of RE-EDS for
a large set of 28 end-states is assessed with promising results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salomé R Rieder
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Benjamin Ries
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Kay Schaller
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Candide Champion
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Emilia P Barros
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Philippe H Hünenberger
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Sereina Riniker
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
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4
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Edwards T, Foloppe N, Harris SA, Wells G. The future of biomolecular simulation in the pharmaceutical industry: what we can learn from aerodynamics modelling and weather prediction. Part 1. understanding the physical and computational complexity of in silico drug design. Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol 2021; 77:1348-1356. [PMID: 34726163 PMCID: PMC8561735 DOI: 10.1107/s2059798321009712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The predictive power of simulation has become embedded in the infrastructure of modern economies. Computer-aided design is ubiquitous throughout industry. In aeronautical engineering, built infrastructure and materials manufacturing, simulations are routinely used to compute the performance of potential designs before construction. The ability to predict the behaviour of products is a driver of innovation by reducing the cost barrier to new designs, but also because radically novel ideas can be piloted with relatively little risk. Accurate weather forecasting is essential to guide domestic and military flight paths, and therefore the underpinning simulations are critical enough to have implications for national security. However, in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries, the application of computer simulations remains limited by the capabilities of the technology with respect to the complexity of molecular biology and human physiology. Over the last 30 years, molecular-modelling tools have gradually gained a degree of acceptance in the pharmaceutical industry. Drug discovery has begun to benefit from physics-based simulations. While such simulations have great potential for improved molecular design, much scepticism remains about their value. The motivations for such reservations in industry and areas where simulations show promise for efficiency gains in preclinical research are discussed. In this, the first of two complementary papers, the scientific and technical progress that needs to be made to improve the predictive power of biomolecular simulations, and how this might be achieved, is firstly discussed (Part 1). In Part 2, the status of computer simulations in pharma is contrasted with aerodynamics modelling and weather forecasting, and comments are made on the cultural changes needed for equivalent computational technologies to become integrated into life-science industries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom Edwards
- School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
- Astbury Centre for Structural and Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | | | - Sarah Anne Harris
- Astbury Centre for Structural and Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Geoff Wells
- School of Pharmacy, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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5
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Sorout N, Chandra A. Interactions of the Aβ(1-42) Peptide with Boron Nitride Nanoparticles of Varying Curvature in an Aqueous Medium: Different Pathways to Inhibit β-Sheet Formation. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:11159-11178. [PMID: 34605235 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c05805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
The aggregation of amyloid β (Aβ) peptide triggered by its conformational changes leads to the commonly known neurodegenerative disease of Alzheimer's. It is believed that the formation of β sheets of the peptide plays a key role in its aggregation and subsequent fibrillization. In the current study, we have investigated the interactions of the Aβ(1-42) peptide with boron nitride nanoparticles and the effects of the latter on conformational transitions of the peptide through a series of molecular dynamics simulations. In particular, the effects of curvature of the nanoparticle surface are studied by considering boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) of varying diameter and also a planar boron nitride nanosheet (BNNS). Altogether, the current study involves the generation and analysis of 9.5 μs of dynamical trajectories of peptide-BNNT/BNNS pairs in an aqueous medium. It is found that BN nanoparticles of different curvatures that are studied in the present work inhibit the conformational transition of the peptide to its β-sheet form. However, such an inhibition effect follows different pathways for BN nanoparticles of different curvatures. For the BNNT with the highest surface curvature, i.e., (3,3) BNNT, the nanoparticle is found to inhibit β-sheet formation by stabilizing the helical structure of the peptide, whereas for planar BNNS, the β-sheet formation is prevented by making more favorable pathways available for transitions of the peptide to conformations of random coils and turns. The BNNTs with intermediate curvatures are found to exhibit diverse pathways of their interactions with the peptide, but in all cases, essentially no formation of the β sheet is found whereas substantial β-sheet formation is observed for Aβ(1-42) in water in the absence of any nanoparticle. The current study shows that BN nanoparticles have the potential to act as effective tools to prevent amyloid formation from Aβ peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nidhi Sorout
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 208016
| | - Amalendu Chandra
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 208016
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6
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Bonatto V, Shamim A, Rocho FDR, Leitão A, Luque FJ, Lameira J, Montanari CA. Predicting the Relative Binding Affinity for Reversible Covalent Inhibitors by Free Energy Perturbation Calculations. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:4733-4744. [PMID: 34460252 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Covalent inhibitors are assuming central importance in drug discovery projects, especially in this pandemic scenario. Many research groups have focused their attention on inhibiting viral proteases or human proteases such as cathepsin L (hCatL). The inhibition of these critical enzymes may impair viral replication. However, molecular modeling of covalent ligands is challenging since covalent and noncovalent ligand-bound states must be considered in the binding process. In this work, we evaluated the suitability of free energy perturbation (FEP) calculations as a tool for predicting the binding affinity of reversible covalent inhibitors of hCatL. Our strategy relies on the relative free energy calculated for both covalent and noncovalent complexes and the free energy changes have been compared with experimental data for eight nitrile-based inhibitors, including three new inhibitors of hCatL. Our results demonstrate that the covalent complex can be employed to properly rank the inhibitors. Nevertheless, a comparison of the free energy changes in both noncovalent and covalent states is valuable to interpret the effect triggered by the formation of the covalent bond on the interactions played by functional groups distant from the warhead. Overall, FEP can be employed as a powerful predictor tool in developing and understanding the activity of reversible covalent inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinícius Bonatto
- Medicinal & Biological Chemistry Group, Institute of Chemistry of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, Avenue Trabalhador Sancarlense, 400, 23566-590 São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Anwar Shamim
- Medicinal & Biological Chemistry Group, Institute of Chemistry of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, Avenue Trabalhador Sancarlense, 400, 23566-590 São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Dos R Rocho
- Medicinal & Biological Chemistry Group, Institute of Chemistry of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, Avenue Trabalhador Sancarlense, 400, 23566-590 São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Andrei Leitão
- Medicinal & Biological Chemistry Group, Institute of Chemistry of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, Avenue Trabalhador Sancarlense, 400, 23566-590 São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - F Javier Luque
- Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science, Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB) and Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (IQTCUB), University of Barcelona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet 08921, Spain
| | - Jerônimo Lameira
- Medicinal & Biological Chemistry Group, Institute of Chemistry of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, Avenue Trabalhador Sancarlense, 400, 23566-590 São Carlos, SP, Brazil.,Institute of Biological Science, Federal University of Pará, Rua Augusto Correa S/N, 66075-110 Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Carlos A Montanari
- Medicinal & Biological Chemistry Group, Institute of Chemistry of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, Avenue Trabalhador Sancarlense, 400, 23566-590 São Carlos, SP, Brazil
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7
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Ryazantsev MN, Strashkov DM, Nikolaev DM, Shtyrov AA, Panov MS. Photopharmacological compounds based on azobenzenes and azoheteroarenes: principles of molecular design, molecular modelling, and synthesis. RUSSIAN CHEMICAL REVIEWS 2021. [DOI: 10.1070/rcr5001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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8
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Forouzesh N, Mishra N. An Effective MM/GBSA Protocol for Absolute Binding Free Energy Calculations: A Case Study on SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and the Human ACE2 Receptor. Molecules 2021; 26:2383. [PMID: 33923909 PMCID: PMC8074138 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26082383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The binding free energy calculation of protein-ligand complexes is necessary for research into virus-host interactions and the relevant applications in drug discovery. However, many current computational methods of such calculations are either inefficient or inaccurate in practice. Utilizing implicit solvent models in the molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area (MM/GBSA) framework allows for efficient calculations without significant loss of accuracy. Here, GBNSR6, a new flavor of the generalized Born model, is employed in the MM/GBSA framework for measuring the binding affinity between SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the human ACE2 receptor. A computational protocol is developed based on the widely studied Ras-Raf complex, which has similar binding free energy to SARS-CoV-2/ACE2. Two options for representing the dielectric boundary of the complexes are evaluated: one based on the standard Bondi radii and the other based on a newly developed set of atomic radii (OPT1), optimized specifically for protein-ligand binding. Predictions based on the two radii sets provide upper and lower bounds on the experimental references: -14.7(ΔGbindBondi)<-10.6(ΔGbindExp.)<-4.1(ΔGbindOPT1) kcal/mol. The consensus estimates of the two bounds show quantitative agreement with the experiment values. This work also presents a novel truncation method and computational strategies for efficient entropy calculations with normal mode analysis. Interestingly, it is observed that a significant decrease in the number of snapshots does not affect the accuracy of entropy calculation, while it does lower computation time appreciably. The proposed MM/GBSA protocol can be used to study the binding mechanism of new variants of SARS-CoV-2, as well as other relevant structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Negin Forouzesh
- Department of Computer Science, California State University, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA
| | - Nikita Mishra
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA;
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9
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Gill SC, Mobley DL. Reversibly Sampling Conformations and Binding Modes Using Molecular Darting. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:302-314. [PMID: 33289558 PMCID: PMC8121195 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Sampling multiple binding modes of a ligand in a single molecular dynamics simulation is difficult. A given ligand may have many internal degrees of freedom, along with many different ways it might orient itself in a binding site or across several binding sites, all of which might be separated by large energy barriers. We have developed a novel Monte Carlo move called molecular darting (MolDarting) to reversibly sample between predefined binding modes of a ligand. Here, we couple this with nonequilibrium candidate Monte Carlo (NCMC) to improve acceptance of moves. We apply this technique to a simple dipeptide system, a ligand binding to T4 lysozyme L99A, and ligand binding to HIV integrase to test this new method. We observe significant increases in acceptance compared to uniformly sampling the internal and rotational/translational degrees of freedom in these systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel C Gill
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92617, United States
| | - David L Mobley
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92617, United States
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, California 92617, United States
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10
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Forouzesh N, Onufriev AV. MMGB/SA Consensus Estimate of the Binding Free Energy Between the Novel Coronavirus Spike Protein to the Human ACE2 Receptor. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2020:2020.08.25.267625. [PMID: 32869029 PMCID: PMC7457614 DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.25.267625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The ability to estimate protein-protein binding free energy in a computationally efficient via a physics-based approach is beneficial to research focused on the mechanism of viruses binding to their target proteins. Implicit solvation methodology may be particularly useful in the early stages of such research, as it can offer valuable insights into the binding process, quickly. Here we evaluate the potential of the related molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area (MMGB/SA) approach to estimate the binding free energy ΔGbind between the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain and the human ACE2 receptor. The calculations are based on a recent flavor of the generalized Born model, GBNSR6. Two estimates of ΔGbind are performed: one based on standard bondi radii, and the other based on a newly developed set of atomic radii (OPT1), optimized specifically for protein-ligand binding. We take the average of the resulting two ΔGbind values as the consensus estimate. For the well-studied Ras-Raf protein-protein complex, which has similar binding free energy to that of the SARS-CoV-2/ACE2 complex, the consensus ΔGbind = -11.8 ± 1 kcal/mol, vs. experimental -9.7 ± 0.2 kcal/mol. The consensus estimates for the SARS-CoV-2/ACE2 complex is ΔGbind = -9.4 ± 1.5 kcal/mol, which is in near quantitative agreement with experiment (-10.6 kcal/mol). The availability of a conceptually simple MMGB/SA-based protocol for analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 /ACE2 binding may be beneficial in light of the need to move forward fast.
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Affiliation(s)
- Negin Forouzesh
- Department of Computer Science, California State University, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA
| | - Alexey V Onufriev
- Department of Computer Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
- Department of Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
- Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
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11
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Calahorra J, Martínez-Lara E, Granadino-Roldán JM, Martí JM, Cañuelo A, Blanco S, Oliver FJ, Siles E. Crosstalk between hydroxytyrosol, a major olive oil phenol, and HIF-1 in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Sci Rep 2020; 10:6361. [PMID: 32286485 PMCID: PMC7156391 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-63417-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Accepted: 03/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Olive oil intake has been linked with a lower incidence of breast cancer. Hypoxic microenvironment in solid tumors, such as breast cancer, is known to play a crucial role in cancer progression and in the failure of anticancer treatments. HIF-1 is the foremost effector in hypoxic response, and given that hydroxytyrosol (HT) is one of the main bioactive compounds in olive oil, in this study we deepen into its modulatory role on HIF-1. Our results in MCF-7 breast cancer cells demonstrate that HT decreases HIF-1α protein, probably by downregulating oxidative stress and by inhibiting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. Strikingly, the expression of HIF-1 target genes does not show a parallel decrease. Particularly, adrenomedullin and vascular endothelial growth factor are up-regulated by high concentrations of HT even in HIF-1α silenced cells, pointing to HIF-1-independent mechanisms of regulation. In fact, we show, by in silico modelling and transcriptional analysis, that high doses of HT may act as an agonist of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor favoring the induction of these angiogenic genes. In conclusion, we suggest that the effect of HT in a hypoxic environment is largely affected by its concentration and involves both HIF-1 dependent and independent mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesús Calahorra
- Departamento de Biología Experimental, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, Jaén, 23071, Spain
| | - Esther Martínez-Lara
- Departamento de Biología Experimental, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, Jaén, 23071, Spain
| | - José M Granadino-Roldán
- Departamento de Química Física y Analítica, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, Jaén, 23071, Spain
| | - Juan M Martí
- Instituto López Neyra de Parasitología y Biomedicina, IPBLN, CSIC PTS-Granada, Armilla, 18016, Spain
| | - Ana Cañuelo
- Departamento de Biología Experimental, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, Jaén, 23071, Spain
| | - Santos Blanco
- Departamento de Biología Experimental, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, Jaén, 23071, Spain
| | - F Javier Oliver
- Instituto López Neyra de Parasitología y Biomedicina, IPBLN, CSIC PTS-Granada, Armilla, 18016, Spain
| | - Eva Siles
- Departamento de Biología Experimental, Universidad de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas s/n, Jaén, 23071, Spain.
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12
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Siebenmorgen T, Zacharias M. Computational prediction of protein–protein binding affinities. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/wcms.1448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Till Siebenmorgen
- Physics Department T38 Technical University of Munich Garching Germany
| | - Martin Zacharias
- Physics Department T38 Technical University of Munich Garching Germany
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13
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Wade AD, Rizzi A, Wang Y, Huggins DJ. Computational Fluorine Scanning Using Free-Energy Perturbation. J Chem Inf Model 2019; 59:2776-2784. [PMID: 31046267 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
We present perturbative fluorine scanning, a computational fluorine scanning approach using free-energy perturbation. This method can be applied to molecular dynamics simulations of a single compound and make predictions for the best binders out of numerous fluorinated analogues. We tested the method on nine test systems: renin, DPP4, menin, P38, factor Xa, CDK2, AKT, JAK2, and androgen receptor. The predictions were in excellent agreement with more rigorous alchemical free-energy calculations and in good agreement with experimental data for most of the test systems. However, the agreement with experiment was very poor in some of the test systems, and this highlights the need for improved force fields in addition to accurate treatment of tautomeric and protonation states. The method is of particular interest due to the wide use of fluorine in medicinal chemistry to improve binding affinity and ADME properties. The promising results on this test case suggest that perturbative fluorine scanning will be a useful addition to the available arsenal of free-energy methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander D Wade
- TCM Group, Cavendish Laboratory , University of Cambridge , 19 J J Thomson Avenue , Cambridge CB3 0HE , United Kingdom
| | - Andrea Rizzi
- Tri-Institutional Training Program in Computational Biology and Medicine , New York , New York 10065 , United States.,Computational and Systems Biology Program , Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center , New York , New York 10065 , United States
| | - Yuanqing Wang
- Physiology, Biophysics, and System Biology Program , Weill Cornell Medicine , 1300 York Avenue , New York , New York 10065 , United States
| | - David J Huggins
- TCM Group, Cavendish Laboratory , University of Cambridge , 19 J J Thomson Avenue , Cambridge CB3 0HE , United Kingdom.,Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute , Belfer Research Building , 413 East 69th Street, 16th Floor , Box 300, New York , New York 10021 , United States.,Department of Physiology and Biophysics , Weill Cornell Medicine , 1300 York Avenue , New York , New York 10065 , United States
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14
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Granadino-Roldán JM, Mey ASJS, Pérez González JJ, Bosisio S, Rubio-Martinez J, Michel J. Effect of set up protocols on the accuracy of alchemical free energy calculation over a set of ACK1 inhibitors. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0213217. [PMID: 30861030 PMCID: PMC6413950 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2018] [Accepted: 02/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Hit-to-lead virtual screening frequently relies on a cascade of computational methods that starts with rapid calculations applied to a large number of compounds and ends with more expensive computations restricted to a subset of compounds that passed initial filters. This work focuses on set up protocols for alchemical free energy (AFE) scoring in the context of a Docking–MM/PBSA–AFE cascade. A dataset of 15 congeneric inhibitors of the ACK1 protein was used to evaluate the performance of AFE set up protocols that varied in the steps taken to prepare input files (using previously docked and best scored poses, manual selection of poses, manual placement of binding site water molecules). The main finding is that use of knowledge derived from X-ray structures to model binding modes, together with the manual placement of a bridging water molecule, improves the R2 from 0.45 ± 0.06 to 0.76 ± 0.02 and decreases the mean unsigned error from 2.11 ± 0.08 to 1.24 ± 0.04 kcal mol-1. By contrast a brute force automated protocol that increased the sampling time ten-fold lead to little improvements in accuracy. Besides, it is shown that for the present dataset hysteresis can be used to flag poses that need further attention even without prior knowledge of experimental binding affinities.
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Affiliation(s)
- José M. Granadino-Roldán
- Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Jaén, Campus “Las Lagunillas” s/n, Jaén, Spain
- * E-mail: (JMG); (JM)
| | | | - Juan J. Pérez González
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Stefano Bosisio
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Jaime Rubio-Martinez
- Departament de Química Física, Universitat de Barcelona (UB) and the Institut de Recerca en Quimica Teorica i Computacional (IQTCUB), Martí i Franqués 1, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Julien Michel
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (JMG); (JM)
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15
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Jawad B, Poudel L, Podgornik R, Steinmetz NF, Ching WY. Molecular mechanism and binding free energy of doxorubicin intercalation in DNA. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:3877-3893. [PMID: 30702122 DOI: 10.1039/c8cp06776g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The intercalation process of binding doxorubicin (DOX) in DNA is studied by extensive MD simulations. Many molecular factors that control the binding affinity of DOX to DNA to form a stable complex are inspected and quantified by employing continuum solvation models for estimating the binding free energy. The modified MM-PB(GB)SA methodology provides a complete energetic profile of ΔGele, ΔGvDW, ΔGpolar, ΔGnon-polar, TΔStotal, ΔGdeform, ΔGcon, and ΔGion. To identify the sequence specificity of DOX, two different DNA sequences, d(CGATCG) or DNA1 and d(CGTACG) or DNA2, with one molecule (1 : 1 complex) or two molecule (2 : 1 complex) configurations of DOX were selected in this study. Our results show that the DNA deformation energy (ΔGdeform), the energy cost from translational and rotational entropic contributions (TΔStran+rot), the total electrostatic interactions (ΔGpolar-PB/GB + ΔGele) of incorporation, the intramolecular electrostatic interactions (ΔGele) and electrostatic polar solvation interactions (ΔGpolar-PB/GB) are all unfavorable to the binding of DOX to DNA. However, they are overcome by at least five favorable interactions: the van der Waals interactions (ΔGvDW), the non-polar solvation interaction (ΔGnon-polar), the vibrational entropic contribution (TΔSvib), and the standard concentration dependent free energies of DOX (ΔGcon) and the ionic solution (ΔGion). Specifically, the van der Waals interaction appears to be the major driving force to form a stable DOX-DNA complex. We also predict that DOX has stronger binding to DNA1 than DNA2. The DNA deformation penalty and entropy cost in the 2 : 1 complex are less than those in the 1 : 1 complex, thus they indicate that the 2 : 1 complex is more stable than the 1 : 1 complex. We have calculated the total binding free energy (BFE) (ΔGt-sim) using both MM-PBSA and MM-GBSA methods, which suggests a more stable DOX-DNA complex at lower ionic concentration. The calculated BFE from the modified MM-GBSA method for DOX-DNA1 and DOX-DNA2 in the 1 : 1 complex is -9.1 and -5.1 kcal mol-1 respectively. The same quantities from the modified MM-PBSA method are -12.74 and -8.35 kcal mol-1 respectively. The value of the total BFE ΔGt-sim in the 1 : 1 complex is in reasonable agreement with the experimental value of -7.7 ± 0.3 kcal mol-1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bahaa Jawad
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri 64110, USA.
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16
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De Simone A, Georgiou C, Ioannidis H, Gupta AA, Juárez-Jiménez J, Doughty-Shenton D, Blackburn EA, Wear MA, Richards JP, Barlow PN, Carragher N, Walkinshaw MD, Hulme AN, Michel J. A computationally designed binding mode flip leads to a novel class of potent tri-vector cyclophilin inhibitors. Chem Sci 2019; 10:542-547. [PMID: 30746096 PMCID: PMC6335623 DOI: 10.1039/c8sc03831g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2018] [Accepted: 10/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Cyclophilins (Cyps) are a major family of drug targets that are challenging to prosecute with small molecules because the shallow nature and high degree of conservation of the active site across human isoforms offers limited opportunities for potent and selective inhibition. Herein a computational approach based on molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations was combined with biophysical assays and X-ray crystallography to explore a flip in the binding mode of a reported urea-based Cyp inhibitor. This approach enabled access to a distal pocket that is poorly conserved among key Cyp isoforms, and led to the discovery of a new family of sub-micromolar cell-active inhibitors that offer unprecedented opportunities for the development of next-generation drug therapies based on Cyp inhibition. The computational approach is applicable to a broad range of organic functional groups and could prove widely enabling in molecular design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio De Simone
- University of Edinburgh , Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, David Brewster Road , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3FJ , UK .
| | - Charis Georgiou
- University of Edinburgh , Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, David Brewster Road , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3FJ , UK .
| | - Harris Ioannidis
- University of Edinburgh , Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, David Brewster Road , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3FJ , UK .
| | - Arun A Gupta
- University of Edinburgh , Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, David Brewster Road , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3FJ , UK .
| | - Jordi Juárez-Jiménez
- University of Edinburgh , Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, David Brewster Road , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3FJ , UK .
| | - Dahlia Doughty-Shenton
- Edinburgh Phenotypic Assay Centre , University of Edinburgh , Queen's Medical Research Institute , Little France Cres , Edinburgh , Scotland EH16 4TJ , UK
| | - Elizabeth A Blackburn
- The Edinburgh Protein Production Facility (EPPF) , University of Edinburgh , Level 3 Michael Swann Building, King's Buildings, Max Born Crescent , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3BF , UK
| | - Martin A Wear
- The Edinburgh Protein Production Facility (EPPF) , University of Edinburgh , Level 3 Michael Swann Building, King's Buildings, Max Born Crescent , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3BF , UK
| | - Jonathan P Richards
- University of Edinburgh , Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, David Brewster Road , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3FJ , UK .
| | - Paul N Barlow
- University of Edinburgh , Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, David Brewster Road , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3FJ , UK .
| | - Neil Carragher
- Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre , University of Edinburgh , MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine , Crewe Road South , Edinburgh , Scotland EH4 2XR , UK
| | - Malcolm D Walkinshaw
- University of Edinburgh , Michael Swann Building, Max Born Crescent , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3BF , UK
| | - Alison N Hulme
- University of Edinburgh , Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, David Brewster Road , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3FJ , UK .
| | - Julien Michel
- University of Edinburgh , Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, David Brewster Road , Edinburgh , Scotland EH9 3FJ , UK .
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17
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Energy windows for computed compound conformers: covering artefacts or truly large reorganization energies? Future Med Chem 2019; 11:97-118. [DOI: 10.4155/fmc-2018-0400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The generation of 3D conformers of small molecules underpins most computational drug discovery. Thus, the conformer quality is critical and depends on their energetics. A key parameter is the empirical conformational energy window (ΔEw), since only conformers within ΔEw are retained. However, ΔEw values in use appear unrealistically large. We analyze the factors pertaining to the conformer energetics and ΔEw. We argue that more attention must be focused on the problem of collapsed low-energy conformers. That is due to artificial intramolecular stabilization and occurs even with continuum solvation. Consequently, the conformational energy of extended bioactive structures is artefactually increased, which inflates ΔEw. Thus, this Perspective highlights the issues arising from low-energy conformers and suggests improvements via empirical or physics-based strategies.
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18
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Papadourakis M, Bosisio S, Michel J. Blinded predictions of standard binding free energies: lessons learned from the SAMPL6 challenge. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2018; 32:1047-1058. [PMID: 30159717 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-018-0154-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2018] [Accepted: 08/24/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
In the context of the SAMPL6 challenges, series of blinded predictions of standard binding free energies were made with the SOMD software for a dataset of 27 host-guest systems featuring two octa-acids hosts (OA and TEMOA) and a cucurbituril ring (CB8) host. Three different models were used, ModelA computes the free energy of binding based on a double annihilation technique; ModelB additionally takes into account long-range dispersion and standard state corrections; ModelC additionally introduces an empirical correction term derived from a regression analysis of SAMPL5 predictions previously made with SOMD. The performance of each model was evaluated with two different setups; buffer explicitly matches the ionic strength from the binding assays, whereas no-buffer merely neutralizes the host-guest net charge with counter-ions. ModelC/no-buffer shows the lowest mean-unsigned error for the overall dataset (MUE 1.29 < 1.39 < 1.50 kcal mol-1, 95% CI), while explicit modelling of the buffer improves significantly results for the CB8 host only. Correlation with experimental data ranges from excellent for the host TEMOA (R2 0.91 < 0.94 < 0.96), to poor for CB8 (R2 0.04 < 0.12 < 0.23). Further investigations indicate a pronounced dependence of the binding free energies on the modelled ionic strength, and variable reproducibility of the binding free energies between different simulation packages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michail Papadourakis
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3FJ, UK
| | - Stefano Bosisio
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3FJ, UK
| | - Julien Michel
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3FJ, UK.
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19
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Fowler PW, Cole K, Gordon NC, Kearns AM, Llewelyn MJ, Peto TEA, Crook DW, Walker AS. Robust Prediction of Resistance to Trimethoprim in Staphylococcus aureus. Cell Chem Biol 2018; 25:339-349.e4. [PMID: 29307840 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2017.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2017] [Revised: 10/24/2017] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
The rise of antibiotic resistance threatens modern medicine; to combat it new diagnostic methods are required. Sequencing the whole genome of a pathogen offers the potential to accurately determine which antibiotics will be effective to treat a patient. A key limitation of this approach is that it cannot classify rare or previously unseen mutations. Here we demonstrate that alchemical free energy methods, a well-established class of methods from computational chemistry, can successfully predict whether mutations in Staphylococcus aureus dihydrofolate reductase confer resistance to trimethoprim. We also show that the method is quantitatively accurate by calculating how much the most common resistance-conferring mutation, F99Y, reduces the binding free energy of trimethoprim and comparing predicted and experimentally measured minimum inhibitory concentrations for seven different mutations. Finally, by considering up to 32 free energy calculations for each mutation, we estimate its specificity and sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip W Fowler
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
| | - Kevin Cole
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton BN1 9PS, UK
| | - N Claire Gordon
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Angela M Kearns
- Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections Reference Unit, Public Health England, Colindale NW9 5EQ, UK
| | - Martin J Llewelyn
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton BN1 9PS, UK
| | - Tim E A Peto
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Derrick W Crook
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - A Sarah Walker
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
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20
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Mey ASJS, Jiménez JJ, Michel J. Impact of domain knowledge on blinded predictions of binding energies by alchemical free energy calculations. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2018; 32:199-210. [PMID: 29134431 PMCID: PMC5767197 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-017-0083-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2017] [Accepted: 11/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The Drug Design Data Resource (D3R) consortium organises blinded challenges to address the latest advances in computational methods for ligand pose prediction, affinity ranking, and free energy calculations. Within the context of the second D3R Grand Challenge several blinded binding free energies predictions were made for two congeneric series of Farsenoid X Receptor (FXR) inhibitors with a semi-automated alchemical free energy calculation workflow featuring FESetup and SOMD software tools. Reasonable performance was observed in retrospective analyses of literature datasets. Nevertheless, blinded predictions on the full D3R datasets were poor due to difficulties encountered with the ranking of compounds that vary in their net-charge. Performance increased for predictions that were restricted to subsets of compounds carrying the same net-charge. Disclosure of X-ray crystallography derived binding modes maintained or improved the correlation with experiment in a subsequent rounds of predictions. The best performing protocols on D3R set1 and set2 were comparable or superior to predictions made on the basis of analysis of literature structure activity relationships (SAR)s only, and comparable or slightly inferior, to the best submissions from other groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia S J S Mey
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FJ, UK
| | - Jordi Juárez Jiménez
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FJ, UK
| | - Julien Michel
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FJ, UK.
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21
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Niwetmarin W, Rego Campello H, Sparkes HA, Aggarwal VK, Gallagher T. (−)-Cytisine: Access to a stereochemically defined and functionally flexible piperidine scaffold. Org Biomol Chem 2018; 16:5823-5832. [DOI: 10.1039/c8ob01456f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Cytisine undergoes ready fragmentation to provide a highly flexible (and “privileged”) piperidine scaffold capable of exploring a diversity of chemical space.
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22
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Ross GA, Bruce Macdonald HE, Cave-Ayland C, Cabedo Martinez AI, Essex JW. Replica-Exchange and Standard State Binding Free Energies with Grand Canonical Monte Carlo. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 13:6373-6381. [PMID: 29091438 PMCID: PMC5729546 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
![]()
The
ability of grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) to create and
annihilate molecules in a given region greatly aids the identification
of water sites and water binding free energies in protein cavities.
However, acceptance rates without the application of biased moves
can be low, resulting in large variations in the observed water occupancies.
Here, we show that replica-exchange of the chemical potential significantly
reduces the variance of the GCMC data. This improvement comes at a
negligible increase in computational expense when simulations comprise
of runs at different chemical potentials. Replica-exchange GCMC is
also found to substantially increase the precision of water binding
free energies as calculated with grand canonical integration, which
has allowed us to address a missing standard state correction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory A Ross
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York, New York 10065, United States
| | | | | | - Ana I Cabedo Martinez
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southampton , Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan W Essex
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southampton , Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
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23
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Georgiou C, McNae I, Wear M, Ioannidis H, Michel J, Walkinshaw M. Pushing the Limits of Detection of Weak Binding Using Fragment-Based Drug Discovery: Identification of New Cyclophilin Binders. J Mol Biol 2017; 429:2556-2570. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2017.06.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2017] [Revised: 06/15/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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24
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Ganesan A, Coote ML, Barakat K. Molecular dynamics-driven drug discovery: leaping forward with confidence. Drug Discov Today 2017; 22:249-269. [DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2016.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 133] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2016] [Revised: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 11/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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25
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Leelananda SP, Lindert S. Computational methods in drug discovery. Beilstein J Org Chem 2016; 12:2694-2718. [PMID: 28144341 PMCID: PMC5238551 DOI: 10.3762/bjoc.12.267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 285] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2016] [Accepted: 11/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The process for drug discovery and development is challenging, time consuming and expensive. Computer-aided drug discovery (CADD) tools can act as a virtual shortcut, assisting in the expedition of this long process and potentially reducing the cost of research and development. Today CADD has become an effective and indispensable tool in therapeutic development. The human genome project has made available a substantial amount of sequence data that can be used in various drug discovery projects. Additionally, increasing knowledge of biological structures, as well as increasing computer power have made it possible to use computational methods effectively in various phases of the drug discovery and development pipeline. The importance of in silico tools is greater than ever before and has advanced pharmaceutical research. Here we present an overview of computational methods used in different facets of drug discovery and highlight some of the recent successes. In this review, both structure-based and ligand-based drug discovery methods are discussed. Advances in virtual high-throughput screening, protein structure prediction methods, protein-ligand docking, pharmacophore modeling and QSAR techniques are reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sumudu P Leelananda
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Steffen Lindert
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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26
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Blinded predictions of binding modes and energies of HSP90-α ligands for the 2015 D3R grand challenge. Bioorg Med Chem 2016; 24:4890-4899. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2016.07.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2016] [Revised: 07/19/2016] [Accepted: 07/20/2016] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
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27
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Santos LH, Ferreira RS, Caffarena ER. Computational drug design strategies applied to the modelling of human immunodeficiency virus-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2016; 110:847-64. [PMID: 26560977 PMCID: PMC4660614 DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760150239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2015] [Accepted: 09/08/2015] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Reverse transcriptase (RT) is a multifunctional enzyme in the human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV)-1 life cycle and represents a primary target for drug discovery efforts
against HIV-1 infection. Two classes of RT inhibitors, the nucleoside RT inhibitors
(NRTIs) and the nonnucleoside transcriptase inhibitors are prominently used in the
highly active antiretroviral therapy in combination with other anti-HIV drugs.
However, the rapid emergence of drug-resistant viral strains has limited the
successful rate of the anti-HIV agents. Computational methods are a significant part
of the drug design process and indispensable to study drug resistance. In this
review, recent advances in computer-aided drug design for the rational design of new
compounds against HIV-1 RT using methods such as molecular docking, molecular
dynamics, free energy calculations, quantitative structure-activity relationships,
pharmacophore modelling and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and
toxicity prediction are discussed. Successful applications of these methodologies are
also highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rafaela Salgado Ferreira
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil
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28
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Bodnarchuk MS. Water, water, everywhere… It's time to stop and think. Drug Discov Today 2016; 21:1139-46. [DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2016.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2016] [Revised: 04/15/2016] [Accepted: 05/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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29
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Calabrò G, Woods CJ, Powlesland F, Mey ASJS, Mulholland AJ, Michel J. Elucidation of Nonadditive Effects in Protein–Ligand Binding Energies: Thrombin as a Case Study. J Phys Chem B 2016; 120:5340-50. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b03296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gaetano Calabrò
- EaStCHEM
School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black Building, King’s
Buildings, Edinburgh EH9
3JJ, U.K
| | | | - Francis Powlesland
- EaStCHEM
School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black Building, King’s
Buildings, Edinburgh EH9
3JJ, U.K
| | - Antonia S. J. S. Mey
- EaStCHEM
School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black Building, King’s
Buildings, Edinburgh EH9
3JJ, U.K
| | - Adrian J. Mulholland
- School
of Chemistry, Cantock’s close, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TS, U.K
| | - Julien Michel
- EaStCHEM
School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black Building, King’s
Buildings, Edinburgh EH9
3JJ, U.K
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30
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Biggin PC, Aldeghi M, Bodkin MJ, Heifetz A. Beyond Membrane Protein Structure: Drug Discovery, Dynamics and Difficulties. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2016; 922:161-181. [PMID: 27553242 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-35072-1_12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Most of the previous content of this book has focused on obtaining the structures of membrane proteins. In this chapter we explore how those structures can be further used in two key ways. The first is their use in structure based drug design (SBDD) and the second is how they can be used to extend our understanding of their functional activity via the use of molecular dynamics. Both aspects now heavily rely on computations. This area is vast, and alas, too large to consider in depth in a single book chapter. Thus where appropriate we have referred the reader to recent reviews for deeper assessment of the field. We discuss progress via the use of examples from two main drug target areas; G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and ion channels. We end with a discussion of some of the main challenges in the area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip C Biggin
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK.
| | - Matteo Aldeghi
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Michael J Bodkin
- Evotec Ltd, 114 Innovation Drive, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4RZ, UK
| | - Alexander Heifetz
- Evotec Ltd, 114 Innovation Drive, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4RZ, UK
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31
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Ross GA, Bodnarchuk MS, Essex JW. Water Sites, Networks, And Free Energies with Grand Canonical Monte Carlo. J Am Chem Soc 2015; 137:14930-43. [PMID: 26509924 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b07940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Water molecules play integral roles in the formation of many protein-ligand complexes, and recent computational efforts have been focused on predicting the thermodynamic properties of individual waters and how they may be exploited in rational drug design. However, when water molecules form highly coupled hydrogen-bonding networks, there is, as yet, no method that can rigorously calculate the free energy to bind the entire network or assess the degree of cooperativity between waters. In this work, we report theoretical and methodological developments to the grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation technique. Central to our results is a rigorous equation that can be used to calculate efficiently the binding free energies of water networks of arbitrary size and complexity. Using a single set of simulations, our methods can locate waters, estimate their binding affinities, capture the cooperativity of the water network, and evaluate the hydration free energy of entire protein binding sites. Our techniques have been applied to multiple test systems and compare favorably to thermodynamic integration simulations and experimental data. The implications of these methods in drug design are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory A Ross
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton , Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
| | - Michael S Bodnarchuk
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London , Exhibition Road, London, SW1 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan W Essex
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton , Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
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32
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Burusco KK, Bruce NJ, Alibay I, Bryce RA. Free Energy Calculations using a Swarm-Enhanced Sampling Molecular Dynamics Approach. Chemphyschem 2015; 16:3233-41. [PMID: 26418190 PMCID: PMC4676921 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201500524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Free energy simulations are an established computational tool in modelling chemical change in the condensed phase. However, sampling of kinetically distinct substates remains a challenge to these approaches. As a route to addressing this, we link the methods of thermodynamic integration (TI) and swarm-enhanced sampling molecular dynamics (sesMD), where simulation replicas interact cooperatively to aid transitions over energy barriers. We illustrate the approach by using alchemical alkane transformations in solution, comparing them with the multiple independent trajectory TI (IT-TI) method. Free energy changes for transitions computed by using IT-TI grew increasingly inaccurate as the intramolecular barrier was heightened. By contrast, swarm-enhanced sampling TI (sesTI) calculations showed clear improvements in sampling efficiency, leading to more accurate computed free energy differences, even in the case of the highest barrier height. The sesTI approach, therefore, has potential in addressing chemical change in systems where conformations exist in slow exchange.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kepa K Burusco
- Manchester Pharmacy School, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Neil J Bruce
- Manchester Pharmacy School, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.,Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS gGmbH), Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, 69118, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Irfan Alibay
- Manchester Pharmacy School, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Richard A Bryce
- Manchester Pharmacy School, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.
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33
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Cournia Z, Allen TW, Andricioaei I, Antonny B, Baum D, Brannigan G, Buchete NV, Deckman JT, Delemotte L, del Val C, Friedman R, Gkeka P, Hege HC, Hénin J, Kasimova MA, Kolocouris A, Klein ML, Khalid S, Lemieux MJ, Lindow N, Roy M, Selent J, Tarek M, Tofoleanu F, Vanni S, Urban S, Wales DJ, Smith JC, Bondar AN. Membrane Protein Structure, Function, and Dynamics: a Perspective from Experiments and Theory. J Membr Biol 2015; 248:611-40. [PMID: 26063070 PMCID: PMC4515176 DOI: 10.1007/s00232-015-9802-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2014] [Accepted: 03/26/2015] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Membrane proteins mediate processes that are fundamental for the flourishing of biological cells. Membrane-embedded transporters move ions and larger solutes across membranes; receptors mediate communication between the cell and its environment and membrane-embedded enzymes catalyze chemical reactions. Understanding these mechanisms of action requires knowledge of how the proteins couple to their fluid, hydrated lipid membrane environment. We present here current studies in computational and experimental membrane protein biophysics, and show how they address outstanding challenges in understanding the complex environmental effects on the structure, function, and dynamics of membrane proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe Cournia
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou, 11527, Athens, Greece
| | - Toby W. Allen
- School of Applied Sciences & Health Innovations Research Institute, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, Vic, 3001, Australia; and Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis. Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Ioan Andricioaei
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Bruno Antonny
- Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 7275, 06560 Valbonne, France
| | - Daniel Baum
- Department of Visualization and Data Analysis, Zuse Institute Berlin, Takustrasse 7, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Grace Brannigan
- Center for Computational and Integrative Biology and Department of Physics, Rutgers University-Camden, Camden, NJ, USA
| | - Nicolae-Viorel Buchete
- School of Physics and Complex and Adaptive Systems Laboratory, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | | | - Lucie Delemotte
- Institute of Computational and Molecular Science, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - Coral del Val
- Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Granada, E-18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Ran Friedman
- Linnæus University, Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences & Centre for Biomaterials Chemistry, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Paraskevi Gkeka
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou, 11527, Athens, Greece
| | - Hans-Christian Hege
- Department of Visualization and Data Analysis, Zuse Institute Berlin, Takustrasse 7, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jérôme Hénin
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, IBPC and CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Marina A. Kasimova
- Université de Lorraine, SRSMC, UMR 7565, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, F-54500, France
- Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
| | - Antonios Kolocouris
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis-Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
| | - Michael L. Klein
- Institute of Computational and Molecular Science, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - Syma Khalid
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - M. Joanne Lemieux
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Membrane Protein Disease Research Group, and Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2H7
| | - Norbert Lindow
- Department of Visualization and Data Analysis, Zuse Institute Berlin, Takustrasse 7, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Mahua Roy
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
| | - Jana Selent
- Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics (GRIB), Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Dr. Aiguader 88, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mounir Tarek
- Université de Lorraine, SRSMC, UMR 7565, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, F-54500, France
- CNRS, SRSMC, UMR 7565, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, F-54500, France
| | - Florentina Tofoleanu
- School of Physics and Complex and Adaptive Systems Laboratory, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Stefano Vanni
- Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 7275, 06560 Valbonne, France
| | - Sinisa Urban
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, 725 N. Wolfe Street, 507 Preclinical Teaching Building, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - David J. Wales
- University Chemical Laboratories, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, U.K
| | - Jeremy C. Smith
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, PO BOX 2008 MS6309, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6309, USA
| | - Ana-Nicoleta Bondar
- Theoretical Molecular Biophysics, Department of Physics, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
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Mishra SK, Calabró G, Loeffler HH, Michel J, Koča J. Evaluation of Selected Classical Force Fields for Alchemical Binding Free Energy Calculations of Protein-Carbohydrate Complexes. J Chem Theory Comput 2015; 11:3333-45. [PMID: 26575767 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.5b00159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Protein-carbohydrate recognition is crucial in many vital biological processes including host-pathogen recognition, cell-signaling, and catalysis. Accordingly, computational prediction of protein-carbohydrate binding free energies is of enormous interest for drug design. However, the accuracy of current force fields (FFs) for predicting binding free energies of protein-carbohydrate complexes is not well understood owing to technical challenges such as the highly polar nature of the complexes, anomerization, and conformational flexibility of carbohydrates. The present study evaluated the performance of alchemical predictions of binding free energies with the GAFF1.7/AM1-BCC and GLYCAM06j force fields for modeling protein-carbohydrate complexes. Mean unsigned errors of 1.1 ± 0.06 (GLYCAM06j) and 2.6 ± 0.08 (GAFF1.7/AM1-BCC) kcal·mol(-1) are achieved for a large data set of monosaccharide ligands for Ralstonia solanacearum lectin (RSL). The level of accuracy provided by GLYCAM06j is sufficient to discriminate potent, moderate, and weak binders, a goal that has been difficult to achieve through other scoring approaches. Accordingly, the protocols presented here could find useful applications in carbohydrate-based drug and vaccine developments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sushil K Mishra
- Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) and National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University , Kamenice-5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Gaetano Calabró
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building , King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JJ, United Kingdom
| | - Hannes H Loeffler
- Scientific Computing Department, STFC Daresbury , Warrington, WA4 4AD, United Kingdom
| | - Julien Michel
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building , King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JJ, United Kingdom
| | - Jaroslav Koča
- Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) and National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University , Kamenice-5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
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35
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Hoffer L, Chira C, Marcou G, Varnek A, Horvath D. S4MPLE--Sampler for Multiple Protein-Ligand Entities: Methodology and Rigid-Site Docking Benchmarking. Molecules 2015; 20:8997-9028. [PMID: 25996209 PMCID: PMC6272476 DOI: 10.3390/molecules20058997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2015] [Revised: 04/27/2015] [Accepted: 05/11/2015] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper describes the development of the unified conformational sampling and docking tool called Sampler for Multiple Protein-Ligand Entities (S4MPLE). The main novelty in S4MPLE is the unified dealing with intra- and intermolecular degrees of freedom (DoF). While classically programs are either designed for folding or docking, S4MPLE transcends this artificial specialization. It supports folding, docking of a flexible ligand into a flexible site and simultaneous docking of several ligands. The trick behind it is the formal assimilation of inter-molecular to intra-molecular DoF associated to putative inter-molecular contact axes. This is implemented within the genetic operators powering a Lamarckian Genetic Algorithm (GA). Further novelty includes differentiable interaction fingerprints to control population diversity, and fitting a simple continuum solvent model and favorable contact bonus terms to the AMBER/GAFF force field. Novel applications-docking of fragment-like compounds, simultaneous docking of multiple ligands, including free crystallographic waters-were published elsewhere. This paper discusses: (a) methodology, (b) set-up of the force field energy functions and (c) their validation in classical redocking tests. More than 80% success in redocking was achieved (RMSD of top-ranked pose < 2.0 Å).
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Hoffer
- Laboratoire de Chemoinformatique; UMR 7141, Université de Strasbourg, 1 rue B. Pascal, Strasbourg 67000, France.
- Novalix, BioParc, bld Sébastien Brant, BP 30170, Illkirch 67405 Cedex, France.
| | - Camelia Chira
- Department of Computer Science, Technical University, Cluj-Napoca 400027, Romania.
| | - Gilles Marcou
- Laboratoire de Chemoinformatique; UMR 7141, Université de Strasbourg, 1 rue B. Pascal, Strasbourg 67000, France.
| | - Alexandre Varnek
- Laboratoire de Chemoinformatique; UMR 7141, Université de Strasbourg, 1 rue B. Pascal, Strasbourg 67000, France.
| | - Dragos Horvath
- Laboratoire de Chemoinformatique; UMR 7141, Université de Strasbourg, 1 rue B. Pascal, Strasbourg 67000, France.
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36
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Liu S, Wang L, Mobley DL. Is ring breaking feasible in relative binding free energy calculations? J Chem Inf Model 2015; 55:727-35. [PMID: 25835054 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.5b00057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Our interest is relative binding free energy (RBFE) calculations based on molecular simulations. These are promising tools for lead optimization in drug discovery, computing changes in binding free energy due to modifications of a lead compound. However, in the "alchemical" framework for RBFE calculations, some types of mutations have the potential to introduce error into the computed binding free energies. Here we explore the magnitude of this error in several different model binding calculations. We find that some of the calculations involving ring breaking have significant errors, and these errors are especially large in bridged ring systems. Since the error is a function of ligand strain, which is unpredictable in advance, we believe that ring breaking should be avoided when possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuai Liu
- †Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, 147 Bison Modular, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Lingle Wang
- ‡Schrödinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - David L Mobley
- †Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, 147 Bison Modular, Irvine, California 92697, United States
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37
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Beierlein FR, Clark T, Braunschweig B, Engelhardt K, Glas L, Peukert W. Carboxylate Ion Pairing with Alkali-Metal Ions for β-Lactoglobulin and Its Role on Aggregation and Interfacial Adsorption. J Phys Chem B 2015; 119:5505-17. [PMID: 25825918 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b01944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
We report a combined experimental and computational study of the whey protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG) in different electrolyte solutions. Vibrational sum-frequency generation (SFG) and ellipsometry were used to investigate the molecular structure of BLG modified air-water interfaces as a function of LiCl, NaCl, and KCl concentrations. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and thermodynamic integration provided details of the ion pairing of protein surface residues with alkali-metal cations. Our results at pH 6.2 indicate that BLG at the air-water interface forms mono- and bilayers preferably at low and high ionic strength, respectively. Results from SFG spectroscopy and ellipsometry are consistent with intimate ion pairing of alkali-metal cations with aspartate and glutamate carboxylates, which is shown to be more effective for smaller cations (Li(+) and Na(+)). MD simulations show not only carboxylate-alkali-metal ion pairs but also ion multiplets with the alkali-metal ion in a bridging position between two or more carboxylates. Consequently, alkali-metal cations can bridge carboxylates not only within a monomer but also between monomers, thus providing an important dimerization mechanism between hydrophilic surface patches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank R Beierlein
- †Computer-Chemie-Centrum and Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nägelsbachstr. 25, 91052 Erlangen, Germany.,‡Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nägelsbachstr. 49b, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Timothy Clark
- †Computer-Chemie-Centrum and Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nägelsbachstr. 25, 91052 Erlangen, Germany.,‡Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nägelsbachstr. 49b, 91052 Erlangen, Germany.,∥Centre for Molecular Design, University of Portsmouth, King Henry Building, King Henry I Street, Portsmouth PO1 2DY, United Kingdom
| | - Björn Braunschweig
- ‡Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nägelsbachstr. 49b, 91052 Erlangen, Germany.,§Institute of Particle Technology (LFG), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 4, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Kathrin Engelhardt
- §Institute of Particle Technology (LFG), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 4, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Lena Glas
- §Institute of Particle Technology (LFG), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 4, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Peukert
- ‡Cluster of Excellence Engineering of Advanced Materials, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nägelsbachstr. 49b, 91052 Erlangen, Germany.,§Institute of Particle Technology (LFG), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 4, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
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38
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Gerogiokas G, Southey MWY, Mazanetz MP, Hefeitz A, Bodkin M, Law RJ, Michel J. Evaluation of water displacement energetics in protein binding sites with grid cell theory. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2015; 17:8416-26. [DOI: 10.1039/c4cp05572a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
The grid cell theory method was used to elucidate perturbations in water network energetics in a range of protein–ligand complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - J. Michel
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry
- Edinburgh
- UK
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39
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Mochizuki K, Whittleston CS, Somani S, Kusumaatmaja H, Wales DJ. A conformational factorisation approach for estimating the binding free energies of macromolecules. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2014; 16:2842-53. [PMID: 24213246 DOI: 10.1039/c3cp53537a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
We present a conformational factorization approach. The theory is based on a superposition partition function, decomposed as a sum over contributions from local minima. The factorisation greatly reduces the number of minima that need to be considered, by employing the same local configurations for groups that are sufficiently distant from the binding site. The theory formalises the conditions required to analyse how our definition of the binding site region affects the free energy difference between the apo and holo states. We employ basin-hopping parallel tempering to sample minima that contribute significantly to the partition function, and calculate the binding free energies within the harmonic normal mode approximation. A further significant gain in efficiency is achieved using a recently developed local rigid body framework in both the sampling and the normal mode analysis, which reduces the number of degrees of freedom. We benchmark this approach for human aldose reductase (PDB code 2INE). When varying the size of the rigid region, the free energy difference converges for factorisation of groups at a distance of 14 Å from the binding site, which corresponds to 80% of the protein being locally rigidified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenji Mochizuki
- School of Physical Sciences, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Myodaiji, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan.
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40
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Lee HC, Hsu WC, Liu AL, Hsu CJ, Sun YC. Using thermodynamic integration MD simulation to compute relative protein–ligand binding free energy of a GSK3β kinase inhibitor and its analogs. J Mol Graph Model 2014; 51:37-49. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2014.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2013] [Revised: 04/20/2014] [Accepted: 04/22/2014] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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41
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Woods CJ, Malaisree M, Michel J, Long B, McIntosh-Smith S, Mulholland AJ. Rapid decomposition and visualisation of protein-ligand binding free energies by residue and by water. Faraday Discuss 2014; 169:477-99. [PMID: 25340314 DOI: 10.1039/c3fd00125c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Recent advances in computational hardware, software and algorithms enable simulations of protein-ligand complexes to achieve timescales during which complete ligand binding and unbinding pathways can be observed. While observation of such events can promote understanding of binding and unbinding pathways, it does not alone provide information about the molecular drivers for protein-ligand association, nor guidance on how a ligand could be optimised to better bind to the protein. We have developed the waterswap (C. J. Woods et al., J. Chem. Phys., 2011, 134, 054114) absolute binding free energy method that calculates binding affinities by exchanging the ligand with an equivalent volume of water. A significant advantage of this method is that the binding free energy is calculated using a single reaction coordinate from a single simulation. This has enabled the development of new visualisations of binding affinities based on free energy decompositions to per-residue and per-water molecule components. These provide a clear picture of which protein-ligand interactions are strong, and which active site water molecules are stabilised or destabilised upon binding. Optimisation of the algorithms underlying the decomposition enables near-real-time visualisation, allowing these calculations to be used either to provide interactive feedback to a ligand designer, or to provide run-time analysis of protein-ligand molecular dynamics simulations.
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42
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Michel J. Current and emerging opportunities for molecular simulations in structure-based drug design. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2014; 16:4465-77. [PMID: 24469595 PMCID: PMC4256725 DOI: 10.1039/c3cp54164a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2013] [Accepted: 01/10/2014] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
An overview of the current capabilities and limitations of molecular simulation of biomolecular complexes in the context of computer-aided drug design is provided. Steady improvements in computer hardware coupled with more refined representations of energetics are leading to a new appreciation of the driving forces of molecular recognition. Molecular simulations are poised to more frequently guide the interpretation of biophysical measurements of biomolecular complexes. Ligand design strategies emerge from detailed analyses of computed structural ensembles. The feasibility of routine applications to ligand optimization problems hinges upon successful extensive large scale validation studies and the development of protocols to intelligently automate computations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Michel
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, Joseph Black Building, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JJ, UK.
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43
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Christ CD, Fox T. Accuracy Assessment and Automation of Free Energy Calculations for Drug Design. J Chem Inf Model 2013; 54:108-20. [DOI: 10.1021/ci4004199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Clara D. Christ
- Department of Lead Identification and Optimization Support, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, 88397 Germany
| | - Thomas Fox
- Department of Lead Identification and Optimization Support, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, 88397 Germany
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44
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Gerogiokas G, Calabro G, Henchman RH, Southey MWY, Law RJ, Michel J. Prediction of Small Molecule Hydration Thermodynamics with Grid Cell Theory. J Chem Theory Comput 2013; 10:35-48. [PMID: 26579889 DOI: 10.1021/ct400783h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
An efficient methodology has been developed to quantify water energetics by analysis of explicit solvent molecular simulations of organic and biomolecular systems. The approach, grid cell theory (GCT), relies on a discretization of the cell theory methodology on a three-dimensional grid to spatially resolve the density, enthalpy, and entropy of water molecules in the vicinity of solute(s) of interest. Entropies of hydration are found to converge more efficiently than enthalpies of hydration. GCT predictions of free energies of hydration on a data set of small molecules are strongly correlated with thermodynamic integration predictions. Agreement with the experiment is comparable for both approaches. A key advantage of GCT is its ability to provide from a single simulation insightful graphical analyses of spatially resolved components of the enthalpies and entropies of hydration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgios Gerogiokas
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry , Joseph Black Building, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JJ, United Kingdom
| | - Gaetano Calabro
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry , Joseph Black Building, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JJ, United Kingdom
| | - Richard H Henchman
- Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester , 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, United Kingdom and School of Chemistry, The University of Manchester , Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
| | - Michelle W Y Southey
- Evotec (U.K.) Ltd. , 114 Innovation Drive, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4SA, United Kingdom
| | - Richard J Law
- Evotec (U.K.) Ltd. , 114 Innovation Drive, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4SA, United Kingdom
| | - Julien Michel
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry , Joseph Black Building, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JJ, United Kingdom
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45
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Artese A, Costa G, Distinto S, Moraca F, Ortuso F, Parrotta L, Alcaro S. Toward the design of new DNA G-quadruplex ligands through rational analysis of polymorphism and binding data. Eur J Med Chem 2013; 68:139-49. [PMID: 23974014 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2013.07.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2012] [Revised: 07/15/2013] [Accepted: 07/17/2013] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Human telomeres play a key role in protecting chromosomal ends from fusion events; they are composed of d(TTAGGG) repeats, ranging in size from 3 to 15 kb. They form G-quadruplex DNA structures, stabilized by G-quartets in the presence of cations, and are involved in several biological processes. In particular, a telomere maintenance mechanism is provided by a specialized enzyme called telomerase, a reverse transcriptase able to add multiple copies of the 5'-GGTTAG-3' motif to the end of the G-strand of the telomere and which is over-expressed in the majority of cancer cells. The central cation has a crucial role in maintaining the stability of the structure. Based on its nature, it can be associated with different topological telomeric quadruplexes, which depend also on the orientation of the DNA strands and the syn/anti conformation of the guanines. Such a polymorphism, confirmed by the different structures deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), prompted us to apply a computational protocol in order to investigate the conformational properties of a set of known G-quadruplex ligands and their molecular recognition against six different experimental models of the human telomeric sequence d[AG3(T2AG3)3]. The average AutoDock correlation between theoretical and experimental data yielded an r2 value equal to 0.882 among all the studied models. Such a result was always improved with respect to those of the single folds, with the exception of the parallel structure (r2 equal to 0.886), thus suggesting a key role of this G4 conformation in the stacking interaction network. Among the studied binders, a trisubstituted acridine and a dibenzophenanthroline derivative were well recognized by the parallel and the mixed G-quadruplex structures, allowing the identification of specific key contacts with DNA and the further design of more potent or target specific G-quadruplex ligands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Artese
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi "Magna Græcia", Campus "S. Venuta", Viale Europa, Germaneto, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
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Mucs D, Bryce RA. The application of quantum mechanics in structure-based drug design. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2013; 8:263-76. [DOI: 10.1517/17460441.2013.752812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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Gkeka P, Eleftheratos S, Kolocouris A, Cournia Z. Free Energy Calculations Reveal the Origin of Binding Preference for Aminoadamantane Blockers of Influenza A/M2TM Pore. J Chem Theory Comput 2013; 9:1272-81. [DOI: 10.1021/ct300899n] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Paraskevi Gkeka
- Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou,
11527 Athens, Greece
| | - Stelios Eleftheratos
- Faculty
of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical
Chemistry, University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis-Zografou,
15771 Athens, Greece
| | - Antonios Kolocouris
- Faculty
of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical
Chemistry, University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis-Zografou,
15771 Athens, Greece
| | - Zoe Cournia
- Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou,
11527 Athens, Greece
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Homeyer N, Gohlke H. FEW: A workflow tool for free energy calculations of ligand binding. J Comput Chem 2013; 34:965-73. [DOI: 10.1002/jcc.23218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2012] [Revised: 11/21/2012] [Accepted: 12/08/2012] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Computation of relative binding free energy for an inhibitor and its analogs binding with Erk kinase using thermodynamic integration MD simulation. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2012; 26:1159-69. [DOI: 10.1007/s10822-012-9606-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2012] [Accepted: 09/10/2012] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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Acevedo O, Ambrose Z, Flaherty PT, Aamer H, Jain P, Sambasivarao SV. Identification of HIV inhibitors guided by free energy perturbation calculations. Curr Pharm Des 2012; 18:1199-216. [PMID: 22316150 DOI: 10.2174/138161212799436421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2011] [Accepted: 12/06/2011] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Free energy perturbation (FEP) theory coupled to molecular dynamics (MD) or Monte Carlo (MC) statistical mechanics offers a theoretically precise method for determining the free energy differences of related biological inhibitors. Traditionally requiring extensive computational resources and expertise, it is only recently that its impact is being felt in drug discovery. A review of computer-aided anti-HIV efforts employing FEP calculations is provided here that describes early and recent successes in the design of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. In addition, our ongoing work developing and optimizing leads for small molecule inhibitors of cyclophilin A (CypA) is highlighted as an update on the current capabilities of the field. CypA has been shown to aid HIV-1 replication by catalyzing the cis/trans isomerization of a conserved Gly-Pro motif in the Nterminal domain of HIV-1 capsid (CA) protein. In the absence of a functional CypA, e.g., by the addition of an inhibitor such as cyclosporine A (CsA), HIV-1 has reduced infectivity. Our simulations of acylurea-based and 1-indanylketone-based CypA inhibitors have determined that their nanomolar and micromolar binding affinities, respectively, are tied to their ability to stabilize Arg55 and Asn102. A structurally novel 1-(2,6-dichlorobenzamido) indole core was proposed to maximize these interactions. FEP-guided optimization, experimental synthesis, and biological testing of lead compounds for toxicity and inhibition of wild-type HIV-1 and CA mutants have demonstrated a dose-dependent inhibition of HIV-1 infection in two cell lines. While the inhibition is modest compared to CsA, the results are encouraging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orlando Acevedo
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849, USA.
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