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Oeller M, Kang RJD, Bolt HL, Gomes Dos Santos AL, Weinmann AL, Nikitidis A, Zlatoidsky P, Su W, Czechtizky W, De Maria L, Sormanni P, Vendruscolo M. Sequence-based prediction of the intrinsic solubility of peptides containing non-natural amino acids. Nat Commun 2023; 14:7475. [PMID: 37978172 PMCID: PMC10656490 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42940-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Non-natural amino acids are increasingly used as building blocks in the development of peptide-based drugs as they expand the available chemical space to tailor function, half-life and other key properties. However, while the chemical space of modified amino acids (mAAs) such as residues containing post-translational modifications (PTMs) is potentially vast, experimental methods for measuring the developability properties of mAA-containing peptides are expensive and time consuming. To facilitate developability programs through computational methods, we present CamSol-PTM, a method that enables the fast and reliable sequence-based prediction of the intrinsic solubility of mAA-containing peptides in aqueous solution at room temperature. From a computational screening of 50,000 mAA-containing variants of three peptides, we selected five different small-size mAAs for a total number of 37 peptide variants for experimental validation. We demonstrate the accuracy of the predictions by comparing the calculated and experimental solubility values. Our results indicate that the computational screening of mAA-containing peptides can extend by over four orders of magnitude the ability to explore the solubility chemical space of peptides and confirm that our method can accurately assess the solubility of peptides containing mAAs. This method is available as a web server at https://www-cohsoftware.ch.cam.ac.uk/index.php/camsolptm .
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Oeller
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Proteomics and Signal Transduction, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Ryan J D Kang
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Hannah L Bolt
- Hit Discovery, Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ana L Gomes Dos Santos
- Advanced Drug Delivery, Pharmaceutical Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Annika Langborg Weinmann
- Early Chemical Development, Pharmaceutical Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Antonios Nikitidis
- Medicinal Chemistry, Research and Early Development, Respiratory and Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Pavol Zlatoidsky
- Medicinal Chemistry, Research and Early Development, Respiratory and Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Wu Su
- Medicinal Chemistry, Research and Early Development, Respiratory and Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Werngard Czechtizky
- Medicinal Chemistry, Research and Early Development, Respiratory and Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Leonardo De Maria
- Medicinal Chemistry, Research and Early Development, Respiratory and Immunology, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Pietro Sormanni
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Michele Vendruscolo
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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Nguyen AMT, Shalev-Benami M, Rosa-Teijeiro C, Ibarra-Meneses AV, Yonath A, Bashan A, Jaffe CL, Olivier M, Fernandez-Prada C, Lubell WD. Systematic Exploration of Functional Group Relevance for Anti-Leishmanial Activity of Anisomycin. Biomedicines 2023; 11:2541. [PMID: 37760981 PMCID: PMC10526209 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11092541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Assessment of structure-activity relationships for anti-protozoan activity revealed a strategy for preparing potent anisomycin derivatives with reduced host toxicity. Thirteen anisomycin analogs were synthesized by modifying the alcohol, amine, and aromatic functional groups. Examination of anti-protozoal activity against various strains of Leishmania and cytotoxicity against leucocytes with comparison against the parent natural product demonstrated typical losses of activity with modifications of the alcohol, amine, and aromatic meta-positions. On the other hand, the para-phenol moiety of anisomycin proved an effective location for introducing substituents without significant loss of anti-protozoan potency. An entry point for differentiating activity against Leishmania versus host has been uncovered by this systematic study.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Moran Shalev-Benami
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel; (M.S.-B.); (A.Y.); (A.B.)
| | - Chloé Rosa-Teijeiro
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC J2S 2M2, Canada; (C.R.-T.); (A.V.I.-M.); (C.F.-P.)
- The Research Group on Infectious Diseases in Production Animals (GREMIP), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC J2S 2M2, Canada
| | - Ana Victoria Ibarra-Meneses
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC J2S 2M2, Canada; (C.R.-T.); (A.V.I.-M.); (C.F.-P.)
- The Research Group on Infectious Diseases in Production Animals (GREMIP), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC J2S 2M2, Canada
| | - Ada Yonath
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel; (M.S.-B.); (A.Y.); (A.B.)
| | - Anat Bashan
- Department of Chemical and Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel; (M.S.-B.); (A.Y.); (A.B.)
| | - Charles L. Jaffe
- Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Kuvin Center for the Study of Tropical & Infectious Diseases, Institute for Medical Research (IMRIC), Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem 9112102, Israel;
| | - Martin Olivier
- Departments of Medicine, and of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada;
- The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montreal, QC H4A 3J1, Canada
| | - Christopher Fernandez-Prada
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC J2S 2M2, Canada; (C.R.-T.); (A.V.I.-M.); (C.F.-P.)
- The Research Group on Infectious Diseases in Production Animals (GREMIP), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC J2S 2M2, Canada
| | - William D. Lubell
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada
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Influence of N-Methylation and Conformation on Almiramide Anti-Leishmanial Activity. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26123606. [PMID: 34204673 PMCID: PMC8231256 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26123606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2021] [Revised: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The almiramide N-methylated lipopeptides exhibit promising activity against trypanosomatid parasites. A structure–activity relationship study has been performed to examine the influences of N-methylation and conformation on activity against various strains of leishmaniasis protozoan and on cytotoxicity. The synthesis and biological analysis of twenty-five analogs demonstrated that derivatives with a single methyl group on either the first or fifth residue amide nitrogen exhibited greater activity than the permethylated peptides and relatively high potency against resistant strains. Replacement of amino amide residues in the peptide, by turn inducing α amino γ lactam (Agl) and N-aminoimidazalone (Nai) counterparts, reduced typically anti-parasitic activity; however, peptide amides possessing Agl residues at the second residue retained significant potency in the unmethylated and permethylated series. Systematic study of the effects of methylation and turn geometry on anti-parasitic activity indicated the relevance of an extended conformer about the central residues, and conformational mobility by tertiary amide isomerization and turn geometry at the extremities of the active peptides.
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Grygorenko OO, Zhersh S, Oliinyk BV, Shishkin OV, Tolmachev AA. Conformational behaviour of peptides containing a 2-pyrrolidinemethanesulfonic acid (2PyMS) residue. Org Biomol Chem 2013; 11:975-83. [DOI: 10.1039/c2ob27058g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Zanuy D, Sayago FJ, Revilla-López G, Ballano G, Agemy L, Kotamraju VR, Jiménez AI, Cativiela C, Nussinov R, Sawvel AM, Stucky G, Ruoslahti E, Alemán C. Engineering strategy to improve peptide analogs: from structure-based computational design to tumor homing. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2013; 27:31-43. [PMID: 23239171 PMCID: PMC7553648 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-012-9623-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2012] [Accepted: 12/04/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
We present a chemical strategy to engineer analogs of the tumor-homing peptide CREKA (Cys-Arg-Glu-Lys-Ala), which binds to fibrin and fibrin-associated clotted plasma proteins in tumor vessels (Simberg et al. in Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:932-936, 2007) with improved ability to inhibit tumor growth. Computer modeling using a combination of simulated annealing and molecular dynamics were carried out to design targeted replacements aimed at enhancing the stability of the bioactive conformation of CREKA. Because this conformation presents a pocket-like shape with the charged groups of Arg, Glu and Lys pointing outward, non-proteinogenic amino acids α-methyl and N-methyl derivatives of Arg, Glu and Lys were selected, rationally designed and incorporated into CREKA analogs. The stabilization of the bioactive conformation predicted by the modeling for the different CREKA analogs matched the tumor fluorescence results, with tumor accumulation increasing with stabilization. Here we report the modeling, synthetic procedures, and new biological assays used to test the efficacy and utility of the analogs. Combined, our results show how studies based on multi-disciplinary collaboration can converge and lead to useful biomedical advances.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Zanuy
- Department of Chemical Engineering, ETSEIB, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
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Casanovas J, Revilla-López G, Crisma M, Toniolo C, Alemán C. Factors Governing the Conformational Tendencies of Cα-Ethylated α-Amino Acids: Chirality and Side-Chain Size Effects. J Phys Chem B 2012; 116:13297-307. [DOI: 10.1021/jp3045115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Casanovas
- Departament
de Química, Escola Politècnica Superior, Universitat de Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
| | - Guillermo Revilla-López
- Departament d’Enginyeria Química,
E. T. S. d’Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08028
Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marco Crisma
- ICB, Padova
Unit, CNR, Department of Chemistry, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Claudio Toniolo
- ICB, Padova
Unit, CNR, Department of Chemistry, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Carlos Alemán
- Departament d’Enginyeria Química,
E. T. S. d’Enginyeria Industrial de Barcelona, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08028
Barcelona, Spain
- Center for Research in Nano-Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
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Gfeller D, Michielin O, Zoete V. SwissSidechain: a molecular and structural database of non-natural sidechains. Nucleic Acids Res 2012; 41:D327-32. [PMID: 23104376 PMCID: PMC3531096 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gks991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Amino acids form the building blocks of all proteins. Naturally occurring amino acids are restricted to a few tens of sidechains, even when considering post-translational modifications and rare amino acids such as selenocysteine and pyrrolysine. However, the potential chemical diversity of amino acid sidechains is nearly infinite. Exploiting this diversity by using non-natural sidechains to expand the building blocks of proteins and peptides has recently found widespread applications in biochemistry, protein engineering and drug design. Despite these applications, there is currently no unified online bioinformatics resource for non-natural sidechains. With the SwissSidechain database (http://www.swisssidechain.ch), we offer a central and curated platform about non-natural sidechains for researchers in biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, protein engineering and molecular modeling. SwissSidechain provides biophysical, structural and molecular data for hundreds of commercially available non-natural amino acid sidechains, both in l- and d-configurations. The database can be easily browsed by sidechain names, families or physico-chemical properties. We also provide plugins to seamlessly insert non-natural sidechains into peptides and proteins using molecular visualization software, as well as topologies and parameters compatible with molecular mechanics software.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Gfeller
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Quartier Sorge, Bâtiment Génopode, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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