Computational design of a full-length model of HIV-1 integrase: modeling of new inhibitors and comparison of their calculated binding energies with those previously studied

Investigation of angucycline compounds as potential drug candidates against SARS Cov-2 main protease using docking and molecular dynamic approaches

Abstract

The emerged Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) causes severe or even fatal respiratory tract infection, and to date there is no FDA-approved therapeutics or effective treatment available to effectively combat this viral infection. This urgent situation is an attractive research area in the field of drug design and development. One of the most important targets of SARS-coronavirus-2 (SARS Cov-2) is the main protease (3CLpro). Actinomycetes are important resources for drug discovery. The angucylines that are mainly produced by Streptomyces genus of actinomycetes exhibit a broad range of biological activities such as anticancer, antibacterial and antiviral. This study aims to investigate the binding affinity and molecular interactions of 157 available angucycline compounds with 3CLpro using docking and molecular dynamics simulations. MM-PBSA calculations showed that moromycin A has a better binding energy (− 30.42 kcal mol⁻¹) compared with other ligands (in a range of − 18.66 to − 22.89 kcal mol⁻¹) including saquayamycin K4 (− 21.27 kcal mol⁻¹) except the co-crystallized ligand N3. However, in vitro and in vivo studies are essential to assess the effectiveness of angucycline compounds against coronavirus.

Graphic abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11030-021-10219-1.

A molecular docking study of potential inhibitors and repurposed drugs against SARS-CoV-2 main protease enzyme

COVID-19 has affected millions of people. Although many drugs are in use to combat disease, there is not any sufficient treatment yet. Having critical role in propagation of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) works Main Protease up into a significant drug target. We have performed a molecular docking study to define possible inhibitor candidates against SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease enzyme. Besides docking Remdesivir, Ribavirin, Chloroquine and 28 other antiviral inhibitors (totally 31 inhibitors) to Main Protease enzyme, we have also performed a molecular docking study of 2177 ligands, which are used against Main Protease for the first time by using molecular docking program Autodock4. All ligands were successfully docked into Main Protease enzyme binding site. Among all ligands, EY16 coded ligand which previously used as EBNA1-DNA binding blocker candidate showed the best score for Main Protease with a binding free energy of −10.83 ​kcal/mol which was also lower than re-docking score of N3 ligand (−10.72 ​kcal/mol) contained in crystal structure of Main Protease. After analyzing the docking modes and docking scores we have found that our ligands have better binding free energy values than the inhibitors in use of treatment. We believe that further studies such as molecular dynamics or Molecular Mechanic Poisson Boltzmann Surface Area studies can make contribution that is more exhaustive to the docking results.

Binding mechanism of CDK5 with roscovitine derivatives based on molecular dynamics simulations and MM/PBSA methods

Roscovitine derivatives are potent inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (CDK5), but they exhibit different activities, which has not been understood clearly up to now. On the other hand, the task of drug design is difficult because of the fuzzy binding mechanism. In this context, the methods of molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, and binding free energy analysis are applied to investigate and reveal the detailed binding mechanism of four roscovitine derivatives with CDK5. The electrostatic and van der Waals interactions of the four inhibitors with CDK5 are analyzed and discussed. The calculated binding free energies in terms of MM-PBSA method are consistent with experimental ranking of inhibitor effectiveness for the four inhibitors. The hydrogen bonds of the inhibitors with Cys83 and Lys33 can stabilize the inhibitors in binding sites. The van der Waals interactions, especially the pivotal contacts with Ile10 and Leu133 have larger contributions to the binding free energy and play critical roles in distinguishing the variant bioactivity of four inhibitors. In terms of binding mechanism of the four inhibitors with CDK5 and energy contribution of fragments of each inhibitor, two new CDK5 inhibitors are designed and have stronger inhibitory potency.

Development of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors: recent molecular modeling perspectives

Of the three viral enzymes essential to HIV replication, HIV-1 integrase (IN) is gaining popularity as a target for the antiviral therapy of AIDS. Substantial work focusing on IN has been done over the past three decades, which has facilitated and led to the approval of three drugs. Here, we discuss in detail the development of IN inhibitors between January 2012 and May 2014, with a particular focus on molecular simulation. We highlight controversial aspects of computational drug design and refer to alternative practices where appropriate. The analysis of these computational approaches provides some useful clues to the possible future discovery of novel IN inhibitors.