1
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Duffey M, Shafer RW, Timm J, Burrows JN, Fotouhi N, Cockett M, Leroy D. Combating antimicrobial resistance in malaria, HIV and tuberculosis. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2024; 23:461-479. [PMID: 38750260 DOI: 10.1038/s41573-024-00933-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance poses a significant threat to the sustainability of effective treatments against the three most prevalent infectious diseases: malaria, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and tuberculosis. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel drugs and treatment protocols capable of reducing the emergence of resistance and combating it when it does occur. In this Review, we present an overview of the status and underlying molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in these three diseases. We also discuss current strategies to address resistance during the research and development of next-generation therapies. These strategies vary depending on the infectious agent and the array of resistance mechanisms involved. Furthermore, we explore the potential for cross-fertilization of knowledge and technology among these diseases to create innovative approaches for minimizing drug resistance and advancing the discovery and development of new anti-infective treatments. In conclusion, we advocate for the implementation of well-defined strategies to effectively mitigate and manage resistance in all interventions against infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maëlle Duffey
- Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), R&D Department/Drug Discovery, ICC, Geneva, Switzerland
- The Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Robert W Shafer
- Department of Medicine/Infectious Diseases, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | | | - Jeremy N Burrows
- Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), R&D Department/Drug Discovery, ICC, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Didier Leroy
- Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), R&D Department/Drug Discovery, ICC, Geneva, Switzerland.
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2
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Abimbola Salubi C, Abbo HS, Jahed N, Titinchi S. Medicinal chemistry perspectives on the development of piperazine-containing HIV-1 inhibitors. Bioorg Med Chem 2024; 99:117605. [PMID: 38246116 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2024.117605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
The Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), one of the most perilous diseases known to humankind. A 2023 estimate put the number of people living with HIV around 40 million worldwide, with the majority benefiting from various antiretroviral therapies. Consequently, the urgent need for the development of effective drugs to combat this virus cannot be overstated. In the realm of medicinal and organic chemistry, the synthesis and identification of novel compounds capable of inhibiting HIV enzymes at different stages of their life cycle are of paramount importance. Notably, the spotlight is on the progress made in enhancing the potency of HIV inhibitors through the use of piperazine-based compounds. Multiple studies have revealed that the incorporation of a piperazine moiety results in a noteworthy enhancement of anti-HIV activity. The piperazine ring assumes a pivotal role in shaping the pharmacophore responsible for inhibiting HIV-1 at critical stage, including attachment, reverse transcription, integration, and protease activity. This review also sheds light on the various opportunities that can be exploited to develop effective antiretroviral targets and eliminate latent HIV reservoirs. The advancement of highly potent analogues in HIV inhibitor research has been greatly facilitated by contemporary medicinal strategies, including molecular/fragment hybridization, structure-based drug design, and bioisosterism. These techniques have opened up new avenues for the development of compounds with enhanced efficacy in combating the virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christiana Abimbola Salubi
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Hanna S Abbo
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Nazeeen Jahed
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Salam Titinchi
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
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3
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Leal ES, Pascual MJ, Adler NS, Arrupe N, Merwaiss F, Giordano L, Fidalgo D, Álvarez D, Bollini M. Unveiling tetrahydroquinolines as promising BVDV entry inhibitors: Targeting the envelope protein. Virology 2024; 590:109968. [PMID: 38141499 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2023.109968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is known to cause financial losses and decreased productivity in the cattle industry worldwide. Currently, there are no available antiviral treatments for effectively controlling BVDV infections in laboratories or farms. The BVDV envelope protein (E2) mediates receptor recognition on the cell surface and is required for fusion of virus and cell membranes after the endocytic uptake of the virus during the entry process. Therefore, E2 is an attractive target for the development of antiviral strategies. To identify BVDV antivirals targeting E2 function, we defined a binding site in silico located in domain IIIc at the interface between monomers in the disulfide linked dimer of E2. Employing a de novo design methodology to identify compounds with the potential to inhibit the E2 function, compound 9 emerged as a promising candidate with remarkable antiviral activity and minimal toxicity. In line with targeting of E2 function, compound 9 was found to block the virus entry into host cells. Furthermore, we demonstrated that compound 9 selectively binds to recombinant E2 in vitro. Molecular dynamics simulations (MD) allowed describing a possible interaction pattern between compound 9 and E2 and indicated that the S enantiomer of compound 9 may be responsible for the antiviral activity. Future research endeavors will focus on synthesizing enantiomerically pure compounds to further support these findings. These results highlight the usefulness of de novo design strategies to identify a novel class of BVDV inhibitors that block E2 function inhibiting virus entry into the host cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilse S Leal
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION)-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - María J Pascual
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina
| | - Natalia S Adler
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION)-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Nicolás Arrupe
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION)-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Fernando Merwaiss
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina
| | - Luciana Giordano
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION)-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Daniela Fidalgo
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION)-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Diego Álvarez
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Argentina.
| | - Mariela Bollini
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION)-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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4
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Ghahremanpour MM, Saar A, Tirado-Rives J, Jorgensen WL. Ensemble Geometric Deep Learning of Aqueous Solubility. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:7338-7349. [PMID: 37990484 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2023]
Abstract
Geometric deep learning is one of the main workhorses for harnessing the power of big data to predict molecular properties such as aqueous solubility, which is key to the pharmacokinetic improvement of drug candidates. Two ensembles of graph neural network architectures were built, one based on spectral convolution and the other on spatial convolution. The pretrained models, denoted respectively as SolNet-GCN and SolNet-GAT, significantly outperformed the existing neural networks benchmarked on a validation set of 207 molecules. The SolNet-GCN model demonstrated the best performance on both the training and validation sets, with RMSE values of 0.53 and 0.72 log molar unit and Pearson r2 values of 0.95 and 0.75, respectively. Further, the ranking power of the SolNet models agreed well with a QM-based thermodynamic cycle approach at the PBE-vdW level of theory on a series of benzophenylurea derivatives and a series of benzodiazepine derivatives. Nevertheless, testing the resultant models on a set of inhibitors of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) illustrated that the inclusion of atomic attributes to discriminate atoms with a higher tendency to form intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the crystalline state and to identify planar or nonplanar substructures can be beneficial for the prediction of aqueous solubility.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Anastasia Saar
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Julian Tirado-Rives
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - William L Jorgensen
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
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5
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Shahina Z, Yennamalli RM, Dahms TE. Key essential oil components delocalize Candida albicans Kar3p and impact microtubule structure. Microbiol Res 2023; 272:127373. [PMID: 37058783 DOI: 10.1016/j.micres.2023.127373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Revised: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Treatment of Candida albicans associated infections is often ineffective in the light of resistance, with an urgent need to discover novel antimicrobials. Fungicides require high specificity and can contribute to antifungal resistance, so inhibition of fungal virulence factors is a good strategy for developing new antifungals. OBJECTIVES Examine the impact of four plant-derived essential oil components (1,8-cineole, α-pinene, eugenol, and citral) on C. albicans microtubules, kinesin motor protein Kar3 and morphology. METHODS Microdilution assays were used to determine minimal inhibitory concentrations, microbiological assays assessed germ tube, hyphal and biofilm formation, confocal microscopy probed morphological changes and localization of tubulin and Kar3p, and computational modelling was used to examine the theoretical binding of essential oil components to tubulin and Kar3p. RESULTS We show for the first time that essential oil components delocalize the Kar3p, ablate microtubules, and induce psuedohyphal formation with reduced biofilm formation. Single and double deletion mutants of kar3 were resistant to 1,8-cineole, sensitive to α-pinene and eugenol, but unimpacted by citral. Strains with homozygous and heterozygous Kar3p disruption had a gene-dosage effect for all essential oil components, resulting in enhanced resistance or susceptibility patterns that were identical to that of cik1 mutants. The link between microtubule (αβ-tubulin) and Kar3p defects was further supported by computational modeling, showing preferential binding to αβ-tubulin and Kar3p adjacent to their Mg2+-binding sites. CONCLUSION This study highlights how essential oil components interfere with the localization of the kinesin motor protein complex Kar3/Cik1 and disrupt microtubules, leading to their destabilization which results in hyphal and biofilm defects.
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6
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Carter ZJ, Hollander K, Spasov KA, Anderson KS, Jorgensen WL. Design, synthesis, and biological testing of biphenylmethyloxazole inhibitors targeting HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2023; 84:129216. [PMID: 36871704 PMCID: PMC10278203 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2023.129216] [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: 11/17/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
We report non-nucleoside inhibitors of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (NNRTIs) using a biphenylmethyloxazole pharmacophore. A crystal structure of benzyloxazole 1 was obtained and suggested the potential viability of biphenyl analogues. In particular, 6a, 6b, and 7 turned out to be potent NNRTIs with low-nanomolar activity in enzyme inhibition and infected T-cell assays, and with low cytotoxicity. Though modeling further suggested that analogues with fluorosulfate and epoxide warheads might provide covalent modification of Tyr188, synthesis and testing did not find evidence for this outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary J Carter
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8107, USA
| | - Klarissa Hollander
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8066, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8066, USA
| | - Krasimir A Spasov
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8066, USA
| | - Karen S Anderson
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8066, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8066, USA.
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7
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Patel D, Cox BD, Kasthuri M, Mengshetti S, Bassit L, Verma K, Ollinger-Russell O, Amblard F, Schinazi RF. In silico design of a novel nucleotide antiviral agent by free energy perturbation. Chem Biol Drug Des 2022; 99:801-815. [PMID: 35313085 PMCID: PMC9175506 DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.14042] [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: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Nucleoside analogs are the backbone of antiviral therapies. Drugs from this class undergo processing by host or viral kinases to form the active nucleoside triphosphate species that selectively inhibits the viral polymerase. It is the central hypothesis that the nucleoside triphosphate analog must be a favorable substrate for the viral polymerase and the nucleoside precursor must be a satisfactory substrate for the host kinases to inhibit viral replication. Herein, free energy perturbation (FEP) was used to predict substrate affinity for both host and viral enzymes. Several uridine 5'-monophosphate prodrug analogs known to inhibit hepatitis C virus (HCV) were utilized in this study to validate the use of FEP. Binding free energies to the host monophosphate kinase and viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) were calculated for methyl-substituted uridine analogs. The 2'-C-methyl-uridine and 4'-C-methyl-uridine scaffolds delivered favorable substrate binding to the host kinase and HCV RdRp that were consistent with results from cellular antiviral activity in support of our new approach. In a prospective evaluation, FEP results suggest that 2'-C-dimethyl-uridine scaffold delivered favorable monophosphate and triphosphate substrates for both host kinase and HCV RdRp, respectively. Novel 2'-C-dimethyl-uridine monophosphate prodrug was synthesized and exhibited sub-micromolar inhibition of HCV replication. Using this novel approach, we demonstrated for the first time that nucleoside analogs can be rationally designed that meet the multi-target requirements for antiviral activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dharmeshkumar Patel
- Center for AIDS Research, Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1760 Haygood Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Bryan D. Cox
- Center for AIDS Research, Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1760 Haygood Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Mahesh Kasthuri
- Center for AIDS Research, Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1760 Haygood Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Seema Mengshetti
- Center for AIDS Research, Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1760 Haygood Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Leda Bassit
- Center for AIDS Research, Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1760 Haygood Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Kiran Verma
- Center for AIDS Research, Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1760 Haygood Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Olivia Ollinger-Russell
- Center for AIDS Research, Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1760 Haygood Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Franck Amblard
- Center for AIDS Research, Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1760 Haygood Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Raymond F. Schinazi
- Center for AIDS Research, Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 1760 Haygood Dr., Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
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8
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Popović-Djordjević J, Quispe C, Giordo R, Kostić A, Katanić Stanković JS, Tsouh Fokou PV, Carbone K, Martorell M, Kumar M, Pintus G, Sharifi-Rad J, Docea AO, Calina D. Natural products and synthetic analogues against HIV: A perspective to develop new potential anti-HIV drugs. Eur J Med Chem 2022; 233:114217. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2022.114217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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9
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Zavitsanou S, Tsengenes A, Papadourakis M, Amendola G, Chatzigoulas A, Dellis D, Cosconati S, Cournia Z. FEPrepare: A Web-Based Tool for Automating the Setup of Relative Binding Free Energy Calculations. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:4131-4138. [PMID: 34519200 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Relative binding free energy calculations in drug design are becoming a useful tool in facilitating lead binding affinity optimization in a cost- and time-efficient manner. However, they have been limited by technical challenges such as the manual creation of large numbers of input files to set up, run, and analyze free energy simulations. In this Application Note, we describe FEPrepare, a novel web-based tool, which automates the setup procedure for relative binding FEP calculations for the dual-topology scheme of NAMD, one of the major MD engines, using OPLS-AA force field topology and parameter files. FEPrepare provides the user with all necessary files needed to run a FEP/MD simulation with NAMD. FEPrepare can be accessed and used at https://feprepare.vi-seem.eu/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stamatia Zavitsanou
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou, 11527 Athens, Greece.,Information Technologies in Medicine and Biology, Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
| | - Alexandros Tsengenes
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou, 11527 Athens, Greece
| | - Michail Papadourakis
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou, 11527 Athens, Greece
| | - Giorgio Amendola
- DiSTABiF, Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
| | - Alexios Chatzigoulas
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou, 11527 Athens, Greece.,Information Technologies in Medicine and Biology, Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
| | - Dimitris Dellis
- Greek Research and Technology Network, S.A., 7 Kifissias Avenue, 11523 Athens, Greece
| | - Sandro Cosconati
- DiSTABiF, Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, Italy
| | - Zoe Cournia
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou, 11527 Athens, Greece
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10
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Zhang CH, Spasov KA, Reilly RA, Hollander K, Stone EA, Ippolito JA, Liosi ME, Deshmukh MG, Tirado-Rives J, Zhang S, Liang Z, Miller SJ, Isaacs F, Lindenbach BD, Anderson KS, Jorgensen WL. Optimization of Triarylpyridinone Inhibitors of the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2 to Low-Nanomolar Antiviral Potency. ACS Med Chem Lett 2021; 12:1325-1332. [PMID: 34408808 PMCID: PMC8291137 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Non-covalent inhibitors of the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 having a pyridinone core were previously reported with IC50 values as low as 0.018 μM for inhibition of enzymatic activity and EC50 values as low as 0.8 μM for inhibition of viral replication in Vero E6 cells. The series has now been further advanced by consideration of placement of substituted five-membered-ring heterocycles in the S4 pocket of Mpro and N-methylation of a uracil ring. Free energy perturbation calculations provided guidance on the choice of the heterocycles, and protein crystallography confirmed the desired S4 placement. Here we report inhibitors with EC50 values as low as 0.080 μM, while remdesivir yields values of 0.5-2 μM in side-by-side testing with infectious SARS-CoV-2. A key factor in the improvement is enhanced cell permeability, as reflected in PAMPA measurements. Compounds 19 and 21 are particularly promising as potential therapies for COVID-19, featuring IC50 values of 0.044-0.061 μM, EC50 values of ca. 0.1 μM, good aqueous solubility, and no cytotoxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Hui Zhang
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Krasimir A. Spasov
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School
of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Raquel A. Reilly
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School
of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Klarissa Hollander
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School
of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
- Department
of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Elizabeth A. Stone
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Joseph A. Ippolito
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Maria-Elena Liosi
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Maya G. Deshmukh
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School
of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
- M.D.−Ph.D.
Program, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Julian Tirado-Rives
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Shuo Zhang
- Department
of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University
School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06536-0812, United States
| | - Zhuobin Liang
- Department
of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Scott J. Miller
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Farren Isaacs
- Department
of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Brett D. Lindenbach
- Department
of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University
School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06536-0812, United States
| | - Karen S. Anderson
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School
of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
- Department
of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - William L. Jorgensen
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
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11
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Ford MC, Rappé AK, Ho PS. A Reduced Generalized Force Field for Biological Halogen Bonds. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:5369-5378. [PMID: 34232642 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The halogen bond (or X-bond) is a noncovalent interaction that is increasingly recognized as an important design tool for engineering protein-ligand interactions and controlling the structures of proteins and nucleic acids. In the past decade, there have been significant efforts to characterize the structure-energy relationships of this interaction in macromolecules. Progress in the computational modeling of X-bonds in biological molecules, however, has lagged behind these experimental studies, with most molecular mechanics/dynamics-based simulation methods not properly treating the properties of the X-bond. We had previously derived a force field for biological X-bonds (ffBXB) based on a set of potential energy functions that describe the anisotropic electrostatic and shape properties of halogens participating in X-bonds. Although fairly accurate for reproducing the energies within biomolecular systems, including X-bonds engineered into a DNA junction, the ffBXB with its seven variable parameters was considered to be too unwieldy for general applications. In the current study, we have generalized the ffBXB by reducing the number of variables to just one for each halogen type and show that this remaining electrostatic variable can be estimated for any new halogenated molecule through a standard restricted electrostatic potential calculation of atomic charges. In addition, we have generalized the ffBXB for both nucleic acids and proteins. As a proof of principle, we have parameterized this reduced and more general ffBXB against the AMBER force field. The resulting parameter set was shown to accurately recapitulate the quantum mechanical landscape and experimental interaction energies of X-bonds incorporated into DNA junction and T4 lysozyme model systems. Thus, this reduced and generalized ffBXB is more readily adaptable for incorporation into classical molecular mechanics/dynamics algorithms, including those commonly used to design inhibitors against therapeutic targets in medicinal chemistry and materials in biomolecular engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa Coates Ford
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1870, United States
| | - Anthony K Rappé
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States
| | - P Shing Ho
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1870, United States
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12
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Cappel D, Mozziconacci JC, Braun T, Steinbrecher T. Performance of Relative Binding Free Energy Calculations on an Automatically Generated Dataset of Halogen-Deshalogen Matched Molecular Pairs. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:3421-3430. [PMID: 34170707 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
In this study, we generated a matched molecular pair dataset of halogen/deshalogen compounds with reliable binding affinity data and structural binding mode information from public databases. The workflow includes automated system preparation and setup of free energy perturbation relative binding free energy calculations. We demonstrate the suitability of these datasets to investigate the performance of molecular mechanics force fields and molecular simulation algorithms for the purpose of in silico affinity predictions in lead optimization. Our datasets of a total of 115 matched molecular pairs show highly accurate binding free energy predictions with an average error of <1 kcal/mol despite the semi-automated calculation scheme. We quantify the accuracy of the optimized potential for liquid simulations (OPLS) force field to predict the effect of halogen addition to compounds, a commonly employed chemical modification in the design of drug-like molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Cappel
- Schrödinger GmbH, Glücksteinallee 25, 68163 Mannheim, Germany
| | | | - Tatjana Braun
- Schrödinger GmbH, Thierschstraße 27, 80538 München, Germany
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13
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Chatzigoulas A, Cournia Z. Rational design of allosteric modulators: Challenges and successes. WIRES COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/wcms.1529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexios Chatzigoulas
- Biomedical Research Foundation Academy of Athens Athens Greece
- Department of Informatics and Telecommunications National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Athens Greece
| | - Zoe Cournia
- Biomedical Research Foundation Academy of Athens Athens Greece
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14
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Vilseck JZ, Ding X, Hayes RL, Brooks CL. Generalizing the Discrete Gibbs Sampler-Based λ-Dynamics Approach for Multisite Sampling of Many Ligands. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:3895-3907. [PMID: 34101448 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
In this work, the discrete λ variant of the Gibbs sampler-based λ-dynamics (d-GSλD) method is developed to enable multiple functional group perturbations to be investigated at one or more sites of substitution off a common ligand core. The theoretical framework and special considerations for constructing discrete λ states for multisite d-GSλD are presented. The precision and accuracy of the d-GSλD method is evaluated with three test cases of increasing complexity. Specifically, methyl → methyl symmetric perturbations in water, 1,4-benzene hydration free energies and protein-ligand binding affinities for an example HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor series are computed with d-GSλD. Complementary MSλD calculations were also performed to compare with d-GSλD's performance. Excellent agreement between d-GSλD and MSλD is observed, with mean unsigned errors of 0.12 and 0.22 kcal/mol for computed hydration and binding free energy test cases, respectively. Good agreement with experiment is also observed, with errors of 0.5-0.7 kcal/mol. These findings support the applicability of the d-GSλD free energy method for a variety of molecular design problems, including structure-based drug design. Finally, a discussion of d-GSλD versus MSλD approaches is presented to compare and contrast features of both methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonah Z Vilseck
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, United States.,Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, United States
| | - Xinqiang Ding
- Department of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Ryan L Hayes
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Charles L Brooks
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States.,Biophysics Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
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15
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Williams AH, Zhan CG. Fast Prediction of Binding Affinities of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Mutant N501Y (UK Variant) with ACE2 and Miniprotein Drug Candidates. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:4330-4336. [PMID: 33881861 PMCID: PMC8084269 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c00869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2021] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
A recently identified variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus, known as the United Kingdom (UK) variant (lineage B.1.1.7), has an N501Y mutation on its spike protein. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binds with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a key protein for the viral entry into the host cells. Here, we report an efficient computational approach, including the simple energy minimizations and binding free energy calculations, starting from an experimental structure of the binding complex along with experimental calibration of the calculated binding free energies, to rapidly and reliably predict the binding affinities of the N501Y mutant with human ACE2 (hACE2) and recently reported miniprotein and hACE2 decoy (CTC-445.2) drug candidates. It has been demonstrated that the N501Y mutation markedly increases the ACE2-spike protein binding affinity (Kd) from 22 to 0.44 nM, which could partially explain why the UK variant is more infectious. The miniproteins are predicted to have ∼10,000- to 100,000-fold diminished binding affinities with the N501Y mutant, creating a need for design of novel therapeutic candidates to overcome the N501Y mutation-induced drug resistance. The N501Y mutation is also predicted to decrease the binding affinity of a hACE2 decoy (CTC-445.2) binding with the spike protein by ∼200-fold. This convenient computational approach along with experimental calibration may be similarly used in the future to predict the binding affinities of potential new variants of the spike protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander H. Williams
- Molecular Modeling and Biopharmaceutical Center, College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky, 789 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40536
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky, 789 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40536
| | - Chang-Guo Zhan
- Molecular Modeling and Biopharmaceutical Center, College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky, 789 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40536
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky, 789 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40536
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16
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Geronimo I, Vidossich P, Donati E, Vivo M. Computational investigations of polymerase enzymes: Structure, function, inhibition, and biotechnology. WIRES COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/wcms.1534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Inacrist Geronimo
- Laboratory of Molecular Modelling and Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Genoa Italy
| | - Pietro Vidossich
- Laboratory of Molecular Modelling and Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Genoa Italy
| | - Elisa Donati
- Laboratory of Molecular Modelling and Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Genoa Italy
| | - Marco Vivo
- Laboratory of Molecular Modelling and Drug Discovery, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Genoa Italy
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17
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Nelson L, Bariami S, Ringrose C, Horton JT, Kurdekar V, Mey ASJS, Michel J, Cole DJ. Implementation of the QUBE Force Field in SOMD for High-Throughput Alchemical Free-Energy Calculations. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:2124-2130. [PMID: 33886305 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The quantum mechanical bespoke (QUBE) force-field approach has been developed to facilitate the automated derivation of potential energy function parameters for modeling protein-ligand binding. To date, the approach has been validated in the context of Monte Carlo simulations of protein-ligand complexes. We describe here the implementation of the QUBE force field in the alchemical free-energy calculation molecular dynamics simulation package SOMD. The implementation is validated by demonstrating the reproducibility of absolute hydration free energies computed with the QUBE force field across the SOMD and GROMACS software packages. We further demonstrate, by way of a case study involving two series of non-nucleoside inhibitors of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, that the availability of QUBE in a modern simulation package that makes efficient use of graphics processing unit acceleration will facilitate high-throughput alchemical free-energy calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Nelson
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Sofia Bariami
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom
| | - Chris Ringrose
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Joshua T Horton
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Vadiraj Kurdekar
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Antonia S J S Mey
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom
| | - Julien Michel
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel J Cole
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
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18
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Zhang CH, Stone EA, Deshmukh M, Ippolito JA, Ghahremanpour MM, Tirado-Rives J, Spasov KA, Zhang S, Takeo Y, Kudalkar SN, Liang Z, Isaacs F, Lindenbach B, Miller SJ, Anderson KS, Jorgensen WL. Potent Noncovalent Inhibitors of the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2 from Molecular Sculpting of the Drug Perampanel Guided by Free Energy Perturbation Calculations. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2021; 7:467-475. [PMID: 33786375 PMCID: PMC7931627 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.1c00039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 170] [Impact Index Per Article: 56.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2021] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Starting from our previous finding of 14 known drugs as inhibitors of the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, we have redesigned the weak hit perampanel to yield multiple noncovalent, nonpeptidic inhibitors with ca. 20 nM IC50 values in a kinetic assay. Free-energy perturbation (FEP) calculations for Mpro-ligand complexes provided valuable guidance on beneficial modifications that rapidly delivered the potent analogues. The design efforts were confirmed and augmented by determination of high-resolution X-ray crystal structures for five analogues bound to Mpro. Results of cell-based antiviral assays further demonstrated the potential of the compounds for treatment of COVID-19. In addition to the possible therapeutic significance, the work clearly demonstrates the power of computational chemistry for drug discovery, especially FEP-guided lead optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chun-Hui Zhang
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Elizabeth A. Stone
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Maya Deshmukh
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School
of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
- M.
D. – Ph. D. Program, Yale University
School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Joseph A. Ippolito
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School
of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | | | - Julian Tirado-Rives
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Krasimir A. Spasov
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School
of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Shuo Zhang
- Department
of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University
School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06536-0812, United States
| | - Yuka Takeo
- Department
of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University
School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06536-0812, United States
| | - Shalley N. Kudalkar
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School
of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Zhuobin Liang
- Department
of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States
| | - Farren Isaacs
- Department
of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States
| | - Brett Lindenbach
- Department
of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University
School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06536-0812, United States
| | - Scott J. Miller
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Karen S. Anderson
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School
of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
- Department
of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - William L. Jorgensen
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
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19
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Ippolito JA, Niu H, Bertoletti N, Carter ZJ, Jin S, Spasov KA, Cisneros JA, Valhondo M, Cutrona KJ, Anderson KS, Jorgensen WL. Covalent Inhibition of Wild-Type HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase Using a Fluorosulfate Warhead. ACS Med Chem Lett 2021; 12:249-255. [PMID: 33603971 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.0c00612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Covalent inhibitors of wild-type HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (CRTIs) are reported. Three compounds derived from catechol diether non-nucleoside inhibitors (NNRTIs) with addition of a fluorosulfate warhead are demonstrated to covalently modify Tyr181 of HIV-RT. X-ray crystal structures for complexes of the CRTIs with the enzyme are provided, which fully demonstrate the covalent attachment, and confirmation is provided by appropriate mass shifts in ESI-TOF mass spectra. The three CRTIs and six noncovalent analogues are found to be potent inhibitors with both IC50 values for in vitro inhibition of WT RT and EC50 values for cytopathic protection of HIV-1-infected human T-cells in the 5-320 nM range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph A. Ippolito
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States,
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Haichan Niu
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States,
| | - Nicole Bertoletti
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Zachary J. Carter
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States,
| | - Shengyan Jin
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Krasimir A. Spasov
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - José A. Cisneros
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States,
| | - Margarita Valhondo
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States,
| | - Kara J. Cutrona
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States,
| | - Karen S. Anderson
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - William L. Jorgensen
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States,
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20
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Albanese SK, Chodera JD, Volkamer A, Keng S, Abel R, Wang L. Is Structure-Based Drug Design Ready for Selectivity Optimization? J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:6211-6227. [PMID: 33119284 PMCID: PMC8310368 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Alchemical free-energy calculations are now widely used to drive or maintain potency in small-molecule lead optimization with a roughly 1 kcal/mol accuracy. Despite this, the potential to use free-energy calculations to drive optimization of compound selectivity among two similar targets has been relatively unexplored in published studies. In the most optimistic scenario, the similarity of binding sites might lead to a fortuitous cancellation of errors and allow selectivity to be predicted more accurately than affinity. Here, we assess the accuracy with which selectivity can be predicted in the context of small-molecule kinase inhibitors, considering the very similar binding sites of human kinases CDK2 and CDK9 as well as another series of ligands attempting to achieve selectivity between the more distantly related kinases CDK2 and ERK2. Using a Bayesian analysis approach, we separate systematic from statistical errors and quantify the correlation in systematic errors between selectivity targets. We find that, in the CDK2/CDK9 case, a high correlation in systematic errors suggests that free-energy calculations can have significant impact in aiding chemists in achieving selectivity, while in more distantly related kinases (CDK2/ERK2), the correlation in systematic error suggests that fortuitous cancellation may even occur between systems that are not as closely related. In both cases, the correlation in systematic error suggests that longer simulations are beneficial to properly balance statistical error with systematic error to take full advantage of the increase in apparent free-energy calculation accuracy in selectivity prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven K. Albanese
- Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065
| | - John D. Chodera
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065
| | - Andrea Volkamer
- Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin
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21
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Identify potent SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors via accelerated free energy perturbation-based virtual screening of existing drugs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:27381-27387. [PMID: 33051297 PMCID: PMC7959488 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2010470117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 147] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Drug repurposing effort for treatment of a new disease, such as COVID-19, usually starts from a virtual screening of existing drugs, followed by experimental validation, but the actual hit rate is generally rather low with traditional computational methods. It has been demonstrated that a new virtual screening approach with accelerated free energy perturbation-based absolute binding free energy (FEP-ABFE) predictions can reach an unprecedentedly high hit rate, leading to successful identification of 15 potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) from 25 computationally selected drugs under a threshold of Ki = 4 μM. The outcomes of this study are valuable for not only drug repurposing to treat COVID-19 but also demonstrating the promising potential of the FEP-ABFE prediction-based virtual screening approach. The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global crisis. There is no therapeutic treatment specific for COVID-19. It is highly desirable to identify potential antiviral agents against SARS-CoV-2 from existing drugs available for other diseases and thus repurpose them for treatment of COVID-19. In general, a drug repurposing effort for treatment of a new disease, such as COVID-19, usually starts from a virtual screening of existing drugs, followed by experimental validation, but the actual hit rate is generally rather low with traditional computational methods. Here we report a virtual screening approach with accelerated free energy perturbation-based absolute binding free energy (FEP-ABFE) predictions and its use in identifying drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). The accurate FEP-ABFE predictions were based on the use of a restraint energy distribution (RED) function, making the practical FEP-ABFE−based virtual screening of the existing drug library possible. As a result, out of 25 drugs predicted, 15 were confirmed as potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. The most potent one is dipyridamole (inhibitory constant Ki = 0.04 µM) which has shown promising therapeutic effects in subsequently conducted clinical studies for treatment of patients with COVID-19. Additionally, hydroxychloroquine (Ki = 0.36 µM) and chloroquine (Ki = 0.56 µM) were also found to potently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. We anticipate that the FEP-ABFE prediction-based virtual screening approach will be useful in many other drug repurposing or discovery efforts.
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22
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Song LF, Merz KM. Evolution of Alchemical Free Energy Methods in Drug Discovery. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:5308-5318. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lin Frank Song
- Department of Chemistry and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, 578 S. Shaw Lane, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
| | - Kenneth M. Merz
- Department of Chemistry and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, 578 S. Shaw Lane, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, United States
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23
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Duong VN, Ippolito JA, Chan AH, Lee WG, Spasov KA, Jorgensen WL, Anderson KS. Structural investigation of 2-naphthyl phenyl ether inhibitors bound to WT and Y181C reverse transcriptase highlights key features of the NNRTI binding site. Protein Sci 2020; 29:1902-1910. [PMID: 32643196 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2020] [Revised: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 remains as a global health issue that is primarily treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy, a combination of drugs that target the viral life cycle. One class of these drugs are non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) that target the viral reverse transcriptase (RT). First generation NNRTIs were troubled with poor pharmacological properties and drug resistance, incentivizing the development of improved compounds. One class of developed compounds are the 2-naphthyl phenyl ethers, showing promising efficacy against the Y181C RT mutation. Further biochemical and structural work demonstrated differences in potency against the Y181C mutation and binding mode of the compounds. This work aims to understand the relationship between the binding mode and ability to overcome drug resistance using macromolecular x-ray crystallography. Comparison of 2-naphthyl phenyl ethers bound to Y181C RT reveal that compounds that interact with the invariant W229 are more capable of retaining efficacy against the resistance mutation. Additional modifications to these compounds at the 4-position, computationally designed to compensate for the Y181C mutation, do not demonstrate improved potency. Ultimately, we highlight important considerations for the development of future HIV-1 drugs that are able to combat drug resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent N Duong
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Joseph A Ippolito
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Albert H Chan
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Won-Gil Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | - Krasimir A Spasov
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
| | | | - Karen S Anderson
- Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.,Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
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24
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Dokholyan NV. Experimentally-driven protein structure modeling. J Proteomics 2020; 220:103777. [PMID: 32268219 PMCID: PMC7214187 DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2020.103777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2019] [Revised: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Revolutions in natural and exact sciences started at the dawn of last century have led to the explosion of theoretical, experimental, and computational approaches to determine structures of molecules, complexes, as well as their rich conformational dynamics. Since different experimental methods produce information that is attributed to specific time and length scales, corresponding computational methods have to be tailored to these scales and experiments. These methods can be then combined and integrated in scales, hence producing a fuller picture of molecular structure and motion from the "puzzle pieces" offered by various experiments. Here, we describe a number of computational approaches to utilize experimental data to glance into structure of proteins and understand their dynamics. We will also discuss the limitations and the resolution of the constraints-based modeling approaches. SIGNIFICANCE: Experimentally-driven computational structure modeling and determination is a rapidly evolving alternative to traditional approaches for molecular structure determination. These new hybrid experimental-computational approaches are proving to be a powerful microscope to glance into the structural features of intrinsically or partially disordered proteins, dynamics of molecules and complexes. In this review, we describe various approaches in the field of experimentally-driven computational structure modeling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolay V Dokholyan
- Department of Pharmacology, Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA; Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USA.; Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
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25
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Saranya V, Radhika R, Shankar R, Vijayakumar S. In silico studies of the inhibition mechanism of dengue with papain. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2020; 39:1912-1927. [PMID: 32249700 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2020.1742205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Dengue virus is becoming a major global disease; the envelope protein is the major target for vaccine development against Dengue. Nowadays, the attention has focused on developing inhibitors based on Papain is a promising target for treating Dengue. In the present work, the theoretical studies of E-protein(Cys74-Glu79;Lys110)…Papain(Cys25, Asn175 and His159) complexes are analysed by Density Functional Theory (M06-2X/cc-pVDZ) method. Among the E-protein(Cys74-Glu79;Lys110)…Papain(Cys25, Asn175 and Hys159) complexes, E-protein(Glu76)…Papain(Cys25) complex has the highest interaction value of -352.22 kcal/mol. Moreover, the natural bond orbital analysis also supports the above results. The 100 ns Molecular Dynamics simulation reveals that, E-protein(Ala54-Ile129)…Papain(Cys25) complex had the lowest root mean square deviation value of 1 Å compared to the E-protein(Ala54-Ile129)… Papain(Asn175 & His159) complexes. The salt bridge formation between the Asp103 and Lys110 residues are the important stabilizing factor in E-protein(Ala54-Ile129)…Papain(Cys25) complex. This result can extend our knowledge of the functional behaviour of Papain and provides structural insight to target Envelope protein as forthcoming drug targets in Dengue.
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26
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Fabian L, Taverna Porro M, Gómez N, Salvatori M, Turk G, Estrin D, Moglioni A. Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of quinoxaline compounds as anti-HIV agents targeting reverse transcriptase enzyme. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 188:111987. [PMID: 31893549 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.111987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Revised: 11/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Infection by human immunodeficiency virus still represents a continuous serious concern and a global threat to human health. Due to appearance of multi-resistant virus strains and the serious adverse side effects of the antiretroviral therapy administered, there is an urgent need for the development of new treatment agents, more active, less toxic and with increased tolerability to mutations. Quinoxaline derivatives are an emergent class of heterocyclic compounds with a wide spectrum of biological activities and therapeutic applications. These types of compounds have also shown high potency in the inhibition of HIV reverse transcriptase and HIV replication in cell culture. For these reasons we propose, in this work, the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of quinoxaline derivatives targeting HIV reverse transcriptase enzyme. For this, we first carried out a structure-based development of target-specific compound virtual chemical library of quinoxaline derivatives. The rational construction of the virtual chemical library was based on previously assigned pharmacophore features. This library was processed by a virtual screening protocol employing molecular docking and 3D-QSAR. Twenty-five quinoxaline compounds were selected for synthesis in the basis of their docking and 3D-QSAR scores and chemical synthetic simplicity. They were evaluated as inhibitors of the recombinant wild-type reverse transcriptase enzyme. Finally, the anti-HIV activity and cytotoxicity of the synthesized quinoxaline compounds with highest reverse transcriptase inhibitory capabilities was evaluated. This simple screening strategy led to the discovery of two selective and potent quinoxaline reverse transcriptase inhibitors with high selectivity index.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Fabian
- Cátedra de Química Medicinal, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA, 1113, Argentina; Instituto de la Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco (IQUIMEFA), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA, 1113, Argentina
| | - Marisa Taverna Porro
- Instituto de la Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco (IQUIMEFA), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA, 1113, Argentina
| | - Natalia Gómez
- Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas (ININFA), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA, 1113, Argentina
| | - Melina Salvatori
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida (INBIRS), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA, 1113, Argentina
| | - Gabriela Turk
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida (INBIRS), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA, 1113, Argentina
| | - Darío Estrin
- Instituto de Química Física de los Materiales, Medio Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA, 1428, Argentina
| | - Albertina Moglioni
- Cátedra de Química Medicinal, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA, 1113, Argentina; Instituto de la Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco (IQUIMEFA), CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA, 1113, Argentina.
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27
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Qian Y, Cabeza de Vaca I, Vilseck JZ, Cole DJ, Tirado-Rives J, Jorgensen WL. Absolute Free Energy of Binding Calculations for Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor in Complex with a Druglike Inhibitor. J Phys Chem B 2019; 123:8675-8685. [PMID: 31553604 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b07588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Calculation of the absolute free energy of binding (ΔGbind) for a complex in solution is challenging owing to the need for adequate configurational sampling and an accurate energetic description, typically with a force field (FF). In this study, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations with improved side-chain and backbone sampling are used to assess ΔGbind for the complex of a druglike inhibitor (MIF180) with the protein macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) using free energy perturbation (FEP) calculations. For comparison, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were employed as an alternative sampling method for the same system. With the OPLS-AA/M FF and CM5 atomic charges for the inhibitor, the ΔGbind results from the MC/FEP and MD/FEP simulations, -8.80 ± 0.74 and -8.46 ± 0.85 kcal/mol, agree well with each other and with the experimental value of -8.98 ± 0.28 kcal/mol. The convergence of the results and analysis of the trajectories indicate that sufficient sampling was achieved for both approaches. Repeating the MD/FEP calculations using current versions of the CHARMM and AMBER FFs led to a 6 kcal/mol range of computed ΔGbind. These results show that calculation of accurate ΔGbind for large ligands is both feasible and numerically equivalent, within error limits, using either methodology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Qian
- Department of Chemistry , Yale University , New Haven , Connecticut 06520-8107 , United States
| | - Israel Cabeza de Vaca
- Department of Chemistry , Yale University , New Haven , Connecticut 06520-8107 , United States
| | - Jonah Z Vilseck
- Department of Chemistry , Yale University , New Haven , Connecticut 06520-8107 , United States
| | - Daniel J Cole
- Department of Chemistry , Yale University , New Haven , Connecticut 06520-8107 , United States
| | - Julian Tirado-Rives
- Department of Chemistry , Yale University , New Haven , Connecticut 06520-8107 , United States
| | - William L Jorgensen
- Department of Chemistry , Yale University , New Haven , Connecticut 06520-8107 , United States
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28
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Giese TJ, York DM. Development of a Robust Indirect Approach for MM → QM Free Energy Calculations That Combines Force-Matched Reference Potential and Bennett's Acceptance Ratio Methods. J Chem Theory Comput 2019; 15:5543-5562. [PMID: 31507179 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.9b00401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
We use the PBE0/6-31G* density functional method to perform ab initio quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations under periodic boundary conditions with rigorous electrostatics using the ambient potential composite Ewald method in order to test the convergence of MM → QM/MM free energy corrections for the prediction of 17 small-molecule solvation free energies and eight ligand binding free energies to T4 lysozyme. The "indirect" thermodynamic cycle for calculating free energies is used to explore whether a series of reference potentials improve the statistical quality of the predictions. Specifically, we construct a series of reference potentials that optimize a molecular mechanical (MM) force field's parameters to reproduce the ab initio QM/MM forces from a QM/MM simulation. The optimizations form a systematic progression of successively expanded parameters that include bond, angle, dihedral, and charge parameters. For each reference potential, we calculate benchmark quality reference values for the MM → QM/MM correction by performing the mixed MM and QM/MM Hamiltonians at 11 intermediate states, each for 200 ps. We then compare forward and reverse application of Zwanzig's relation, thermodynamic integration (TI), and Bennett's acceptance ratio (BAR) methods as a function of reference potential, simulation time, and the number of simulated intermediate states. We find that Zwanzig's equation is inadequate unless a large number of intermediate states are explicitly simulated. The TI and BAR mean signed errors are very small even when only the end-state simulations are considered, and the standard deviations of the TI and BAR errors are decreased by choosing a reference potential that optimizes the bond and angle parameters. We find a robust approach for the data sets of fairly rigid molecules considered here is to use bond + angle reference potential together with the end-state-only BAR analysis. This requires QM/MM simulations to be performed in order to generate reference data to parametrize the bond + angle reference potential, and then this same simulation serves a dual purpose as the full QM/MM end state. The convergence of the results with respect to time suggests that computational resources may be used more efficiently by running multiple simulations for no more than 50 ps, rather than running one long simulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J Giese
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Center for Integrative Proteomics Research and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology , Rutgers University , Piscataway , New Jersey 08854-8087 , United States
| | - Darrin M York
- Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, Center for Integrative Proteomics Research and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology , Rutgers University , Piscataway , New Jersey 08854-8087 , United States
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29
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Tarasova OA, Biziukova NY, Filimonov DA, Poroikov VV, Nicklaus MC. Data Mining Approach for Extraction of Useful Information About Biologically Active Compounds from Publications. J Chem Inf Model 2019; 59:3635-3644. [PMID: 31453694 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
A lot of high quality data on the biological activity of chemical compounds are required throughout the whole drug discovery process: from development of computational models of the structure-activity relationship to experimental testing of lead compounds and their validation in clinics. Currently, a large amount of such data is available from databases, scientific publications, and patents. Biological data are characterized by incompleteness, uncertainty, and low reproducibility. Despite the existence of free and commercially available databases of biological activities of compounds, they usually lack unambiguous information about peculiarities of biological assays. On the other hand, scientific papers are the primary source of new data disclosed to the scientific community for the first time. In this study, we have developed and validated a data-mining approach for extraction of text fragments containing description of bioassays. We have used this approach to evaluate compounds and their biological activity reported in scientific publications. We have found that categorization of papers into relevant and irrelevant may be performed based on the machine-learning analysis of the abstracts. Text fragments extracted from the full texts of publications allow their further partitioning into several classes according to the peculiarities of bioassays. We demonstrate the applicability of our approach to the comparison of the endpoint values of biological activity and cytotoxicity of reference compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olga A Tarasova
- Department of Bioinformatics , Institute of Biomedical Chemistry , 10 Building 8, Pogodinskaya Street , Moscow 119121 , Russia
| | - Nadezhda Yu Biziukova
- Department of Bioinformatics , Institute of Biomedical Chemistry , 10 Building 8, Pogodinskaya Street , Moscow 119121 , Russia
| | - Dmitry A Filimonov
- Department of Bioinformatics , Institute of Biomedical Chemistry , 10 Building 8, Pogodinskaya Street , Moscow 119121 , Russia
| | - Vladimir V Poroikov
- Department of Bioinformatics , Institute of Biomedical Chemistry , 10 Building 8, Pogodinskaya Street , Moscow 119121 , Russia
| | - Marc C Nicklaus
- Computer-Aided Drug Design Group, Chemical Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research , National Cancer Institute , Frederick , Maryland 21702 , United States
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30
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Vilseck JZ, Sohail N, Hayes RL, Brooks CL. Overcoming Challenging Substituent Perturbations with Multisite λ-Dynamics: A Case Study Targeting β-Secretase 1. J Phys Chem Lett 2019; 10:4875-4880. [PMID: 31386370 PMCID: PMC7015761 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b02004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Alchemical free energy calculations have made a dramatic impact upon the field of structure-based drug design by allowing functional group modifications to be explored computationally prior to experimental synthesis and assay evaluation, thereby informing and directing synthetic strategies. In furthering the advancement of this area, a series of 21 β-secretase 1 (BACE1) inhibitors developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals were examined to evaluate the ability to explore large substituent perturbations, some of which contain scaffold modifications, with multisite λ-dynamics (MSλD), an innovative alchemical free energy framework. Our findings indicate that MSλD is able to efficiently explore all structurally diverse ligand end-states simultaneously within a single MD simulation with a high degree of precision and with reduced computational costs compared to the widely used approach TI/MBAR. Furthermore, computational predictions were shown to be accurate to within 0.5-0.8 kcal/mol when CM1A partial atomic charges were combined with CHARMM or OPLS-AA-based force fields, demonstrating that MSλD is force field independent and a viable alternative to FEP or TI approaches for drug design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonah Z. Vilseck
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Noor Sohail
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Ryan L. Hayes
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
| | - Charles L. Brooks
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
- Biophysics Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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31
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Recent progress in HIV-1 inhibitors targeting the entrance channel of HIV-1 non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor binding pocket. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 174:277-291. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.04.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2019] [Revised: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 04/18/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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32
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Kumar D, Kumar V, Marwaha R, Singh G. Oxadiazole-An Important Bioactive Scaffold for Drug Discovery and Development Process Against HIV and Cancer- A Review. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019. [DOI: 10.2174/1573407213666171017160359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Background:
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and cancer treatment have been
a major task for research scientists and pharmaceutical industry for the last many years. Seeking to the
development, many promising chemical entities especially five-membered heterocyclic rings like oxadiazole
have revealed good anticancer and anti HIV activities. The current review enlists some recently
developed anti-HIV and anti-cancer oxadiazole moieties.
Methods:
on the basis of structural modification for the syntheses of new oxadiazole analogs, the new
anti-HIV and anti-cancer agents have been summarized, which can improve treatment of AIDs and cancer.
Results:
The oxadiazole ring is more potent in comparison to some other heterocyclic rings (five and
six membered) towards anti-HIV and anti-cancer activities. The important mechanisms involved for anti
HIV and anticancer activity are mainly inhibition of enzymes like protease, HIV-integrase, telomerase,
histone deacetylase, methionine amino peptidase, thymidylate synthase and focal adhesion kinase and
inhibition of some growth factors.
Conclusion:
By reviving the past literature about 50 most potent oxadiazole derivatives, depending
upon activity and structural modifications, have been selected as potent anti-HIV, and anti-cancer
agents. Thus, oxadiazole seems to be a ‘privileged structure’ for further screening and syntheses of the
new drug analogs against life threatening HIV and cancer like diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davinder Kumar
- College of Pharmacy, PGIMS, University of Health Sciences, Rohtak-124001, India
| | - Virender Kumar
- College of Pharmacy, PGIMS, University of Health Sciences, Rohtak-124001, India
| | - Rakesh Marwaha
- Department of Pharmaceutical sciences, M. D University Rohtak-124001, India
| | - Gajendra Singh
- College of Pharmacy, PGIMS, University of Health Sciences, Rohtak-124001, India
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33
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Aminpour M, Montemagno C, Tuszynski JA. An Overview of Molecular Modeling for Drug Discovery with Specific Illustrative Examples of Applications. Molecules 2019; 24:E1693. [PMID: 31052253 PMCID: PMC6539951 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24091693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2019] [Revised: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 04/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
In this paper we review the current status of high-performance computing applications in the general area of drug discovery. We provide an introduction to the methodologies applied at atomic and molecular scales, followed by three specific examples of implementation of these tools. The first example describes in silico modeling of the adsorption of small molecules to organic and inorganic surfaces, which may be applied to drug delivery issues. The second example involves DNA translocation through nanopores with major significance to DNA sequencing efforts. The final example offers an overview of computer-aided drug design, with some illustrative examples of its usefulness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maral Aminpour
- Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
- Ingenuity Lab, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
- Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1Z2, Canada.
| | - Carlo Montemagno
- Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
- Ingenuity Lab, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
- Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA.
| | - Jack A Tuszynski
- Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1Z2, Canada.
- Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada.
- Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy.
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34
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Zorn KM, Lane TR, Russo DP, Clark AM, Makarov V, Ekins S. Multiple Machine Learning Comparisons of HIV Cell-based and Reverse Transcriptase Data Sets. Mol Pharm 2019; 16:1620-1632. [PMID: 30779585 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.8b01297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes over a million deaths every year and has a huge economic impact in many countries. The first class of drugs approved were nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. A newer generation of reverse transcriptase inhibitors have become susceptible to drug resistant strains of HIV, and hence, alternatives are urgently needed. We have recently pioneered the use of Bayesian machine learning to generate models with public data to identify new compounds for testing against different disease targets. The current study has used the NIAID ChemDB HIV, Opportunistic Infection and Tuberculosis Therapeutics Database for machine learning studies. We curated and cleaned data from HIV-1 wild-type cell-based and reverse transcriptase (RT) DNA polymerase inhibition assays. Compounds from this database with ≤1 μM HIV-1 RT DNA polymerase activity inhibition and cell-based HIV-1 inhibition are correlated (Pearson r = 0.44, n = 1137, p < 0.0001). Models were trained using multiple machine learning approaches (Bernoulli Naive Bayes, AdaBoost Decision Tree, Random Forest, support vector classification, k-Nearest Neighbors, and deep neural networks as well as consensus approaches) and then their predictive abilities were compared. Our comparison of different machine learning methods demonstrated that support vector classification, deep learning, and a consensus were generally comparable and not significantly different from each other using 5-fold cross validation and using 24 training and test set combinations. This study demonstrates findings in line with our previous studies for various targets that training and testing with multiple data sets does not demonstrate a significant difference between support vector machine and deep neural networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberley M Zorn
- Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , Main Campus Drive, Lab 3510 , Raleigh , North Carolina 27606 , United States
| | - Thomas R Lane
- Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , Main Campus Drive, Lab 3510 , Raleigh , North Carolina 27606 , United States
| | - Daniel P Russo
- Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , Main Campus Drive, Lab 3510 , Raleigh , North Carolina 27606 , United States.,The Rutgers Center for Computational and Integrative Biology , Camden , New Jersey 08102 , United States
| | - Alex M Clark
- Molecular Materials Informatics, Inc. , 2234 Duvernay Street , Montreal , Quebec H3J2Y3 , Canada
| | - Vadim Makarov
- Bach Institute of Biochemistry , Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences , Leninsky Prospekt 33-2 , Moscow 119071 , Russia
| | - Sean Ekins
- Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , Main Campus Drive, Lab 3510 , Raleigh , North Carolina 27606 , United States
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35
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Roos K, Wu C, Damm W, Reboul M, Stevenson JM, Lu C, Dahlgren MK, Mondal S, Chen W, Wang L, Abel R, Friesner RA, Harder ED. OPLS3e: Extending Force Field Coverage for Drug-Like Small Molecules. J Chem Theory Comput 2019; 15:1863-1874. [PMID: 30768902 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.8b01026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 619] [Impact Index Per Article: 123.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Katarina Roos
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, 3000 Broadway, New York, New York 10027, United States
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Biomedical Centre, Box 596, SE-751 24 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Chuanjie Wu
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Wolfgang Damm
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Mark Reboul
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - James M. Stevenson
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Chao Lu
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Markus K. Dahlgren
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Sayan Mondal
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Wei Chen
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Lingle Wang
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Robert Abel
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Richard A. Friesner
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, 3000 Broadway, New York, New York 10027, United States
| | - Edward D. Harder
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
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36
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Li Z, Huang Y, Wu Y, Chen J, Wu D, Zhan CG, Luo HB. Absolute Binding Free Energy Calculation and Design of a Subnanomolar Inhibitor of Phosphodiesterase-10. J Med Chem 2019; 62:2099-2111. [PMID: 30689375 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Accurate prediction of absolute protein-ligand binding free energy could considerably enhance the success rate of structure-based drug design but is extremely challenging and time-consuming. Free energy perturbation (FEP) has been proven reliable but is limited to prediction of relative binding free energies of similar ligands (with only minor structural differences) in binding with a same drug target in practical drug design applications. Herein, a Gaussian algorithm-enhanced FEP (GA-FEP) protocol has been developed to enhance the FEP simulation performance, enabling to efficiently carry out the FEP simulations on vanishing the whole ligand and, thus, predict the absolute binding free energies (ABFEs). Using the GA-FEP protocol, the FEP simulations for the ABFE calculation (denoted as GA-FEP/ABFE) can achieve a satisfactory accuracy for both structurally similar and diverse ligands in a dataset of more than 100 receptor-ligand systems. Further, our GA-FEP/ABFE-guided lead optimization against phosphodiesterase-10 led to the discovery of a subnanomolar inhibitor (IC50 = 0.87 nM, ∼2000-fold improvement in potency) with cocrystal confirmation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Li
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences , Sun Yat-Sen University , Guangzhou 510006 , P.R. China.,Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy , University of Kentucky , 789 South Limestone Street , Lexington , Kentucky 40536 , United States
| | - Yiyou Huang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences , Sun Yat-Sen University , Guangzhou 510006 , P.R. China
| | - Yinuo Wu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences , Sun Yat-Sen University , Guangzhou 510006 , P.R. China
| | - Jingyi Chen
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences , Sun Yat-Sen University , Guangzhou 510006 , P.R. China
| | - Deyan Wu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences , Sun Yat-Sen University , Guangzhou 510006 , P.R. China
| | - Chang-Guo Zhan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy , University of Kentucky , 789 South Limestone Street , Lexington , Kentucky 40536 , United States
| | - Hai-Bin Luo
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences , Sun Yat-Sen University , Guangzhou 510006 , P.R. China
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37
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Dodda LS, Tirado-Rives J, Jorgensen WL. Unbinding Dynamics of Non-Nucleoside Inhibitors from HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase. J Phys Chem B 2019; 123:1741-1748. [PMID: 30571126 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b10341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Non-nucleoside inhibitors of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (NNRTIs), which bind to an allosteric site 10-15 Å from the polymerase active site, play a central role in anti-HIV chemotherapy. Though NNRTIs have been known for 30 years, the pathways by which they bind and unbind from HIV-RT have not been characterized. In crystal structures for complexes, three channels are found to extend from the NNRTI binding site to the exterior of the protein, while added mystery comes from the fact that the binding site is collapsed in the unliganded protein. To address this issue, metadynamics simulations have been performed to elucidate the unbinding of four NNRTIs from HIV-RT. A general and transferable collective variable defined by the distance between the center-of-mass (COM) of the binding pocket and COM of the ligand is used to follow the dynamics while minimizing the bias. The metadynamics also allows computation of the barriers to unbinding, which are compared with the observed potencies of the compounds in an antiviral assay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leela S Dodda
- Department of Chemistry , Yale University , New Haven , Connecticut 06520-8107 , United States
| | - Julian Tirado-Rives
- Department of Chemistry , Yale University , New Haven , Connecticut 06520-8107 , United States
| | - William L Jorgensen
- Department of Chemistry , Yale University , New Haven , Connecticut 06520-8107 , United States
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38
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Gilabert JF, Lecina D, Estrada J, Guallar V. Monte Carlo Techniques for Drug Design: The Success Case of PELE. BIOMOLECULAR SIMULATIONS IN STRUCTURE-BASED DRUG DISCOVERY 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/9783527806836.ch5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Joan F. Gilabert
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC); Life Science Department; Jordi Girona 29 08034 Barcelona Spain
| | - Daniel Lecina
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC); Life Science Department; Jordi Girona 29 08034 Barcelona Spain
| | - Jorge Estrada
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC); Life Science Department; Jordi Girona 29 08034 Barcelona Spain
| | - Victor Guallar
- Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC); Life Science Department; Jordi Girona 29 08034 Barcelona Spain
- ICREA; Passeig Lluís Companys 23 08010 Barcelona Spain
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39
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Battini L, Bollini M. Challenges and approaches in the discovery of human immunodeficiency virus type‐1 non‐nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Med Res Rev 2018; 39:1235-1273. [DOI: 10.1002/med.21544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2018] [Revised: 10/04/2018] [Accepted: 10/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Leandro Battini
- Laboratorio de Química Medicinal, Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION), CONICETCiudad de Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - Mariela Bollini
- Laboratorio de Química Medicinal, Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION), CONICETCiudad de Buenos Aires Argentina
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40
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Abel R, Manas ES, Friesner RA, Farid RS, Wang L. Modeling the value of predictive affinity scoring in preclinical drug discovery. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2018; 52:103-110. [PMID: 30321805 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2018.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2018] [Revised: 09/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Drug discovery is widely recognized to be a difficult and costly activity in large part due to the challenge of identifying chemical matter which simultaneously optimizes multiple properties, one of which is affinity for the primary biological target. Further, many of these properties are difficult to predict ahead of expensive and time-consuming compound synthesis and experimental testing. Here we highlight recent work to develop compound affinity prediction models, and extensively investigate the value such models may provide to preclinical drug discovery. We demonstrate that the ability of these models to improve the overall probability of success is crucially dependent on the shape of the error distribution, not just the root-mean-square error. In particular, while scoring more molecule ideas generally improves the probability of project success when the error distribution is Gaussian, fat-tail distributions such as a Cauchy distribution, can lead to a situation where scoring more ideas actually decreases the overall probability of success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Abel
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036, United States.
| | - Eric S Manas
- GlaxoSmithKline, 1250 South Collegeville Road, Collegeville, PA 19426, United States
| | - Richard A Friesner
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, 3000 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
| | - Ramy S Farid
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036, United States
| | - Lingle Wang
- Schrodinger, Inc., 120 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036, United States
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41
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Baz J, Gebhardt J, Kraus H, Markthaler D, Hansen N. Insights into Noncovalent Binding Obtained from Molecular Dynamics Simulations. CHEM-ING-TECH 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/cite.201800050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jörg Baz
- University of Stuttgart; Institute of Thermodynamics and Thermal Process Engineering; Pfaffenwaldring 9 70569 Stuttgart Germany
| | - Julia Gebhardt
- University of Stuttgart; Institute of Thermodynamics and Thermal Process Engineering; Pfaffenwaldring 9 70569 Stuttgart Germany
| | - Hamzeh Kraus
- University of Stuttgart; Institute of Thermodynamics and Thermal Process Engineering; Pfaffenwaldring 9 70569 Stuttgart Germany
| | - Daniel Markthaler
- University of Stuttgart; Institute of Thermodynamics and Thermal Process Engineering; Pfaffenwaldring 9 70569 Stuttgart Germany
| | - Niels Hansen
- University of Stuttgart; Institute of Thermodynamics and Thermal Process Engineering; Pfaffenwaldring 9 70569 Stuttgart Germany
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42
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Gu SX, Lu HH, Liu GY, Ju XL, Zhu YY. Advances in diarylpyrimidines and related analogues as HIV-1 nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Eur J Med Chem 2018; 158:371-392. [PMID: 30223123 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2018.09.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2018] [Revised: 09/01/2018] [Accepted: 09/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
HIV-1 nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) have been playing an important role in the fight against acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Diarylpyrimidines (DAPYs) as the second generation NNRTIs, represented by etravirine (TMC125) and rilpivirine (TMC278), have attracted extensive attention due to their extraordinary potency, high specificity and low toxicity. However, the rapid emergence of drug-resistant virus strains and dissatisfactory pharmacokinetics of DAPYs present new challenges. In the past two decades, an increasing number of novel DAPY derivatives have emerged, which significantly enriched the structure-activity relationship of DAPYs. Studies of crystallography and molecular modeling have afforded a lot of useful information on structural requirements of NNRTIs, which contributes greatly to the improvement of their resistance profiles. In this review, we reviewed the discovery history and their evolution of DAPYs including their structural modification, derivatization and scaffold hopping in continuous pursuit of excellent anti-HIV drugs. And also, we discussed the prospect of DAPYs and the directions of future efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuang-Xi Gu
- Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmacy, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, PR China.
| | - Huan-Huan Lu
- Yichang Humanwell Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Yichang, 443005, PR China
| | - Gen-Yan Liu
- Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmacy, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, PR China
| | - Xiu-Lian Ju
- Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Process of Ministry of Education, School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmacy, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, PR China
| | - Yuan-Yuan Zhu
- School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430205, PR China.
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43
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Vilseck JZ, Armacost KA, Hayes RL, Goh GB, Brooks CL. Predicting Binding Free Energies in a Large Combinatorial Chemical Space Using Multisite λ Dynamics. J Phys Chem Lett 2018; 9:3328-3332. [PMID: 29847134 PMCID: PMC6091208 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we demonstrate the extensive scalability of the biasing potential replica exchange multisite λ dynamics (BP-REX MSλD) free energy method by calculating binding affinities for 512 inhibitors to HIV Reverse Transcriptase (HIV-RT). This is the largest exploration of chemical space using free energy methods known to date, requires only a few simulations, and identifies 55 new inhibitor designs against HIV-RT predicted to be at least as potent as a tight binding reference compound (i.e., as potent as 56 nM). We highlight that BP-REX MSλD requires an order of magnitude less computational resources than conventional free energy methods while maintaining a similar level of precision, overcomes the inherent poor scalability of conventional free energy methods, and enables the exploration of combinatorially large chemical spaces in the context of in silico drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonah Z. Vilseck
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Kira A. Armacost
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Ryan L. Hayes
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Garrett B. Goh
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
| | - Charles L. Brooks
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
- Biophysics Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
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44
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Trivedi-Parmar V, Robertson MJ, Cisneros JA, Krimmer SG, Jorgensen WL. Optimization of Pyrazoles as Phenol Surrogates to Yield Potent Inhibitors of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor. ChemMedChem 2018; 13:1092-1097. [PMID: 29575754 PMCID: PMC5990473 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201800158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine that is implicated in the regulation of inflammation, cell proliferation, and neurological disorders. MIF is also an enzyme that functions as a keto-enol tautomerase. Most potent MIF tautomerase inhibitors incorporate a phenol, which hydrogen bonds to Asn97 in the active site. Starting from a 113-μm docking hit, we report results of structure-based and computer-aided design that have provided substituted pyrazoles as phenol alternatives with potencies of 60-70 nm. Crystal structures of complexes of MIF with the pyrazoles highlight the contributions of hydrogen bonding with Lys32 and Asn97, and aryl-aryl interactions with Tyr36, Tyr95, and Phe113 to the binding.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - José A. Cisneros
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8107, USA
| | - Stefan G. Krimmer
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8107, USA
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45
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Iglesias J, Saen‐oon S, Soliva R, Guallar V. Computational structure‐based drug design: Predicting target flexibility. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/wcms.1367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Victor Guallar
- Life Science DepartmentBarcelonaSpain
- ICREA, Passeig Lluís Companys 23BarcelonaSpain
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46
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Cournia Z, Allen B, Sherman W. Relative Binding Free Energy Calculations in Drug Discovery: Recent Advances and Practical Considerations. J Chem Inf Model 2017; 57:2911-2937. [PMID: 29243483 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.7b00564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 391] [Impact Index Per Article: 55.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Accurate in silico prediction of protein-ligand binding affinities has been a primary objective of structure-based drug design for decades due to the putative value it would bring to the drug discovery process. However, computational methods have historically failed to deliver value in real-world drug discovery applications due to a variety of scientific, technical, and practical challenges. Recently, a family of approaches commonly referred to as relative binding free energy (RBFE) calculations, which rely on physics-based molecular simulations and statistical mechanics, have shown promise in reliably generating accurate predictions in the context of drug discovery projects. This advance arises from accumulating developments in the underlying scientific methods (decades of research on force fields and sampling algorithms) coupled with vast increases in computational resources (graphics processing units and cloud infrastructures). Mounting evidence from retrospective validation studies, blind challenge predictions, and prospective applications suggests that RBFE simulations can now predict the affinity differences for congeneric ligands with sufficient accuracy and throughput to deliver considerable value in hit-to-lead and lead optimization efforts. Here, we present an overview of current RBFE implementations, highlighting recent advances and remaining challenges, along with examples that emphasize practical considerations for obtaining reliable RBFE results. We focus specifically on relative binding free energies because the calculations are less computationally intensive than absolute binding free energy (ABFE) calculations and map directly onto the hit-to-lead and lead optimization processes, where the prediction of relative binding energies between a reference molecule and new ideas (virtual molecules) can be used to prioritize molecules for synthesis. We describe the critical aspects of running RBFE calculations, from both theoretical and applied perspectives, using a combination of retrospective literature examples and prospective studies from drug discovery projects. This work is intended to provide a contemporary overview of the scientific, technical, and practical issues associated with running relative binding free energy simulations, with a focus on real-world drug discovery applications. We offer guidelines for improving the accuracy of RBFE simulations, especially for challenging cases, and emphasize unresolved issues that could be improved by further research in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe Cournia
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens , 4 Soranou Ephessiou, 11527 Athens, Greece
| | - Bryce Allen
- Silicon Therapeutics , 300 A Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - Woody Sherman
- Silicon Therapeutics , 300 A Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
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47
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CDOCKER and λ-dynamics for prospective prediction in D₃R Grand Challenge 2. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2017; 32:89-102. [PMID: 28884249 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-017-0050-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2017] [Accepted: 08/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
The opportunity to prospectively predict ligand bound poses and free energies of binding to the Farnesoid X Receptor in the D3R Grand Challenge 2 provided a useful exercise to evaluate CHARMM based docking (CDOCKER) and [Formula: see text]-dynamics methodologies for use in "real-world" applications in computer aided drug design. In addition to measuring their current performance, several recent methodological developments have been analyzed retrospectively to highlight best procedural practices in future applications. For pose prediction with CDOCKER, when the protein structure used for rigid receptor docking was close to the crystallographic holo structure, reliable poses were obtained. Benzimidazoles, with a known holo receptor structure, were successfully docked with an average RMSD of 0.97 [Formula: see text]. Other non-benzimidazole ligands displayed less accuracy largely because the receptor structures we chose for docking were too different from the experimental holo structures. However, retrospective analysis has shown that when these ligands were re-docked into their holo structures, the average RMSD dropped to 1.18 [Formula: see text] for all ligands. When sulfonamides and spiros were docked with the apo structure, which agrees more with their holo structure than the structures we chose, five out of six ligands were correctly docked. These docking results emphasize the need for flexible receptor docking approaches. For [Formula: see text]-dynamics techniques, including multisite [Formula: see text]-dynamics (MS[Formula: see text]D), reasonable agreement with experiment was observed for the 33 ligands investigated; root mean square errors of 2.08 and 1.67 kcal/mol were obtained for free energy sets 1 and 2, respectively. Retrospectively, soft-core potentials, adaptive landscape flattening, and biasing potential replica exchange (BP-REX) algorithms were critical to model large substituent perturbations with sufficient precision and within restrictive timeframes, such as was required with participation in Grand Challenge 2. These developments, their associated benefits, and proposed procedures for their use in future applications are discussed.
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48
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Abel R, Mondal S, Masse C, Greenwood J, Harriman G, Ashwell MA, Bhat S, Wester R, Frye L, Kapeller R, Friesner RA. Accelerating drug discovery through tight integration of expert molecular design and predictive scoring. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2017; 43:38-44. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2016.10.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2016] [Accepted: 10/07/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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49
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Cisneros JA, Robertson MJ, Mercado BQ, Jorgensen WL. Systematic Study of Effects of Structural Modifications on the Aqueous Solubility of Drug-like Molecules. ACS Med Chem Lett 2017; 8:124-127. [PMID: 28105287 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.6b00451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2016] [Accepted: 12/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Aqueous solubilities and activities have been measured for 17 members of the quinolinyltriazole series of inhibitors of human macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). Systematic variation of a solvent-exposed substituent provided increases in solubility from 2 μg/mL for the parent compound 3a up to 867 μg/mL. The low solubility of 3a results from its near-planar structure and an intermolecular hydrogen bond, as revealed in a small-molecule X-ray structure. Removal of the hydrogen bond yields a 3-fold increase in solubility, but a 7-fold drop in activity. 5b emerges as the most potent MIF inhibitor with a Ki of 14 nM and good solubility, 47 μg/mL, while 4e has both high potency and solubility.
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Affiliation(s)
- José A. Cisneros
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Michael J. Robertson
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Brandon Q. Mercado
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - William L. Jorgensen
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
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50
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Lee WG, Chan AH, Spasov KA, Anderson KS, Jorgensen WL. Design, Conformation, and Crystallography of 2-Naphthyl Phenyl Ethers as Potent Anti-HIV Agents. ACS Med Chem Lett 2016; 7:1156-1160. [PMID: 27994756 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.6b00390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2016] [Accepted: 10/31/2016] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Catechol diethers that incorporate a 7-cyano-2-naphthyl substituent are reported as non-nucleoside inhibitors of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (NNRTIs). Many of the compounds have 1-10 nM potencies toward wild-type HIV-1. An interesting conformational effect allows two unique conformers for the naphthyl group in complexes with HIV-RT. X-ray crystal structures for 4a and 4f illustrate the alternatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Won-Gil Lee
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Albert H. Chan
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Krasimir A. Spasov
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - Karen S. Anderson
- Department
of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8066, United States
| | - William L. Jorgensen
- Department
of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
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