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Song Y, Feng J, Wang X, Wen Y, Xu L, Huo Y, Wang L, Tao Q, Yang Z, Liu G, Chen M, Li L, Yan J. A multi-channel electrochemical biosensor based on polyadenine tetrahedra for the detection of multiple drug resistance genes. Analyst 2024; 149:3425-3432. [PMID: 38720619 DOI: 10.1039/d4an00488d] [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: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance poses a serious threat to human health due to the high morbidity and mortality caused by drug-resistant microbial infections. Therefore, the development of rapid, sensitive and selective identification methods is key to improving the survival rate of patients. In this paper, a sandwich-type electrochemical DNA biosensor based on a polyadenine-DNA tetrahedron probe was constructed. The key experimental conditions were optimized, including the length of polyadenine, the concentration of the polyadenine DNA tetrahedron, the concentration of the signal probe and the hybridization time. At the same time, poly-avidin-HRP80 was used to enhance the electrochemical detection signal. Finally, excellent biosensor performance was achieved, and the detection limit for the synthetic DNA target was as low as 1 fM. In addition, we verified the practicability of the system by analyzing E. coli with the MCR-1 plasmid and realized multi-channel detection of the drug resistance genes MCR-1, blaNDM, blaKPC and blaOXA. With the ideal electrochemical interface, the polyA-based biosensor exhibits excellent stability, which provides powerful technical support for the rapid detection of antibiotic-resistant strains in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanan Song
- International Research Center for Food and Health; Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Aquatic Products on Storage and Preservation (Shanghai), Ministry of Agriculture; College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.
- Laboratory of Biometrology, Division of Chemistry and Ionizing Radiation Measurement Technology, Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Shanghai, 201203, P.R. China.
| | - Jun Feng
- Municipal Centre For Disease Control & Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China.
| | - Xueming Wang
- International Research Center for Food and Health; Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Aquatic Products on Storage and Preservation (Shanghai), Ministry of Agriculture; College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.
| | - Yanli Wen
- Laboratory of Biometrology, Division of Chemistry and Ionizing Radiation Measurement Technology, Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Shanghai, 201203, P.R. China.
| | - Li Xu
- Laboratory of Biometrology, Division of Chemistry and Ionizing Radiation Measurement Technology, Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Shanghai, 201203, P.R. China.
| | - Yinbo Huo
- Laboratory of Biometrology, Division of Chemistry and Ionizing Radiation Measurement Technology, Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Shanghai, 201203, P.R. China.
| | - Lele Wang
- Laboratory of Biometrology, Division of Chemistry and Ionizing Radiation Measurement Technology, Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Shanghai, 201203, P.R. China.
| | - Qing Tao
- Laboratory of Biometrology, Division of Chemistry and Ionizing Radiation Measurement Technology, Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Shanghai, 201203, P.R. China.
| | - Zhenzhou Yang
- Laboratory of Biometrology, Division of Chemistry and Ionizing Radiation Measurement Technology, Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Shanghai, 201203, P.R. China.
| | - Gang Liu
- Laboratory of Biometrology, Division of Chemistry and Ionizing Radiation Measurement Technology, Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Shanghai, 201203, P.R. China.
| | - Min Chen
- Municipal Centre For Disease Control & Prevention, Shanghai 200336, China.
| | - Lanying Li
- Laboratory of Biometrology, Division of Chemistry and Ionizing Radiation Measurement Technology, Shanghai Institute of Measurement and Testing Technology, Shanghai, 201203, P.R. China.
| | - Juan Yan
- International Research Center for Food and Health; Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Aquatic Products on Storage and Preservation (Shanghai), Ministry of Agriculture; College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.
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Pant P. Flexible RNA aptamers as inhibitors of Bacillus anthracis ribosomal protein S8: Insights from molecular dynamics simulations. Biophys Chem 2024; 312:107273. [PMID: 38850843 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2024.107273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 06/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/10/2024]
Abstract
Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, poses a substantial threat to public health and national security, and is recognized as a potential bioweapon due to its capacity to form resilient spores with enduring viability. Inhalation or ingestion of even minute quantities of aerosolized spores can lead to widespread illness and fatalities, underscoring the formidable lethality of the bacterium. With an untreated mortality rate of 100%, Bacillus anthracis is a disconcerting candidate for bioterrorism. In response to this critical scenario, we employed state-of-the-art computational tools to conceive and characterize flexible RNA aptamer therapeutics tailored for anthrax. The foundational structure of the flexible RNA aptamers was designed by removing the C2'-C3' in each nucleotide unit. Leveraging the crystal structure of Bacillus anthracis ribosomal protein S8 complexed with an RNA aptamer, we explored the structural, dynamic, and energetic aspects of the modified RNA aptamer - S8 protein complexes through extensive all-atom explicit-solvent molecular dynamics simulations (400 ns, 3 replicas each), followed by drawing comparisons to the control system. Our findings demonstrate the enhanced binding competencies of the flexible RNA aptamers to the S8 protein via better shape complementarity and improved H-bond network compared to the control RNA aptamer. This research offers valuable insights into the development of RNA aptamer therapeutics targeting Bacillus anthracis, paving the way for innovative strategies to mitigate the impact of this formidable pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pradeep Pant
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Bennett University, Greater Noida, U.P., India.
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Miranda TG, Ciribelli NN, Bihain MFR, Santos Pereira AKD, Cavallini GS, Pereira DH. Interactions between DNA and the acridine intercalator: A computational study. Comput Biol Chem 2024; 109:108029. [PMID: 38387123 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2024.108029] [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: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
Cancer is a global public health problem characterized by deviations in the mechanisms that control cell proliferation, resulting in mutations and variations in the structure of DNA. The mechanisms of action of chemotherapeutic drugs are related to their interactions and binding with DNA; consequently, the development of antineoplastic agents that target DNA has extensively focused on use of acridine, a heterocyclic molecule that binds to deoxyribonucleic acid via intercalation, a process that modifies DNA and makes replication impossible. In this context, this study aimed to computationally investigate how acridine intercalators interact with DNA by evaluating the mechanism of interactions, binding, and interaction energies using quantum mechanics calculations. Molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) analysis revealed that acridine has well- distributed negative charges in the center of the molecule, indicative of a dominant electron-rich region. Acridine exhibits well-defined π orbitals (HOMO and LUMO) on the aromatic rings, suggesting that charge transfer occurs within the molecule and may be responsible for the pharmacological activity of the compound. Structural analysis revealed that acridine interacts with DNA mainly through hydrogen bonds between HAcridine… ODNA with bond lengths ranging from 2.370 Å to 3.472 Å. The Binding energy (ΔEBind) showed that acridine interacts with DNA effectively for all complexes and the electronic energy results (E+ZPE) for complexes revealed that the complexes are more stable when the DNA-centered acridine molecule. The Laplacian-analysis topological QTAIM parameter (∇2ρ(r)) and total energy (H(r)) categorized the interactions as being non-covalent in nature. The RGD peak distribution in the NCI analysis reveals the presence of van der Waals interactions, predominantly between the intercalator and DNA. Accordingly, we confirm that acridine/DNA interactions are relevant for understanding how the intercalator acts within nucleic acids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thaynara Guimarães Miranda
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi, Tocantins CEP 77.402-970, Brazil
| | - Nicolas Nascimento Ciribelli
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi, Tocantins CEP 77.402-970, Brazil
| | | | - Anna Karla Dos Santos Pereira
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Química, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi, Tocantins CEP 77.402-970, Brazil
| | - Grasiele Soares Cavallini
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Química, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi, Tocantins CEP 77.402-970, Brazil
| | - Douglas Henrique Pereira
- Programa de Pós Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT), Gurupi, Tocantins CEP 77.402-970, Brazil; Departamento de Química, Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA), Praça Marechal Eduardo Gomes, 50, Vila das Acácias, São José dos Campos SP CEP 12228-900, Brazil.
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Pant P, Leese F. Probing the Nucleic Acid Flexibility to Disarm the Viral Counter-Defense Machinery: Design and Characterization of Potent p19 Inhibitors. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:8842-8851. [PMID: 37797202 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c04788] [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: 10/07/2023]
Abstract
Plant viruses are highly destructive and significant contributors to several global pandemics and epidemics in plants. A viral disease outbreak in plants can cause a scarcity of food supply and is a severe concern to humanity. The siRNA (small interfering RNA)-mediated RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) formation is a primary defense mechanism in plants against viruses, where the RISC binds and degrades viral mRNAs. As a counter-defense, many viruses encode RNA-silencing suppressor proteins (e.g., the p19 protein from the Tombusviridae family) for viral proliferation in plants. The functional form of p19 (homodimer) binds to plant siRNA with high affinities, thereby interrupting the RISC formation and thus preventing the viral mRNA silencing in plants. By altering the RISC formation, the p19 protein helps the virus invasion in the plant and ultimately stunts host growth. In this study, we designed several modified siRNA-based molecules for p19 inhibition. The viral p19 protein is known to interact predominantly through H-bonds with 2'-OH and phosphates of the plant siRNA. We utilized this information and in silico-designed flexible substituents of siRNA, where we removed the C2'-C3' bond in each nucleotide unit. We performed all-atom explicit-solvent molecular dynamics simulations (400 ns, 3 replicates each) for control/modified siRNA─p19 complexes (8 in total) followed by energetic estimations. Strikingly, in a few modified complexes, the siRNA not only retained the double-helical structural integrity but also displayed remarkably enhanced p19 binding compared to the control siRNA; hence, we consider it important to perform biological and chemical in vitro and in vivo studies on proposed flexible nucleic acids as p19 inhibitors for crop protection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pradeep Pant
- Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg Essen, Essen 45141, Germany
| | - Florian Leese
- Faculty of Biology, University of Duisburg Essen, Essen 45141, Germany
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Pant P. Harmonizing Interstrand Electrostatic Repulsion by Conformational Rigidity in Counterion-Deprived Z-DNA: A Molecular Dynamics Study. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:9956-9963. [PMID: 36412276 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c04527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a vital biomacromolecule. Although the right-handed B-DNA type helical structure is the most abundant and extensively studied form of DNA, several noncanonical forms, such as triplex, quadruplex, Z-DNA, A-DNA, and ss-DNA, have been probed from time to time to gain insights into the DNA's function. Z-DNA was recently found to be involved in cancer and several autoimmune diseases. In the present Article, we evaluated the conformational stability of locked-sugar-based Z-DNA via all-atom explicit-solvent molecular dynamics simulations and found that the modified DNA maintained the left-handed conformation even in the absence of counterions, wherein the structural rigidity dominates over the electrostatic repulsion between the complementary strands. The control Z-DNA without counterions, as expected, instantaneously resulted in unfolded states. The remarkable stability of the conformationally locked model system was thoroughly investigated via structural and energetic perspectives and was probably the result of the backbone widening in tandem with enhanced electrostatics between complementary strands. We believe that the design of the proposed modified Z-DNA construct could help understand the otherwise delicate Z-DNA conformation even in salt-deprived conditions. The design could also motivate the medicinal use of short segments of such modified nucleotides and could be utilized in more advanced modeling techniques, such as DNA origami which has gained popularity in recent years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pradeep Pant
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India
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Transformation characteristics of A-DNA in salt solution revealed through molecular dynamics simulations. Biophys Chem 2022; 288:106845. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2022.106845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Pant P, Pathak A, Jayaram B. Bicyclo-DNA mimics with enhanced protein binding affinities: insights from molecular dynamics simulations. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2022; 41:4040-4047. [PMID: 35403569 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2061594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
DNA-protein interactions occur at all levels of DNA expression and replication and are crucial determinants for the survival of a cell. Several modified nucleotides have been utilized to manipulate these interactions and have implications in drug discovery. In the present article, we evaluated the binding of bicyclo-nucleotides (generated by forming a methylene bridge between C1' and C5' in sugar, leading to a bicyclo system with C2' axis of symmetry at the nucleotide level) to proteins. We utilized four ssDNA-protein complexes with experimentally known binding free energies and investigated the binding of modified nucleotides to proteins via all-atom explicit solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations (200 ns), and compared the binding with control ssDNA-protein systems. The modified ssDNA displayed enhanced binding to proteins as compared to the control ssDNA, as seen by means of MD simulations followed by MM-PBSA calculations. Further, the Delphi-based electrostatic estimation revealed that the high binding of modified ssDNA to protein might be related to the enhanced electrostatic complementarity displayed by the modified ssDNA molecules in all the four systems considered for the study. The improved binding achieved with modified nucleotides can be utilized to design and develop anticancer/antisense molecules capable of targeting proteins or ssRNAs.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pradeep Pant
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India.,Supercomputing Facility for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India
| | - Amita Pathak
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India.,Supercomputing Facility for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India
| | - B Jayaram
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India.,Supercomputing Facility for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India.,Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India
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