1
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Imai M, Colas K, Suga H. Protein Grafting Techniques: From Peptide Epitopes to Lasso-Grafted Neobiologics. Chempluschem 2024:e202400152. [PMID: 38693599 DOI: 10.1002/cplu.202400152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 04/25/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
Protein engineering techniques have vastly expanded their domain of impact, notably following the success of antibodies. Likewise, smaller peptide therapeutics have carved an increasingly significant niche for themselves in the pharmaceutical landscape. The concept of grafting such peptides onto larger protein scaffolds, thus harvesting the advantages of both, has given rise to a variety of protein engineering strategies that are reviewed herein. We also describe our own "Lasso-Grafting" approach, which combines traditional grafting concepts with mRNA display to streamline the production of multiple grafted drug candidates for virtually any target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikio Imai
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
| | - Kilian Colas
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Suga
- Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
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2
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Zhang C, Zhang C, Shang T, Zhu N, Wu X, Duan H. HighFold: accurately predicting structures of cyclic peptides and complexes with head-to-tail and disulfide bridge constraints. Brief Bioinform 2024; 25:bbae215. [PMID: 38706323 PMCID: PMC11070728 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbae215] [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: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 04/12/2024] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024] Open
Abstract
In recent years, cyclic peptides have emerged as a promising therapeutic modality due to their diverse biological activities. Understanding the structures of these cyclic peptides and their complexes is crucial for unlocking invaluable insights about protein target-cyclic peptide interaction, which can facilitate the development of novel-related drugs. However, conducting experimental observations is time-consuming and expensive. Computer-aided drug design methods are not practical enough in real-world applications. To tackles this challenge, we introduce HighFold, an AlphaFold-derived model in this study. By integrating specific details about the head-to-tail circle and disulfide bridge structures, the HighFold model can accurately predict the structures of cyclic peptides and their complexes. Our model demonstrates superior predictive performance compared to other existing approaches, representing a significant advancement in structure-activity research. The HighFold model is openly accessible at https://github.com/hongliangduan/HighFold.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenhao Zhang
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China
| | - Chengyun Zhang
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China
- AI department, Shanghai Highslab Therapeutics. Inc, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Tianfeng Shang
- AI department, Shanghai Highslab Therapeutics. Inc, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Ning Zhu
- China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211198, China
| | - Xinyi Wu
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, China
| | - Hongliang Duan
- Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University, R. de Luís Gonzaga Gomes, Macao, 999078, China
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3
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Yu L, Barros SA, Sun C, Somani S. Cyclic Peptide Linker Design and Optimization by Molecular Dynamics Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:6863-6876. [PMID: 37903231 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01359] [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: 11/01/2023]
Abstract
Cyclic peptides are an emerging therapeutic modality that can target protein-protein interaction sites with high affinity and selectivity. A common medicinal chemistry strategy for the optimization of peptide hits is conformational stabilization through macrocyclization. We present a method based on explicit solvent enhanced sampling molecular dynamics simulations for estimating the impact of varying linker lengths and chemistry on the conformational stability of a peptide. The method is demonstrated on three cyclic peptide series that bind to proteins PCSK9, trypsin, and MDM2 adopting loop, β-sheet, and helical secondary structures. In general, the simulations show greater solution stability of the receptor-bound conformation for the higher-affinity peptides, consistent with the idea that preorganizing a ligand for binding can enhance binding affinity. The impact of the force field and sampling is discussed for one series that does not follow this trend. We have successfully applied this method to internal discovery programs to design peptides with increased potency and chemical stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Yu
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Spring House, Pennsylvania 19477, United States
| | - Stephanie A Barros
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Spring House, Pennsylvania 19477, United States
| | - Chengzao Sun
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Spring House, Pennsylvania 19477, United States
| | - Sandeep Somani
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC, Spring House, Pennsylvania 19477, United States
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4
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Karami Y, Murail S, Giribaldi J, Lefranc B, Defontaine F, Lesouhaitier O, Leprince J, de Vries S, Tufféry P. Exploring a Structural Data Mining Approach to Design Linkers for Head-to-Tail Peptide Cyclization. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:6436-6450. [PMID: 37827517 PMCID: PMC10599322 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Peptides have recently regained interest as therapeutic candidates, but their development remains confronted with several limitations including low bioavailability. Backbone head-to-tail cyclization, i.e., setting a covalent peptide bond linking the last amino acid with the first one, is one effective strategy of peptide-based drug design to stabilize the conformation of bioactive peptides while preserving peptide properties in terms of low toxicity, binding affinity, target selectivity, and preventing enzymatic degradation. Starting from an active peptide, it usually requires the design of a linker of a few amino acids to make it possible to cyclize the peptide, possibly preserving the conformation of the initial peptide and not affecting its activity. However, very little is known about the sequence-structure relationship requirements of designing linkers for peptide cyclization in a rational manner. Recently, we have shown that large-scale data-mining of available protein structures can lead to the precise identification of protein loop conformations, even from remote structural classes. Here, we transpose this approach to linkers, allowing head-to-tail peptide cyclization. First we show that given a linker sequence and the conformation of the linear peptide, it is possible to accurately predict the cyclized peptide conformation. Second, and more importantly, we show that it seems possible to elaborate on the information inferred from protein structures to propose effective candidate linker sequences constrained by length and amino acid composition, providing the first framework for the rational design of head-to-tail cyclization linkers. Finally, we illustrate this for two peptides using a limited set of amino-acids likely not to interfere with peptide function. For a linear peptide derived from Nrf2, the peptide cyclized starting from the experimental structure showed a 26-fold increase in the binding affinity. For urotensin II, a peptide already cyclized by a disulfide bond that exerts a broad array of biological activities, we were able, starting from models of the structure, to design a head-to-tail cyclized peptide, the first synthesized bicyclic 14-residue long urotensin II analogue, showing a retention of in vitro activity. Although preliminary, our results strongly suggest that such an approach has strong potential for cyclic peptide-based drug design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasaman Karami
- Université
Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 8251,
INSERM ERL U1133, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Samuel Murail
- Université
Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 8251,
INSERM ERL U1133, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Julien Giribaldi
- Institut
des Biomolécules Max Mousseron, UMR 5247, Université de Montpellier-CNRS, 34293 Montpellier, France
| | - Benjamin Lefranc
- Université
de Rouen Normandie, INSERM U1239 NorDiC, Neuroendocrine, Endocrine and Germinal Differentiation and Communication,
INSERM US51 HeRacLeS, F-76000 Rouen, France
| | - Florian Defontaine
- Université
de Rouen Normandie, UR CBSA, Research Unit
Bacterial Communication and Anti-infectious Strategies, 27000 Evreux, France
| | - Olivier Lesouhaitier
- Université
de Rouen Normandie, UR CBSA, Research Unit
Bacterial Communication and Anti-infectious Strategies, 27000 Evreux, France
| | - Jérôme Leprince
- Université
de Rouen Normandie, INSERM U1239 NorDiC, Neuroendocrine, Endocrine and Germinal Differentiation and Communication,
INSERM US51 HeRacLeS, F-76000 Rouen, France
| | - Sjoerd de Vries
- Université
Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 8251,
INSERM ERL U1133, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Pierre Tufféry
- Université
Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 8251,
INSERM ERL U1133, 75013 Paris, France
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5
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Des3PI: a fragment-based approach to design cyclic peptides targeting protein-protein interactions. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2022; 36:605-621. [PMID: 35932404 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-022-00468-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) play crucial roles in many cellular processes and their deregulation often leads to cellular dysfunctions. One promising way to modulate PPIs is to use peptide derivatives that bind their protein target with high affinity and high specificity. Peptide modulators are often designed using secondary structure mimics. However, fragment-based design is an alternative emergent approach in the PPI field. Most of the reported computational fragment-based libraries targeting PPIs are composed of small molecules or already approved drugs, but, according to our knowledge, no amino acid based library has been reported yet. In this context, we developed a novel fragment-based approach called Des3PI (design of peptides targeting protein-protein interactions) with a library composed of natural amino acids. All the amino acids are docked into the target surface using Autodock Vina. The resulting binding modes are geometrically clustered, and, in each cluster, the most recurrent amino acids are identified and form the hotspots that will compose the designed peptide. This approach was applied on Ras and Mcl-1 proteins, as well as on A[Formula: see text] protofibril. For each target, at least five peptides generated by Des3PI were tested in silico: the peptides were first blindly docked on their target, and then, the stability of the successfully docked complexes was verified using 200 ns MD simulations. Des3PI shows very encouraging results by yielding at least 3 peptides for each protein target that succeeded in passing the two-step assessment.
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6
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Atkinson BC, Thomson AR. Structured cyclic peptide mimics by chemical ligation. Pept Sci (Hoboken) 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/pep2.24266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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7
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Delaunay M, Ha-Duong T. Computational Tools and Strategies to Develop Peptide-Based Inhibitors of Protein-Protein Interactions. METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (CLIFTON, N.J.) 2022; 2405:205-230. [PMID: 35298816 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1855-4_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Protein-protein interactions play crucial and subtle roles in many biological processes and modifications of their fine mechanisms generally result in severe diseases. Peptide derivatives are very promising therapeutic agents for modulating protein-protein associations with sizes and specificities between those of small compounds and antibodies. For the same reasons, rational design of peptide-based inhibitors naturally borrows and combines computational methods from both protein-ligand and protein-protein research fields. In this chapter, we aim to provide an overview of computational tools and approaches used for identifying and optimizing peptides that target protein-protein interfaces with high affinity and specificity. We hope that this review will help to implement appropriate in silico strategies for peptide-based drug design that builds on available information for the systems of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tâp Ha-Duong
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, BioCIS, Châtenay-Malabry, France.
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8
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Conde D, Garrido PF, Calvelo M, Piñeiro Á, Garcia-Fandino R. Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Transmembrane Cyclic Peptide Nanotubes Using Classical Force Fields, Hydrogen Mass Repartitioning, and Hydrogen Isotope Exchange Methods: A Critical Comparison. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23063158. [PMID: 35328578 PMCID: PMC8951607 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23063158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-assembled cyclic peptide nanotubes with alternating D- and L-amino acid residues in the sequence of each subunit have attracted a great deal of attention due to their potential for new nanotechnology and biomedical applications, mainly in the field of antimicrobial peptides. Molecular dynamics simulations can be used to characterize these systems with atomic resolution at different time scales, providing information that is difficult to obtain via wet lab experiments. However, the performance of classical force fields typically employed in the simulation of biomolecules has not yet been extensively tested with this kind of highly constrained peptide. Four different classical force fields (AMBER, CHARMM, OPLS, and GROMOS), using a nanotube formed by eight D,L-α-cyclic peptides inserted into a lipid bilayer as a model system, were employed here to fill this gap. Significant differences in the pseudo-cylindrical cavities formed by the nanotubes were observed, the most important being the diameter of the nanopores, the number and location of confined water molecules, and the density distribution of the solvent molecules. Furthermore, several modifications were performed on GROMOS54a7, aiming to explore acceleration strategies of the MD simulations. The hydrogen mass repartitioning (HMR) and hydrogen isotope exchange (HIE) methods were tested to slow down the fastest degrees of freedom. These approaches allowed a significant increase in the time step employed in the equation of the motion integration algorithm, from 2 fs up to 5–7 fs, with no serious changes in the structural and dynamical properties of the nanopores. Subtle differences with respect to the simulations with the unmodified force fields were observed in the concerted movements of the cyclic peptides, as well as in the lifetime of several H-bonds. All together, these results are expected to contribute to better understanding of the behavior of self-assembled cyclic peptide nanotubes, as well as to support the methods tested to speed up general MD simulations; additionally, they do provide a number of quantitative descriptors that are expected to be used as a reference to design new experiments intended to validate and complement computational studies of antimicrobial cyclic peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Conde
- Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials, Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (D.C.); (M.C.)
- Departamento de Física Aplicada, Facultade de Física, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain;
| | - Pablo F. Garrido
- Departamento de Física Aplicada, Facultade de Física, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain;
| | - Martín Calvelo
- Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials, Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (D.C.); (M.C.)
- Departament de Química Inorgánica i Orgànica and Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional (IQTCUB), Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ángel Piñeiro
- Departamento de Física Aplicada, Facultade de Física, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain;
- Correspondence: (Á.P.); (R.G.-F.)
| | - Rebeca Garcia-Fandino
- Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials, Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Campus Vida s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (D.C.); (M.C.)
- CIQUP, Centro de Investigação em Química, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, 4196-007 Porto, Portugal
- Correspondence: (Á.P.); (R.G.-F.)
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9
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Labiak R, Lavor C, Souza M. Distance geometry and protein loop modeling. J Comput Chem 2021; 43:349-358. [PMID: 34904248 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26796] [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] [Received: 08/22/2021] [Revised: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Due to the role of loops in protein function, loop modeling is an important problem in computational biology. We present a new approach to loop modeling based on a combinatorial version of distance geometry, where the search space of the associated problem is represented by a binary tree and a branch-and-prune method is defined to explore it, following an atomic ordering previously given. This ordering is used to calculate the coordinates of atoms from the positions of its predecessors. In addition to the theoretical development, computational results are presented to illustrate the advantage of the proposed method, compared with another approach of the literature. Our algorithm is freely available at https://github.com/michaelsouza/bpl.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Labiak
- Department of Mathematics, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Carlile Lavor
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Michael Souza
- Department of Applied Mathematics, Federal University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Brazil
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10
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Moritsugu K, Takeuchi K, Kamiya N, Higo J, Yasumatsu I, Fukunishi Y, Fukuda I. Flexibility and Cell Permeability of Cyclic Ras-Inhibitor Peptides Revealed by the Coupled Nosé-Hoover Equation. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:1921-1930. [PMID: 33835817 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c01427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Quantifying the cell permeability of cyclic peptides is crucial for their rational drug design. However, the reasons remain unclear why a minor chemical modification, such as the difference between Ras inhibitors cyclorasin 9A5 and 9A54, can substantially change a peptide's permeability. To address this question, we performed enhanced sampling simulations of these two 11-mer peptides using the coupled Nosé-Hoover equation (cNH) we recently developed. The present cNH simulations realized temperature fluctuations over a wide range (240-600 K) in a dynamic manner, allowing structural samplings that were well validated by nuclear Overhauser effect measurements. The derived structural ensembles were comprehensively analyzed by all-atom structural clustering, mapping the derived clusters onto principal components (PCs) that characterize the cyclic structure, and calculating cluster-dependent geometric and chemical properties. The planar-open conformation was dominant in aqueous solvent, owing to inclusion of the Trp side chain in the main-chain ring, while the compact-closed conformation, which favors cell permeation due to its compactness and high polarity, was also accessible. Conformation-dependent cell permeability was observed in one of the derived PCs, demonstrating that decreased cell permeability in 9A54 is due to the high free energy barrier separating the two conformations. The origin of the change in free energy surface was determined to be loss of flexibility in the modified residues 2-3, resulting from the increased bulkiness of their side chains. The derived molecular mechanism of cell permeability highlights the significance of complete structural dynamics surveys for accelerating drug development with cyclic peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kei Moritsugu
- Graduate School of Medical Life Science, Yokohama City University, 1-7-29 Suehirocho, Tsurumi, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan
| | - Koh Takeuchi
- Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 2-3-26 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan
| | - Narutoshi Kamiya
- Graduate School of Simulation Studies, University of Hyogo, 7-1-28 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan.,Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Junichi Higo
- Graduate School of Simulation Studies, University of Hyogo, 7-1-28 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan.,Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Isao Yasumatsu
- Structure-Based Drug Design Group, Organic Synthesis Department, Daiichi Sankyo RD Novare Co., Ltd., 1-2-58 Hiromachi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-8710, Japan
| | - Yoshifumi Fukunishi
- Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 2-3-26 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan
| | - Ikuo Fukuda
- Graduate School of Simulation Studies, University of Hyogo, 7-1-28 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan.,Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
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11
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Guardiola S, Varese M, Roig X, Sánchez-Navarro M, García J, Giralt E. Target-templated de novo design of macrocyclic d-/l-peptides: discovery of drug-like inhibitors of PD-1. Chem Sci 2021; 12:5164-5170. [PMID: 34163753 PMCID: PMC8179567 DOI: 10.1039/d1sc01031j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Peptides are a rapidly growing class of therapeutics with various advantages over traditional small molecules, especially for targeting difficult protein-protein interactions. However, current structure-based methods are largely limited to natural peptides and are not suitable for designing bioactive cyclic topologies that go beyond natural l-amino acids. Here, we report a generalizable framework that exploits the computational power of Rosetta, in terms of large-scale backbone sampling, side-chain composition and energy scoring, to design heterochiral cyclic peptides that bind to a protein surface of interest. To showcase the applicability of our approach, we developed two new inhibitors (PD-i3 and PD-i6) of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1), a key immune checkpoint in oncology. A comprehensive biophysical evaluation was performed to assess their binding to PD-1 as well as their blocking effect on the endogenous PD-1/PD-L1 interaction. Finally, NMR elucidation of their in-solution structures confirmed our de novo design approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salvador Guardiola
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology Baldiri Reixac 10 08028 Barcelona Spain
| | - Monica Varese
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology Baldiri Reixac 10 08028 Barcelona Spain
| | - Xavier Roig
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology Baldiri Reixac 10 08028 Barcelona Spain
| | | | - Jesús García
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology Baldiri Reixac 10 08028 Barcelona Spain
| | - Ernest Giralt
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology Baldiri Reixac 10 08028 Barcelona Spain
- Department of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry, University of Barcelona Spain
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12
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González-Muñiz R, Bonache MÁ, Pérez de Vega MJ. Modulating Protein-Protein Interactions by Cyclic and Macrocyclic Peptides. Prominent Strategies and Examples. Molecules 2021; 26:445. [PMID: 33467010 PMCID: PMC7830901 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26020445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2020] [Revised: 01/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Cyclic and macrocyclic peptides constitute advanced molecules for modulating protein-protein interactions (PPIs). Although still peptide derivatives, they are metabolically more stable than linear counterparts, and should have a lower degree of flexibility, with more defined secondary structure conformations that can be adapted to imitate protein interfaces. In this review, we analyze recent progress on the main methods to access cyclic/macrocyclic peptide derivatives, with emphasis in a few selected examples designed to interfere within PPIs. These types of peptides can be from natural origin, or prepared by biochemical or synthetic methodologies, and their design could be aided by computational approaches. Some advances to facilitate the permeability of these quite big molecules by conjugation with cell penetrating peptides, and the incorporation of β-amino acid and peptoid structures to improve metabolic stability, are also commented. It is predicted that this field of research could have an important future mission, running in parallel to the discovery of new, relevant PPIs involved in pathological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosario González-Muñiz
- Instituto de Química Médica (IQM-CSIC), Juan de la Cierva 3, 28006 Madrid, Spain; (M.Á.B.); (M.J.P.d.V.)
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13
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Cipcigan F, Smith P, Crain J, Hogner A, De Maria L, Llinas A, Ratkova E. Membrane Permeability in Cyclic Peptides is Modulated by Core Conformations. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 61:263-269. [PMID: 33350828 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Cyclic peptides have the potential to bind to challenging targets, which are undruggable with small molecules, but their application is limited by low membrane permeability. Here, using a series of cyclic pentapeptides, we showed that established physicochemical criteria of permeable peptides are heavily violated. We revealed that a dominant core conformation, stabilized by amides' shielding pattern, could guide the design of novel compounds. As a result, counter-intuitive strategies, such as incorporation of polar residues, can be beneficial for permeability. We further find that core globularity is a promising descriptor, which can extend the capability of standard predictive models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flaviu Cipcigan
- IBM Research Europe, The Hartree Centre STFC Laboratory, Sci-Tech Daresbury, Warrington WA4 4AD, U.K
| | - Paul Smith
- IBM Research Europe, The Hartree Centre STFC Laboratory, Sci-Tech Daresbury, Warrington WA4 4AD, U.K.,King's College London, London WC2R 2LS, U.K
| | - Jason Crain
- IBM Research Europe, The Hartree Centre STFC Laboratory, Sci-Tech Daresbury, Warrington WA4 4AD, U.K.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, U.K
| | - Anders Hogner
- Medicinal Chemistry, Research and Early Development, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM), BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg 43150, Sweden
| | - Leonardo De Maria
- Medicinal Chemistry, Research and Early Development, Respiratory and Immunology (RI), BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg 43150, Sweden
| | - Antonio Llinas
- Inhalation Product Development, Pharmaceutical Technology and Development, Operations, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg 43150, Sweden
| | - Ekaterina Ratkova
- Medicinal Chemistry, Research and Early Development, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM), BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg 43150, Sweden
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14
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Lindemann WR, Mijalis AJ, Alonso JL, Borbat PP, Freed JH, Arnaout MA, Pentelute BL, Ortony JH. Conformational Dynamics in Extended RGD-Containing Peptides. Biomacromolecules 2020; 21:2786-2794. [PMID: 32469507 PMCID: PMC7388056 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.0c00506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
RGD is a prolific example of a tripeptide used in biomaterials for cell adhesion, but the potency of free or surface-bound RGD tripeptide is orders-of-magnitude less than the RGD domain within natural proteins. We designed a set of peptides with varying lengths, composed of fragments of fibronectin protein whose central three residues are RGD, in order to vary their conformational behavior without changing the binding site's chemical environment. With these peptides, we measure the conformational dynamics and transient structure of the active site. Our studies reveal how flanking residues affect conformational behavior and integrin binding. We find that disorder of the binding site is important to the potency of RGD peptides and that transient hydrogen bonding near the RGD site affects both the energy landscape roughness of the peptides and peptide binding. This phenomenon is independent of longer-range folding interactions and helps explain why short binding sequences, including RGD itself, do not fully replicate the integrin-targeting properties of extracellular matrix proteins. Our studies reinforce that peptide binding is a holistic event and fragments larger than those directly involved in binding should be considered in the design of peptide epitopes for functional biomaterials.
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Affiliation(s)
- William R Lindemann
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Alexander J Mijalis
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - José L Alonso
- Leukocyte Biology and Inflammation Program, Division of Nephrology and Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th Street, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, United States
- Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Peter P Borbat
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850, United States
| | - Jack H Freed
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850, United States
| | - M Amin Arnaout
- Leukocyte Biology and Inflammation Program, Division of Nephrology and Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 149 13th Street, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, United States
- Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
| | - Bradley L Pentelute
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Julia H Ortony
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
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15
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Ono S, Naylor MR, Townsend CE, Okumura C, Okada O, Lokey RS. Conformation and Permeability: Cyclic Hexapeptide Diastereomers. J Chem Inf Model 2019; 59:2952-2963. [PMID: 31042375 PMCID: PMC7751304 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Conformational ensembles of eight cyclic hexapeptide diastereomers in explicit cyclohexane, chloroform, and water were analyzed by multicanonical molecular dynamics (McMD) simulations. Free-energy landscapes (FELs) for each compound and solvent were obtained from the molecular shapes and principal component analysis at T = 300 K; detailed analysis of the conformational ensembles and flexibility of the FELs revealed that permeable compounds have different structural profiles even for a single stereoisomeric change. The average solvent-accessible surface area (SASA) in cyclohexane showed excellent correlation with the cell permeability, whereas this correlation was weaker in chloroform. The average SASA in water correlated with the aqueous solubility. The average polar surface area did not correlate with cell permeability in these solvents. A possible strategy for designing permeable cyclic peptides from FELs obtained from McMD simulations is proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satoshi Ono
- Modality Laboratories, Innovative Research Division,
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, 1000, Kamoshida-cho, Aoba-ku, Yokohama,
Kanagawa 227-0033, Japan
| | - Matthew R. Naylor
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United
States
| | - Chad E. Townsend
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United
States
| | - Chieko Okumura
- Modality Laboratories, Innovative Research Division,
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, 1000, Kamoshida-cho, Aoba-ku, Yokohama,
Kanagawa 227-0033, Japan
| | - Okimasa Okada
- Modality Laboratories, Innovative Research Division,
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, 1000, Kamoshida-cho, Aoba-ku, Yokohama,
Kanagawa 227-0033, Japan
| | - R. Scott Lokey
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United
States
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16
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Ugur I, Schroft M, Marion A, Glaser M, Antes I. Predicting the bioactive conformations of macrocycles: a molecular dynamics-based docking procedure with DynaDock. J Mol Model 2019; 25:197. [PMID: 31222506 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-019-4077-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2018] [Accepted: 05/28/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Macrocyclic compounds are of growing interest as a new class of therapeutics, especially as inhibitors binding to protein-protein interfaces. As molecular modeling is a well-established complimentary tool in modern drug design, the number of attempts to develop reliable docking strategies and algorithms to accurately predict the binding mode of macrocycles is rising continuously. Standard molecular docking approaches need to be adapted to this application, as a comprehensive yet efficient sampling of all ring conformations of the macrocycle is necessary. To overcome this issue, we designed a molecular dynamics-based docking protocol for macrocycles, in which the challenging sampling step is addressed by conventional molecular dynamics (750 ns) simulations performed at moderately high temperature (370 K). Consecutive flexible docking with the DynaDock approach based on multiple, pre-sampled ring conformations yields highly accurate poses with ligand RMSD values lower than 1.8 Å. We further investigated the value of molecular dynamics-based complex stability estimations for pose selection and discuss its applicability in combination with standard binding free energy estimations for assessing the quality of poses in future blind docking studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilke Ugur
- Center for Integrated Protein Science at the Department for Biosciences, Technische Universität München, Emil-Erlenmeyer-Forum 8, 85354, Freising, Germany
- Department of Chemistry, Middle East Technical University, 06800, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Maja Schroft
- Center for Integrated Protein Science at the Department for Biosciences, Technische Universität München, Emil-Erlenmeyer-Forum 8, 85354, Freising, Germany
| | - Antoine Marion
- Center for Integrated Protein Science at the Department for Biosciences, Technische Universität München, Emil-Erlenmeyer-Forum 8, 85354, Freising, Germany
- Department of Chemistry, Middle East Technical University, 06800, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Manuel Glaser
- Center for Integrated Protein Science at the Department for Biosciences, Technische Universität München, Emil-Erlenmeyer-Forum 8, 85354, Freising, Germany
| | - Iris Antes
- Center for Integrated Protein Science at the Department for Biosciences, Technische Universität München, Emil-Erlenmeyer-Forum 8, 85354, Freising, Germany.
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17
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Jusot M, Stratmann D, Vaisset M, Chomilier J, Cortés J. Exhaustive Exploration of the Conformational Landscape of Small Cyclic Peptides Using a Robotics Approach. J Chem Inf Model 2018; 58:2355-2368. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.8b00375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maud Jusot
- Sorbonne Université, MNHN, CNRS, IRD, Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, IMPMC, 75005 Paris, France
- LAAS-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - Dirk Stratmann
- Sorbonne Université, MNHN, CNRS, IRD, Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, IMPMC, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Marc Vaisset
- LAAS-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - Jacques Chomilier
- Sorbonne Université, MNHN, CNRS, IRD, Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, IMPMC, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Juan Cortés
- LAAS-CNRS, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, 31400 Toulouse, France
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18
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Slough DP, McHugh SM, Lin YS. Understanding and designing head-to-tail cyclic peptides. Biopolymers 2018; 109:e23113. [PMID: 29528114 PMCID: PMC6135719 DOI: 10.1002/bip.23113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2017] [Revised: 02/23/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Cyclic peptides (CPs) are an exciting class of molecules with a variety of applications. However, design strategies for CP therapeutics, for example, are generally limited by a poor understanding of their sequence-structure relationships. This knowledge gap often leads to a trial-and-error approach for designing CPs for a specific purpose, which is both costly and time-consuming. Herein, we describe the current experimental and computational efforts in understanding and designing head-to-tail CPs along with their respective challenges. In addition, we provide several future directions in the field of computational CP design to improve its accuracy, efficiency and applicability. These advances, combined with experimental techniques, shall ultimately provide a better understanding of these interesting molecules and a reliable working platform to rationally design CPs with desired characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Yu-Shan Lin
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, 02155, United States
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19
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Ge Y, Voelz VA. Model Selection Using BICePs: A Bayesian Approach for Force Field Validation and Parameterization. J Phys Chem B 2018. [PMID: 29518328 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b11871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The Bayesian Inference of Conformational Populations (BICePs) algorithm reconciles theoretical predictions of conformational state populations with sparse and/or noisy experimental measurements. Among its key advantages is its ability to perform objective model selection through a quantity we call the BICePs score, which reflects the integrated posterior evidence in favor of a given model, computed through free energy estimation methods. Here, we explore how the BICePs score can be used for force field validation and parametrization. Using a 2D lattice protein as a toy model, we demonstrate that BICePs is able to select the correct value of an interaction energy parameter given ensemble-averaged experimental distance measurements. We show that if conformational states are sufficiently fine-grained, the results are robust to experimental noise and measurement sparsity. Using these insights, we apply BICePs to perform force field evaluations for all-atom simulations of designed β-hairpin peptides against experimental NMR chemical shift measurements. These tests suggest that BICePs scores can be used for model selection in the context of all-atom simulations. We expect this approach to be particularly useful for the computational foldamer design as a tool for improving general-purpose force fields given sparse experimental measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunhui Ge
- Department of Chemistry , Temple University , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 19122 , United States
| | - Vincent A Voelz
- Department of Chemistry , Temple University , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 19122 , United States
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20
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Strategies for transitioning macrocyclic peptides to cell-permeable drug leads. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2017; 48:242-250. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2017.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2017] [Revised: 07/17/2017] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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