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Róg T, Girych M, Bunker A. Mechanistic Understanding from Molecular Dynamics in Pharmaceutical Research 2: Lipid Membrane in Drug Design. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2021; 14:1062. [PMID: 34681286 PMCID: PMC8537670 DOI: 10.3390/ph14101062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We review the use of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation as a drug design tool in the context of the role that the lipid membrane can play in drug action, i.e., the interaction between candidate drug molecules and lipid membranes. In the standard "lock and key" paradigm, only the interaction between the drug and a specific active site of a specific protein is considered; the environment in which the drug acts is, from a biophysical perspective, far more complex than this. The possible mechanisms though which a drug can be designed to tinker with physiological processes are significantly broader than merely fitting to a single active site of a single protein. In this paper, we focus on the role of the lipid membrane, arguably the most important element outside the proteins themselves, as a case study. We discuss work that has been carried out, using MD simulation, concerning the transfection of drugs through membranes that act as biological barriers in the path of the drugs, the behavior of drug molecules within membranes, how their collective behavior can affect the structure and properties of the membrane and, finally, the role lipid membranes, to which the vast majority of drug target proteins are associated, can play in mediating the interaction between drug and target protein. This review paper is the second in a two-part series covering MD simulation as a tool in pharmaceutical research; both are designed as pedagogical review papers aimed at both pharmaceutical scientists interested in exploring how the tool of MD simulation can be applied to their research and computational scientists interested in exploring the possibility of a pharmaceutical context for their research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomasz Róg
- Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland;
| | - Mykhailo Girych
- Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland;
| | - Alex Bunker
- Drug Research Program, Division of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland;
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Heydari Dokoohaki M, Zolghadr AR, Klein A. Impact of the chemical structure on the distribution of neuroprotective N-alkyl-9H-carbazoles at octanol/water interfaces. NEW J CHEM 2020. [DOI: 10.1039/c9nj04251b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
All-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed on distribution and agglomeration dynamics of neuroprotective N-(3-anilinopropyl)-9H-carbazoles at octanol/water interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Axel Klein
- Department of Chemistry
- Shiraz University
- Shiraz
- Iran
- Department für Chemie
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Enkavi G, Javanainen M, Kulig W, Róg T, Vattulainen I. Multiscale Simulations of Biological Membranes: The Challenge To Understand Biological Phenomena in a Living Substance. Chem Rev 2019; 119:5607-5774. [PMID: 30859819 PMCID: PMC6727218 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 173] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
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Biological
membranes are tricky to investigate. They are complex
in terms of molecular composition and structure, functional
over a wide range of time scales, and characterized
by nonequilibrium conditions. Because of all of these
features, simulations are a great technique to study biomembrane
behavior. A significant part of the functional processes
in biological membranes takes place at the molecular
level; thus computer simulations are the method of
choice to explore how their properties emerge from specific
molecular features and how the interplay among the numerous
molecules gives rise to function over spatial and
time scales larger than the molecular ones. In this
review, we focus on this broad theme. We discuss the current
state-of-the-art of biomembrane simulations that, until
now, have largely focused on a rather narrow picture
of the complexity of the membranes. Given this, we
also discuss the challenges that we should unravel in the
foreseeable future. Numerous features such as the actin-cytoskeleton
network, the glycocalyx network, and nonequilibrium
transport under ATP-driven conditions have so far
received very little attention; however, the potential
of simulations to solve them would be exceptionally high. A
major milestone for this research would be that one day
we could say that computer simulations genuinely research
biological membranes, not just lipid bilayers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giray Enkavi
- Department of Physics , University of Helsinki , P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki , Finland
| | - Matti Javanainen
- Department of Physics , University of Helsinki , P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki , Finland.,Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences , Flemingovo naḿesti 542/2 , 16610 Prague , Czech Republic.,Computational Physics Laboratory , Tampere University , P.O. Box 692, FI-33014 Tampere , Finland
| | - Waldemar Kulig
- Department of Physics , University of Helsinki , P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki , Finland
| | - Tomasz Róg
- Department of Physics , University of Helsinki , P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki , Finland.,Computational Physics Laboratory , Tampere University , P.O. Box 692, FI-33014 Tampere , Finland
| | - Ilpo Vattulainen
- Department of Physics , University of Helsinki , P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki , Finland.,Computational Physics Laboratory , Tampere University , P.O. Box 692, FI-33014 Tampere , Finland.,MEMPHYS-Center for Biomembrane Physics
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