1
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Gough NR, Kalodimos CG. Exploring the conformational landscape of protein kinases. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2024; 88:102890. [PMID: 39043011 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2024.102890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2024] [Revised: 06/30/2024] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/25/2024]
Abstract
Protein kinases are dynamic enzymes that display complex regulatory mechanisms. Although they possess a structurally conserved catalytic domain, significant conformational dynamics are evident both within a single kinase and across different kinases in the kinome. Here, we highlight methods for exploring this conformational space and its dynamics using kinase domains from ABL1 (Abelson kinase), PKA (protein kinase A), AurA (Aurora A), and PYK2 (proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2) as examples. Such experimental approaches combined with AI-driven methods, such as AlphaFold, will yield discoveries about kinase regulation, the catalytic process, substrate specificity, the effect of disease-associated mutations, as well as new opportunities for structure-based drug design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nancy R Gough
- Department of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA. https://twitter.com/NancyRGough
| | - Charalampos G Kalodimos
- Department of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA.
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2
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Raisinghani N, Alshahrani M, Gupta G, Tian H, Xiao S, Tao P, Verkhivker GM. Integration of a Randomized Sequence Scanning Approach in AlphaFold2 and Local Frustration Profiling of Conformational States Enable Interpretable Atomistic Characterization of Conformational Ensembles and Detection of Hidden Allosteric States in the ABL1 Protein Kinase. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:5317-5336. [PMID: 38865109 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00222] [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: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
Despite the success of AlphaFold methods in predicting single protein structures, these methods showed intrinsic limitations in the characterization of multiple functional conformations of allosteric proteins. The recent NMR-based structural determination of the unbound ABL kinase in the active state and discovery of the inactive low-populated functional conformations that are unique for ABL kinase present an ideal challenge for the AlphaFold2 approaches. In the current study, we employ several adaptations of the AlphaFold2 methodology to predict protein conformational ensembles and allosteric states of the ABL kinase including randomized alanine sequence scanning combined with the multiple sequence alignment subsampling proposed in this study. We show that the proposed new AlphaFold2 adaptation combined with local frustration profiling of conformational states enables accurate prediction of the protein kinase structures and conformational ensembles, also offering a robust approach for interpretable characterization of the AlphaFold2 predictions and detection of hidden allosteric states. We found that the large high frustration residue clusters are uniquely characteristic of the low-populated, fully inactive ABL form and can define energetically frustrated cracking sites of conformational transitions, presenting difficult targets for AlphaFold2. The results of this study uncovered previously unappreciated fundamental connections between local frustration profiles of the functional allosteric states and the ability of AlphaFold2 methods to predict protein structural ensembles of the active and inactive states. This study showed that integration of the randomized sequence scanning adaptation of AlphaFold2 with a robust landscape-based analysis allows for interpretable atomistic predictions and characterization of protein conformational ensembles, providing a physical basis for the successes and limitations of current AlphaFold2 methods in detecting functional allosteric states that play a significant role in protein kinase regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nishank Raisinghani
- Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, United States
| | - Mohammed Alshahrani
- Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, United States
| | - Grace Gupta
- Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, United States
| | - Hao Tian
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275, United States
| | - Sian Xiao
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275, United States
| | - Peng Tao
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275, United States
| | - Gennady M Verkhivker
- Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, United States
- Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chapman University School of Pharmacy, Irvine, California 92618, United States
- Department of Pharmacology, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
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3
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Raisinghani N, Alshahrani M, Gupta G, Tian H, Xiao S, Tao P, Verkhivker G. Prediction of Conformational Ensembles and Structural Effects of State-Switching Allosteric Mutants in the Protein Kinases Using Comparative Analysis of AlphaFold2 Adaptations with Sequence Masking and Shallow Subsampling. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.17.594786. [PMID: 38798650 PMCID: PMC11118581 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.17.594786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Despite the success of AlphaFold2 approaches in predicting single protein structures, these methods showed intrinsic limitations in predicting multiple functional conformations of allosteric proteins and have been challenged to accurately capture of the effects of single point mutations that induced significant structural changes. We systematically examined several implementations of AlphaFold2 methods to predict conformational ensembles for state-switching mutants of the ABL kinase. The results revealed that a combination of randomized alanine sequence masking with shallow multiple sequence alignment subsampling can significantly expand the conformational diversity of the predicted structural ensembles and capture shifts in populations of the active and inactive ABL states. Consistent with the NMR experiments, the predicted conformational ensembles for M309L/L320I and M309L/H415P ABL mutants that perturb the regulatory spine networks featured the increased population of the fully closed inactive state. On the other hand, the predicted conformational ensembles for the G269E/M309L/T334I and M309L/L320I/T334I triple ABL mutants that share activating T334I gate-keeper substitution are dominated by the active ABL form. The proposed adaptation of AlphaFold can reproduce the experimentally observed mutation-induced redistributions in the relative populations of the active and inactive ABL states and capture the effects of regulatory mutations on allosteric structural rearrangements of the kinase domain. The ensemble-based network analysis complemented AlphaFold predictions by revealing allosteric mediating centers that often directly correspond to state-switching mutational sites or reside in their immediate local structural proximity, which may explain the global effect of regulatory mutations on structural changes between the ABL states. This study suggested that attention-based learning of long-range dependencies between sequence positions in homologous folds and deciphering patterns of allosteric interactions may further augment the predictive abilities of AlphaFold methods for modeling of alternative protein sates, conformational ensembles and mutation-induced structural transformations.
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4
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Delgado T, Veselá D, Dostálová H, Kryštof V, Vojáčková V, Jorda R, Castro A, Bertrand J, Rivera G, Faúndez M, Strnad M, Espinosa-Bustos C, Salas CO. New Inhibitors of Bcr-Abl Based on 2,6,9-Trisubstituted Purine Scaffold Elicit Cytotoxicity in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia-Derived Cell Lines Sensitive and Resistant to TKIs. Pharmaceutics 2024; 16:649. [PMID: 38794311 PMCID: PMC11125181 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16050649] [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: 04/08/2024] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Bcr-Abl is an oncoprotein with aberrant tyrosine kinase activity involved in the progression of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and has been targeted by inhibitors such as imatinib and nilotinib. However, despite their efficacy in the treatment of CML, a mechanism of resistance to these drugs associated with mutations in the kinase region has emerged. Therefore, in this work, we report the synthesis of 14 new 2,6,9-trisubstituted purines designed from our previous Bcr-Abl inhibitors. Here, we highlight 11b, which showed higher potency against Bcr-Abl (IC50 = 0.015 μM) than imatinib and nilotinib and exerted the most potent antiproliferative properties on three CML cells harboring the Bcr-Abl rearrangement (GI50 = 0.7-1.3 μM). In addition, these purines were able to inhibit the growth of KCL22 cell lines expressing Bcr-AblT315I, Bcr-AblE255K, and Bcr-AblY253H point mutants in micromolar concentrations. Imatinib and nilotinib were ineffective in inhibiting the growth of KCL22 cells expressing Bcr-AblT315I (GI50 > 20 μM) compared to 11b-f (GI50 = 6.4-11.5 μM). Molecular docking studies explained the structure-activity relationship of these purines in Bcr-AblWT and Bcr-AblT315I. Finally, cell cycle cytometry assays and immunodetection showed that 11b arrested the cells in G1 phase, and that 11b downregulated the protein levels downstream of Bcr-Abl in these cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thalia Delgado
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Química y de Farmacia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile 702843, Chile; (T.D.); (J.B.)
| | - Denisa Veselá
- Department of Experimental Biology, Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic; (D.V.); (H.D.); (V.V.); (R.J.)
| | - Hana Dostálová
- Department of Experimental Biology, Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic; (D.V.); (H.D.); (V.V.); (R.J.)
| | - Vladimír Kryštof
- Department of Experimental Biology, Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic; (D.V.); (H.D.); (V.V.); (R.J.)
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Hněvotínská 5, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Veronika Vojáčková
- Department of Experimental Biology, Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic; (D.V.); (H.D.); (V.V.); (R.J.)
| | - Radek Jorda
- Department of Experimental Biology, Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic; (D.V.); (H.D.); (V.V.); (R.J.)
| | - Alejandro Castro
- Laboratorio de Bioproductos Farmacéuticos y Cosméticos, Centro de Excelencia en Medicina Traslacional, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Frontera, Av. Francisco Salazar 01145, Temuco 4780000, Chile;
| | - Jeanluc Bertrand
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Química y de Farmacia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile 702843, Chile; (T.D.); (J.B.)
| | - Gildardo Rivera
- Laboratorio de Biotecnología Farmacéutica, Centro de Biotecnología Genómica, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Boulevard del Maestro s/n, Reynosa 88710, Mexico;
| | - Mario Faúndez
- Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Química y de Farmacia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile 702843, Chile; (M.F.); (C.E.-B.)
| | - Miroslav Strnad
- Laboratory of Growth Regulators, Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences & Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic;
| | - Christian Espinosa-Bustos
- Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Química y de Farmacia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile 702843, Chile; (M.F.); (C.E.-B.)
| | - Cristian O. Salas
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Química y de Farmacia, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile 702843, Chile; (T.D.); (J.B.)
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5
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Vani BP, Aranganathan A, Tiwary P. Exploring Kinase Asp-Phe-Gly (DFG) Loop Conformational Stability with AlphaFold2-RAVE. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:2789-2797. [PMID: 37981824 PMCID: PMC11001530 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
Kinases compose one of the largest fractions of the human proteome, and their misfunction is implicated in many diseases, in particular, cancers. The ubiquitousness and structural similarities of kinases make specific and effective drug design difficult. In particular, conformational variability due to the evolutionarily conserved Asp-Phe-Gly (DFG) motif adopting in and out conformations and the relative stabilities thereof are key in structure-based drug design for ATP competitive drugs. These relative conformational stabilities are extremely sensitive to small changes in sequence and provide an important problem for sampling method development. Since the invention of AlphaFold2, the world of structure-based drug design has noticeably changed. In spite of it being limited to crystal-like structure prediction, several methods have also leveraged its underlying architecture to improve dynamics and enhanced sampling of conformational ensembles, including AlphaFold2-RAVE. Here, we extend AlphaFold2-RAVE and apply it to a set of kinases: the wild type DDR1 sequence and three mutants with single point mutations that are known to behave drastically differently. We show that AlphaFold2-RAVE is able to efficiently recover the changes in relative stability using transferable learned order parameters and potentials, thereby supplementing AlphaFold2 as a tool for exploration of Boltzmann-weighted protein conformations (Meller, A.; Bhakat, S.; Solieva, S.; Bowman, G. R. Accelerating Cryptic Pocket Discovery Using AlphaFold. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2023, 19, 4355-4363).
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Affiliation(s)
- Bodhi P. Vani
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Akashnathan Aranganathan
- Biophysics Program and Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA
| | - Pratyush Tiwary
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA
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6
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Mahapatra S, Jonniya NA, Koirala S, Kar P. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal phosphorylation-induced conformational dynamics of the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 kinase. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024; 42:2929-2941. [PMID: 37160693 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2209189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor1 (FGFR1) kinase wields exquisite control on cell fate, proliferation, differentiation, and homeostasis. An imbalance of FGFR1 signaling leads to several pathogeneses of diseases ranging from multiple cancers to allergic and neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we investigated the phosphorylation-induced conformational dynamics of FGFR1 in apo and ATP-bound states via all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. All simulations were performed for 2 × 2 µs. We have also investigated the energetics of the binding of ATP to FGFR1 using the molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann scheme. Our study reveals that the FGFR1 kinase can reach a fully active configuration through phosphorylation and ATP binding. A 3-10 helix formation in the activation loop signifies its rearrangement leading to stability upon ATP binding. The interaction of phosphorylated tyrosine (pTyr654) with positively charged residues forms strong salt-bridge interactions, driving the compactness of the structure. The dynamic cross-correlation map reveals phosphorylation enhances correlated motions and reduces anti-correlated motions between different domains. We believe that the mechanistic understanding of large-conformational changes upon the activation of the FGFR1 kinase will aid the development of novel targeted therapeutics.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Subhasmita Mahapatra
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Nisha Amarnath Jonniya
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Suman Koirala
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Parimal Kar
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
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7
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Raisinghani N, Alshahrani M, Gupta G, Tian H, Xiao S, Tao P, Verkhivker G. Interpretable Atomistic Prediction and Functional Analysis of Conformational Ensembles and Allosteric States in Protein Kinases Using AlphaFold2 Adaptation with Randomized Sequence Scanning and Local Frustration Profiling. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.15.580591. [PMID: 38496487 PMCID: PMC10942451 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.15.580591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
The groundbreaking achievements of AlphaFold2 (AF2) approaches in protein structure modeling marked a transformative era in structural biology. Despite the success of AF2 tools in predicting single protein structures, these methods showed intrinsic limitations in predicting multiple functional conformations of allosteric proteins and fold-switching systems. The recent NMR-based structural determination of the unbound ABL kinase in the active state and two inactive low-populated functional conformations that are unique for ABL kinase presents an ideal challenge for AF2 approaches. In the current study we employ several implementations of AF2 methods to predict protein conformational ensembles and allosteric states of the ABL kinase including (a) multiple sequence alignments (MSA) subsampling approach; (b) SPEACH_AF approach in which alanine scanning is performed on generated MSAs; and (c) introduced in this study randomized full sequence mutational scanning for manipulation of sequence variations combined with the MSA subsampling. We show that the proposed AF2 adaptation combined with local frustration mapping of conformational states enable accurate prediction of the ABL active and intermediate structures and conformational ensembles, also offering a robust approach for interpretable characterization of the AF2 predictions and limitations in detecting hidden allosteric states. We found that the large high frustration residue clusters are uniquely characteristic of the low-populated, fully inactive ABL form and can define energetically frustrated cracking sites of conformational transitions, presenting difficult targets for AF2 methods. This study uncovered previously unappreciated, fundamental connections between distinct patterns of local frustration in functional kinase states and AF2 successes/limitations in detecting low-populated frustrated conformations, providing a better understanding of benefits and limitations of current AF2-based adaptations in modeling of conformational ensembles.
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8
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de Buhr S, Gräter F. Myristoyl's dual role in allosterically regulating and localizing Abl kinase. eLife 2023; 12:e85216. [PMID: 37843155 PMCID: PMC10619977 DOI: 10.7554/elife.85216] [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: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
c-Abl kinase, a key signaling hub in many biological processes ranging from cell development to proliferation, is tightly regulated by two inhibitory Src homology domains. An N-terminal myristoyl modification can bind to a hydrophobic pocket in the kinase C-lobe, which stabilizes the autoinhibitory assembly. Activation is triggered by myristoyl release. We used molecular dynamics simulations to show how both myristoyl and the Src homology domains are required to impose the full inhibitory effect on the kinase domain and reveal the allosteric transmission pathway at residue-level resolution. Importantly, we find myristoyl insertion into a membrane to thermodynamically compete with binding to c-Abl. Myristoyl thus not only localizes the protein to the cellular membrane, but membrane attachment at the same time enhances activation of c-Abl by stabilizing its preactivated state. Our data put forward a model in which lipidation tightly couples kinase localization and regulation, a scheme that currently appears to be unique for this non-receptor tyrosine kinase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Svenja de Buhr
- Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Heidelberg UniversityHeidelbergGermany
| | - Frauke Gräter
- Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Heidelberg UniversityHeidelbergGermany
- Institute for Scientific Computing (IWR), Heidelberg UniversityHeidelbergGermany
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9
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Vani BP, Aranganathan A, Tiwary P. Exploring kinase DFG loop conformational stability with AlphaFold2-RAVE. ARXIV 2023:arXiv:2309.03649v1. [PMID: 37731662 PMCID: PMC10508826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Kinases compose one of the largest fractions of the human proteome, and their misfunction is implicated in many diseases, in particular cancers. The ubiquitousness and structural similarities of kinases makes specific and effective drug design difficult. In particular, conformational variability due to the evolutionarily conserved DFG motif adopting in and out conformations and the relative stabilities thereof are key in structure-based drug design for ATP competitive drugs. These relative conformational stabilities are extremely sensitive to small changes in sequence, and provide an important problem for sampling method development. Since the invention of AlphaFold2, the world of structure-based drug design has noticably changed. In spite of it being limited to crystal-like structure prediction, several methods have also leveraged its underlying architecture to improve dynamics and enhanced sampling of conformational ensembles, including AlphaFold2-RAVE. Here, we extend AlphaFold2-RAVE and apply it to a set of kinases: the wild type DDR1 sequence and three mutants with single point mutations that are known to behave drastically differently. We show that AlphaFold2-RAVE is able to efficiently recover the changes in relative stability using transferable learnt order parameters and potentials, thereby supplementing AlphaFold2 as a tool for exploration of Boltzmann-weighted protein conformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bodhi P. Vani
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Akashnathan Aranganathan
- Biophysics Program and Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA
| | - Pratyush Tiwary
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA
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10
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Dutta P, Sengupta N. Efficient Interrogation of the Kinetic Barriers Demarcating Catalytic States of a Tyrosine Kinase with Optimal Physical Descriptors and Mixture Models. Chemphyschem 2023; 24:e202200595. [PMID: 36394126 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202200595] [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: 08/10/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Computer simulations are increasingly used to access thermo-kinetic information underlying structural transformation of protein kinases. Such information are necessary to probe their roles in disease progression and interactions with drug targets. However, the investigations are frequently challenged by forbiddingly high computational expense, and by the lack of standard protocols for the design of low dimensional physical descriptors that encode system features important for transitions. Here, we consider the demarcating characteristics of the different states of Abelson tyrosine kinase associated with distinct catalytic activity to construct a set of physically meaningful, orthogonal collective variables that preserve the slow modes of the system. Independent sampling of each metastable state is followed by the estimation of global partition function along the appropriate physical descriptors using the modified Expectation Maximized Molecular Dynamics method. The resultant free energy barriers are in excellent agreement with experimentally known rate-limiting dynamics and activation energy computed with conventional enhanced sampling methods. We discuss possible directions for further development and applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pallab Dutta
- Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, Mohanpur, 741246, India
| | - Neelanjana Sengupta
- Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, Mohanpur, 741246, India
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11
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Basu D, Pal R, Sarkar M, Barma S, Halder S, Roy H, Nandi S, Samadder A. To Investigate Growth Factor Receptor Targets and Generate Cancer Targeting Inhibitors. Curr Top Med Chem 2023; 23:2877-2972. [PMID: 38164722 DOI: 10.2174/0115680266261150231110053650] [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: 05/26/2023] [Revised: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) regulates multiple pathways, including Mitogenactivated protein kinases (MAPKs), PI3/AKT, JAK/STAT pathway, etc. which has a significant role in the progression and metastasis of tumor. As RTK activation regulates numerous essential bodily processes, including cell proliferation and division, RTK dysregulation has been identified in many types of cancers. Targeting RTK is a significant challenge in cancer due to the abnormal upregulation and downregulation of RTK receptors subfamily EGFR, FGFR, PDGFR, VEGFR, and HGFR in the progression of cancer, which is governed by multiple RTK receptor signalling pathways and impacts treatment response and disease progression. In this review, an extensive focus has been carried out on the normal and abnormal signalling pathways of EGFR, FGFR, PDGFR, VEGFR, and HGFR and their association with cancer initiation and progression. These are explored as potential therapeutic cancer targets and therefore, the inhibitors were evaluated alone and merged with additional therapies in clinical trials aimed at combating global cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debroop Basu
- Cell and Developmental Biology Special, Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, 741235, India
| | - Riya Pal
- Cell and Developmental Biology Special, Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, 741235, IndiaIndia
| | - Maitrayee Sarkar
- Cell and Developmental Biology Special, Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, 741235, India
| | - Soubhik Barma
- Cell and Developmental Biology Special, Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, 741235, India
| | - Sumit Halder
- Cell and Developmental Biology Special, Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, 741235, India
| | - Harekrishna Roy
- Nirmala College of Pharmacy, Vijayawada, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
| | - Sisir Nandi
- Global Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Affiliated to Uttarakhand Technical University), Kashipur, 244713, India
| | - Asmita Samadder
- Cell and Developmental Biology Special, Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, 741235, India
- Cytogenetics and Molecular Biology Lab., Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, 741235, India
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12
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Krishnan K, Tian H, Tao P, Verkhivker GM. Probing conformational landscapes and mechanisms of allosteric communication in the functional states of the ABL kinase domain using multiscale simulations and network-based mutational profiling of allosteric residue potentials. J Chem Phys 2022; 157:245101. [PMID: 36586979 PMCID: PMC11184971 DOI: 10.1063/5.0133826] [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: 11/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In the current study, multiscale simulation approaches and dynamic network methods are employed to examine the dynamic and energetic details of conformational landscapes and allosteric interactions in the ABL kinase domain that determine the kinase functions. Using a plethora of synergistic computational approaches, we elucidate how conformational transitions between the active and inactive ABL states can employ allosteric regulatory switches to modulate intramolecular communication networks between the ATP site, the substrate binding region, and the allosteric binding pocket. A perturbation-based network approach that implements mutational profiling of allosteric residue propensities and communications in the ABL states is proposed. Consistent with biophysical experiments, the results reveal functionally significant shifts of the allosteric interaction networks in which preferential communication paths between the ATP binding site and substrate regions in the active ABL state become suppressed in the closed inactive ABL form, which in turn features favorable allosteric coupling between the ATP site and the allosteric binding pocket. By integrating the results of atomistic simulations with dimensionality reduction methods and Markov state models, we analyze the mechanistic role of macrostates and characterize kinetic transitions between the ABL conformational states. Using network-based mutational scanning of allosteric residue propensities, this study provides a comprehensive computational analysis of long-range communications in the ABL kinase domain and identifies conserved regulatory hotspots that modulate kinase activity and allosteric crosstalk between the allosteric pocket, ATP binding site, and substrate binding regions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hao Tian
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75205, USA
| | - Peng Tao
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75205, USA
| | - Gennady M. Verkhivker
- Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: . Telephone: 714-516-4586. Fax: 714-532-6048
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13
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Zang Y, Wang H, Hao D, Kang Y, Zhang J, Li X, Zhang L, Yang Z, Zhang S. p38α Kinase Auto-Activation through Its Conformational Transition Induced by Tyr323 Phosphorylation. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:6639-6648. [PMID: 36394912 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
p38α is a key serine/threonine kinase that can enable atypical auto-activation through Zap70 phosphorylation and initiate T cell receptor signaling. The auto-activation plays an important role in autoimmune diseases. Although the classical activation mechanism of p38α has been studied in-depth, the atypical activation mechanism of Y323 phosphorylation-induced p38α auto-activation remains largely unexplained, especially the regulatory effects of phosphorylation on different sites (Y323 vs T180). From the X-ray experimental data, we identified the inactive and active states of p38α using principal component analysis. To understand the auto-activation process and the internal driving mechanism, a computational paradigm that couples the targeted molecular dynamics simulations, the String Method, and the umbrella sampling strategy were employed to generate the conformational landscape of p38α, including p38α T180-Y323, p38α T180-pY323, and p38α pT180-pY323 systems (pT180/pY323: phosphorylated T180/Y323). We explored that pY323 could change the conformational distribution and promote the conformational transition of p38α from the inactive state to the active state. Auto-activation of p38α is regulated by pY323 through destabilization of the hydrophobic core structure and aided by R173. This study will further explain the conformational transition of p38α induced by Y323 phosphorylation and provide insights into the universal molecular auto-activation mechanism of the p38 subfamily at the atomic level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongjian Zang
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an710049, China
| | - He Wang
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an710049, China
| | - Dongxiao Hao
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an710049, China
| | - Ying Kang
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an710049, China
| | - Jianwen Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an710049, China
| | - Xuhua Li
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an710049, China
| | - Lei Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an710049, China
| | - Zhiwei Yang
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an710049, China
| | - Shengli Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory for Nonequilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an710049, China
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14
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Sk MF, Kar P. Finding inhibitors and deciphering inhibitor-induced conformational plasticity in the Janus kinase via multiscale simulations. SAR AND QSAR IN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 33:833-859. [PMID: 36398489 DOI: 10.1080/1062936x.2022.2145352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The Janus kinase (JAK) is a master regulator of the JAK/STAT pathway. Dysregulation of this signalling cascade causes neuroinflammation and autoimmune disorders. Therefore, JAKs have been characterized as an attractive target for developing anti-inflammatory drugs. Nowadays, designing efficient, effective, and specific targeted therapeutics without being cytotoxic has gained interest. We performed the virtual screening of natural products in combination with pharmacological analyses. Subsequently, we performed molecular dynamics simulations to study the stability of the ligand-bound complexes and ligand-induced inactive conformations. Notably, inactive kinases display remarkable conformational plasticity; however, ligand-induced molecular mechanisms of these conformations are still poorly understood. Herein, we performed a free energy landscape analysis to explore the conformational plasticity of the JAK1 kinase. Leonurine, STOCK1N-68642, STOCK1N-82656, and STOCK1N-85809 bound JAK1 exhibited a smooth transition from an active (αC-in) to a completely inactive conformation (αC-out). Ligand binding induces disorders in the αC-helix. Molecular mechanics Poisson Boltzmann surface area (MM/PBSA) calculation suggested three phytochemicals, namely STOCK1N-68642, Epicatechin, and STOCK1N-98615, have higher binding affinity compared to other ligand molecules. The ligand-induced conformational plasticity revealed by our simulations differs significantly from the available crystal structures, which might help in designing allosteric drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- M F Sk
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, India
| | - P Kar
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, India
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15
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Veríssimo GC, Serafim MSM, Kronenberger T, Ferreira RS, Honorio KM, Maltarollo VG. Designing drugs when there is low data availability: one-shot learning and other approaches to face the issues of a long-term concern. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2022; 17:929-947. [PMID: 35983695 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2022.2114451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Modern drug discovery generally is accessed by useful information from previous large databases or uncovering novel data. The lack of biological and/or chemical data tends to slow the development of scientific research and innovation. Here, approaches that may help provide solutions to generate or obtain enough relevant data or improve/accelerate existing methods within the last five years were reviewed. AREAS COVERED One-shot learning (OSL) approaches, structural modeling, molecular docking, scoring function space (SFS), molecular dynamics (MD), and quantum mechanics (QM) may be used to amplify the amount of available data to drug design and discovery campaigns, presenting methods, their perspectives, and discussions to be employed in the near future. EXPERT OPINION Recent works have successfully used these techniques to solve a range of issues in the face of data scarcity, including complex problems such as the challenging scenario of drug design aimed at intrinsically disordered proteins and the evaluation of potential adverse effects in a clinical scenario. These examples show that it is possible to improve and kickstart research from scarce available data to design and discover new potential drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel C Veríssimo
- Departamento de Produtos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Mateus Sá M Serafim
- Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Thales Kronenberger
- Department of Medical Oncology and Pneumology, Internal Medicine VIII, University Hospital of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Rafaela S Ferreira
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Kathia M Honorio
- Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil.,Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André, Brazil
| | - Vinícius G Maltarollo
- Departamento de Produtos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
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16
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Shekhar M, Smith Z, Seeliger MA, Tiwary P. Protein Flexibility and Dissociation Pathway Differentiation Can Explain Onset of Resistance Mutations in Kinases. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2022; 61:e202200983. [PMID: 35486370 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202200983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Understanding how mutations render a drug ineffective is a problem of immense relevance. Often the mechanism through which mutations cause drug resistance can be explained purely through thermodynamics. However, the more perplexing situation is when two proteins have the same drug binding affinities but different residence times. In this work, we demonstrate how all-atom molecular dynamics simulations using recent developments grounded in statistical mechanics can provide a detailed mechanistic rationale for such variances. We discover dissociation mechanisms for the anti-cancer drug Imatinib (Gleevec) against wild-type and the N368S mutant of Abl kinase. We show how this point mutation triggers far-reaching changes in the protein's flexibility and leads to a different, much faster, drug dissociation pathway. We believe that this work marks an efficient and scalable approach to obtain mechanistic insight into resistance mutations in biomolecular receptors that are hard to explain using a structural perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mrinal Shekhar
- Center for Development of Therapeutics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Zachary Smith
- Biophysics Program and Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Markus A Seeliger
- Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8651, USA
| | - Pratyush Tiwary
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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17
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Allosteric Enhancement of the BCR-Abl1 Kinase Inhibition Activity of Nilotinib by Co-Binding of Asciminib. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102238. [PMID: 35809644 PMCID: PMC9386466 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Inhibitors that bind competitively to the ATP binding pocket in the kinase domain of the oncogenic fusion protein BCR–Abl1 are used successfully in targeted therapy of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Such inhibitors provided the first proof of concept that kinase inhibition can succeed in a clinical setting. However, emergence of drug resistance and dose-dependent toxicities limit the effectiveness of these drugs. Therefore, treatment with a combination of drugs without overlapping resistance mechanisms appears to be an appropriate strategy. In the present work, we explore the effectiveness of combination therapies of the recently developed allosteric inhibitor asciminib with the ATP-competitive inhibitors nilotinib and dasatinib in inhibiting the BCR–Abl1 kinase activity in CML cell lines. Through these experiments, we demonstrate that asciminib significantly enhances the inhibition activity of nilotinib, but not of dasatinib. Exploring molecular mechanisms for such allosteric enhancement via systematic computational investigation incorporating molecular dynamics, metadynamics simulations, and density functional theory calculations, we found two distinct contributions. First, binding of asciminib triggers conformational changes in the inactive state of the protein, thereby making the activation process less favorable by ∼4 kcal/mol. Second, the binding of asciminib decreases the binding free energies of nilotinib by ∼3 and ∼7 kcal/mol for the wildtype and T315I-mutated protein, respectively, suggesting the possibility of reducing nilotinib dosage and lowering risk of developing resistance in the treatment of CML.
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18
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Shekhar M, Smith Z, Seeliger M, Tiwary P. Protein Flexibility and Dissociation Pathway Differentiation Can Explain Onset Of Resistance Mutations in Kinases. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.202200983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mrinal Shekhar
- Broad Institute Center for Development of Therapeutics UNITED STATES
| | - Zachary Smith
- University of Maryland at College Park Institute for Physical Science and Technology UNITED STATES
| | - Markus Seeliger
- Stony Brook University Department of Pharmacological Sciences UNITED STATES
| | - Pratyush Tiwary
- university of maryland chemistry and biochemistry university of maryland 20740 college park UNITED STATES
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19
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Sk MF, Jonniya NA, Roy R, Kar P. Phosphorylation-Induced Conformational Dynamics and Inhibition of Janus Kinase 1 by Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling 1. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:3224-3239. [PMID: 35443129 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c10733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The dysfunction of the JAK/STAT (Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription) pathway results in several pathophysiological conditions, including autoimmune disorders. The negative feedback regulators of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway, suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS), act as a natural inhibitor of JAK and inhibit aberrant activity. SOCS1 is the most potent member of the SOCS family, whose kinase inhibitory region targets the substrate-binding groove of JAK with high affinity and blocks the phosphorylation of JAK kinases. Overall, we performed an aggregate of 13 μs molecular dynamics simulations on the activation loop's three different phosphorylation (double and single) states. Results from our simulations show that the single Tyr1034 phosphorylation could stabilize the JAK1/SOCS1 complex as well as the flexible activation segment. The phosphate-binding loop (P-loop) shows conformational variability at dual and single phosphorylated states. Principal component analysis and protein structure network (PSN) analysis reveal that the different phosphorylation states and SOCS1 binding induce intermediate inactive conformations of JAK1, which could be a better target for future JAK1 selective drug design. PSN analysis suggests that the com-pY1034 system is stabilized due to higher values of network hubs than the other two complex systems. Moreover, the binding free energy calculations suggest that pTyr1034 states show a higher affinity toward SOCS1 than the dual and pTyr1035 states. We believe that the mechanistic understanding of JAK1/SOCS1 complexation will aid future studies related to peptide inhibitors based on SOCS1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md Fulbabu Sk
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Khandwa Road, Indore 453552, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Nisha Amarnath Jonniya
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Khandwa Road, Indore 453552, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Rajarshi Roy
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Khandwa Road, Indore 453552, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Parimal Kar
- Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Khandwa Road, Indore 453552, Madhya Pradesh, India
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20
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Stafford KA, Anderson BM, Sorenson J, van den Bedem H. AtomNet PoseRanker: Enriching Ligand Pose Quality for Dynamic Proteins in Virtual High-Throughput Screens. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:1178-1189. [PMID: 35235748 PMCID: PMC8924924 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c01250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Structure-based, virtual High-Throughput Screening (vHTS) methods for predicting ligand activity in drug discovery are important when there are no or relatively few known compounds that interact with a therapeutic target of interest. State-of-the-art computational vHTS necessarily relies on effective methods for pose sampling and docking and generating an accurate affinity score from the docked poses. However, proteins are dynamic; in vivo ligands bind to a conformational ensemble. In silico docking to the single conformation represented by a crystal structure can adversely affect the pose quality. Here, we introduce AtomNet PoseRanker (ANPR), a graph convolutional network trained to identify and rerank crystal-like ligand poses from a sampled ensemble of protein conformations and ligand poses. In contrast to conventional vHTS methods that incorporate receptor flexibility, a deep learning approach can internalize valid cognate and noncognate binding modes corresponding to distinct receptor conformations, thereby learning to infer and account for receptor flexibility even on single conformations. ANPR significantly enriched pose quality in docking to cognate and noncognate receptors of the PDBbind v2019 data set. Improved pose rankings that better represent experimentally observed ligand binding modes improve hit rates in vHTS campaigns and thereby advance computational drug discovery, especially for novel therapeutic targets or novel binding sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate A Stafford
- Atomwise, Inc., 717 Market Street, Suite 800, San Francisco, California 94103, United States
| | - Brandon M Anderson
- Atomwise, Inc., 717 Market Street, Suite 800, San Francisco, California 94103, United States
| | - Jon Sorenson
- Atomwise, Inc., 717 Market Street, Suite 800, San Francisco, California 94103, United States
| | - Henry van den Bedem
- Atomwise, Inc., 717 Market Street, Suite 800, San Francisco, California 94103, United States.,Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, United States
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21
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Oruganti B, Friedman R. Activation of Abl1 Kinase Explored Using Well-Tempered Metadynamics Simulations on an Essential Dynamics Sampled Path. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:7260-7270. [PMID: 34647743 PMCID: PMC8582261 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Well-tempered metadynamics
(wT-metaD) simulations using path collective
variables (CVs) have been successfully applied in recent years to
explore conformational transitions in protein kinases and other biomolecular
systems. While this methodology has the advantage of describing the
transitions with a limited number of predefined path CVs, it requires
as an input a reference path connecting the initial and target states
of the system. It is desirable to automate the path generation using
approaches that do not rely on the choice of geometric CVs to describe
the transition of interest. To this end, we developed an approach
that couples essential dynamics sampling with wT-metaD simulations.
We used this newly developed procedure to explore the activation mechanism
of Abl1 kinase and compute the associated free energy barriers. Through
these simulations, we identified a three-step mechanism for the activation
that involved two metastable intermediates that possessed a partially
open activation loop and differed primarily in the “in”
or “out” conformation of the aspartate residue of the
DFG motif. One of these states is similar to a conformation that was
detected in previous spectroscopic studies of Abl1 kinase, albeit
its mechanistic role in the activation was hitherto not well understood.
The present study establishes its intermediary role in the activation
and predicts a rate-determining free energy barrier of 13.8 kcal/mol
that is in good agreement with previous experimental and computational
estimates. Overall, our study demonstrates the usability of essential
dynamics sampling as a path CV in wT-metaD to conveniently study conformational
transitions and accurately calculate the associated barriers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baswanth Oruganti
- Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnæus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Ran Friedman
- Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnæus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden
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22
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Progress in the development of small molecular inhibitors of the Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) as a promising cancer therapy. Bioorg Med Chem 2021; 47:116358. [PMID: 34479103 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2021.116358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Revised: 07/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a key kinase in the B cell antigen receptor signal transduction pathway, which is involved in the regulation of the proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of B cells. BTK has become a significant target for the treatment of hematological malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Ibrutinib, the first-generation BTK inhibitor, has made a great contribution to the treatment of B cell malignant tumors, but there are still some problems such as resistance or miss target of site mutation. Therefore, there is an imperative need to develop novel BTK inhibitors to overcome these problems. Besides, proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) technology has been successfully applied to the development of BTK degradation agents, which has opened a fresh way for the BTK targeted treatment. This paper reviews the biological function of BTK, the discovery and development of BTK targeted drugs as a promising cancer therapy. It mainly reviews the binding sites and structural characteristics of BTK, structure-activity relationships, activity and drug resistance of BTK inhibitors, as well as potential treatment strategies to overcome the resistance of BTK, which provides a reference for the rational design and development of new powerful BTK inhibitors.
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23
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Thomas T, Roux B. TYROSINE KINASES: COMPLEX MOLECULAR SYSTEMS CHALLENGING COMPUTATIONAL METHODOLOGIES. THE EUROPEAN PHYSICAL JOURNAL. B 2021; 94:203. [PMID: 36524055 PMCID: PMC9749240 DOI: 10.1140/epjb/s10051-021-00207-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based on atomic models play an increasingly important role in a wide range of applications in physics, biology, and chemistry. Nonetheless, generating genuine knowledge about biological systems using MD simulations remains challenging. Protein tyrosine kinases are important cellular signaling enzymes that regulate cell growth, proliferation, metabolism, differentiation, and migration. Due to the large conformational changes and long timescales involved in their function, these kinases present particularly challenging problems to modern computational and theoretical frameworks aimed at elucidating the dynamics of complex biomolecular systems. Markov state models have achieved limited success in tackling the broader conformational ensemble and biased methods are often employed to examine specific long timescale events. Recent advances in machine learning continue to push the limitations of current methodologies and provide notable improvements when integrated with the existing frameworks. A broad perspective is drawn from a critical review of recent studies.
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24
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Juárez-Jiménez J, Tew P, O Connor M, Llabrés S, Sage R, Glowacki D, Michel J. Combining Virtual Reality Visualization with Ensemble Molecular Dynamics to Study Complex Protein Conformational Changes. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:6344-6354. [PMID: 33180485 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are increasingly used to elucidate relationships between protein structure, dynamics, and their biological function. Currently, it is extremely challenging to perform MD simulations of large-scale structural rearrangements in proteins that occur on millisecond timescales or beyond, as this requires very significant computational resources, or the use of cumbersome "collective variable" enhanced sampling protocols. Here, we describe a framework that combines ensemble MD simulations and virtual reality visualization (eMD-VR) to enable users to interactively generate realistic descriptions of large amplitude, millisecond timescale protein conformational changes in proteins. Detailed tests demonstrate that eMD-VR substantially decreases the computational cost of folding simulations of a WW domain, without the need to define collective variables a priori. We further show that eMD-VR generated pathways can be combined with Markov state models to describe the thermodynamics and kinetics of large-scale loop motions in the enzyme cyclophilin A. Our results suggest eMD-VR is a powerful tool for exploring protein energy landscapes in bioengineering efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordi Juárez-Jiménez
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom
| | - Philip Tew
- Interactive Scientific, Engine Shed, Station Approach, Bristol BS1 6QH, United Kingdom
| | - Michael O Connor
- Intangible Realities Laboratory, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom.,Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, Merchant Venture's Building, Bristol BS8 1UB, United Kingdom.,Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom
| | - Salomé Llabrés
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom
| | - Rebecca Sage
- Interactive Scientific, Engine Shed, Station Approach, Bristol BS1 6QH, United Kingdom
| | - David Glowacki
- Intangible Realities Laboratory, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom.,Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, Merchant Venture's Building, Bristol BS8 1UB, United Kingdom.,Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, United Kingdom
| | - Julien Michel
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom
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25
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Kesely K, Noomuna P, Vieth M, Hipskind P, Haldar K, Pantaleo A, Turrini F, Low PS. Identification of tyrosine kinase inhibitors that halt Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0242372. [PMID: 33180822 PMCID: PMC7660480 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 10/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Although current malaria therapies inhibit pathways encoded in the parasite’s genome, we have looked for anti-malaria drugs that can target an erythrocyte component because development of drug resistance might be suppressed if the parasite cannot mutate the drug’s target. In search for such erythrocyte targets, we noted that human erythrocytes express tyrosine kinases, whereas the Plasmodium falciparum genome encodes no obvious tyrosine kinases. We therefore screened a library of tyrosine kinase inhibitors from Eli Lilly and Co. in a search for inhibitors with possible antimalarial activity. We report that although most tyrosine kinase inhibitors exerted no effect on parasite survival, a subset of tyrosine kinase inhibitors displayed potent anti-malarial activity. Moreover, all inhibitors found to block tyrosine phosphorylation of band 3 specifically suppressed P. falciparum survival at the parasite egress stage of its intra-erythrocyte life cycle. Conversely, tyrosine kinase inhibitors that failed to block band 3 tyrosine phosphorylation but still terminated the parasitemia were observed to halt parasite proliferation at other stages of the parasite’s life cycle. Taken together these results suggest that certain erythrocyte tyrosine kinases may be important to P. falciparum maturation and that inhibitors that block these kinases may contribute to novel therapies for P. falciparum malaria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina Kesely
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America.,Institute for Drug Discovery, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America
| | - Panae Noomuna
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America.,Institute for Drug Discovery, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America
| | - Michal Vieth
- Eli Lilly and Company, San Diego, CA, United States of America
| | - Philip Hipskind
- School of Medicine, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States of America.,Clinical Pharmacology R2 402 MDEP, Indianapolis, IN, United States of America
| | - Kasturi Haldar
- Galvin Life Science Center, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States of America
| | | | | | - Philip S Low
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America.,Institute for Drug Discovery, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America
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26
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Wu H, Huang H, Post CB. All-atom adaptively biased path optimization of Src kinase conformational inactivation: Switched electrostatic network in the concerted motion of αC helix and the activation loop. J Chem Phys 2020; 153:175101. [PMID: 33167630 DOI: 10.1063/5.0021603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
A method to optimize a conformational pathway through a space of well-chosen reduced variables is employed to advance our understanding of protein conformational equilibrium. The adaptively biased path optimization strategy utilizes unrestricted, enhanced sampling in the region of a path in the reduced-variable space to identify a broad path between two stable end-states. Application to the inactivation transition of the Src tyrosine kinase catalytic domain reveals new insight into this well studied conformational equilibrium. The mechanistic description gained from identifying the motions and structural features along the path includes details of the switched electrostatic network found to underpin the transition. The free energy barrier along the path results from rotation of a helix, αC, that is tightly correlated with motions in the activation loop (A-loop) as well as distal regions in the C-lobe. Path profiles of the reduced variables clearly demonstrate the strongly correlated motions. The exchange of electrostatic interactions among residues in the network is key to these interdependent motions. In addition, the increased resolution from an all-atom model in defining the path shows multiple components for the A-loop motion and that different parts of the A-loop contribute throughout the length of the path.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heng Wu
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Markey Center for Structural Biology, Purdue Center for Cancer Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - He Huang
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Markey Center for Structural Biology, Purdue Center for Cancer Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Carol Beth Post
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Markey Center for Structural Biology, Purdue Center for Cancer Research, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
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Paul F, Thomas T, Roux B. Diversity of Long-Lived Intermediates along the Binding Pathway of Imatinib to Abl Kinase Revealed by MD Simulations. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:7852-7865. [PMID: 33147951 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Imatinib, a drug used for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and other cancers, works by blocking the catalytic site of pathological constitutively active Abl kinase. While the binding pose is known from X-ray crystallography, the different steps leading to the formation of the complex are not well understood. The results from extensive molecular dynamics simulations show that imatinib can primarily exit the known crystallographic binding pose through the cleft of the binding site or by sliding under the αC helix. Once displaced from the crystallographic binding pose, imatinib becomes trapped in intermediate states. These intermediates are characterized by a high diversity of ligand orientations and conformations, and relaxation timescales within this region may exceed 3-4 ms. Analysis indicates that the metastable intermediate states should be spectroscopically indistinguishable from the crystallographic binding pose, in agreement with tryptophan stopped-flow fluorescence experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Paul
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Trayder Thomas
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
| | - Benoît Roux
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States
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28
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Xie T, Saleh T, Rossi P, Kalodimos CG. Conformational states dynamically populated by a kinase determine its function. Science 2020; 370:science.abc2754. [PMID: 33004676 DOI: 10.1126/science.abc2754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Protein kinases intrinsically sample a number of conformational states with distinct catalytic and binding activities. We used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to describe in atomic-level detail how Abl kinase interconverts between an active and two discrete inactive structures. Extensive differences in key structural elements between the conformational states give rise to multiple intrinsic regulatory mechanisms. The findings explain how oncogenic mutants can counteract inhibitory mechanisms to constitutively activate the kinase. Energetic dissection revealed the contributions of the activation loop, the Asp-Phe-Gly (DFG) motif, the regulatory spine, and the gatekeeper residue to kinase regulation. Characterization of the transient conformation to which the drug imatinib binds enabled the elucidation of drug-resistance mechanisms. Structural insight into inactive states highlights how they can be leveraged for the design of selective inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Xie
- Department of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Tamjeed Saleh
- Department of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Paolo Rossi
- Department of Structural Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA
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29
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Setny P. Conserved internal hydration motifs in protein kinases. Proteins 2020; 88:1578-1591. [DOI: 10.1002/prot.25977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2019] [Revised: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 07/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Piotr Setny
- Centre of New Technologies University of Warsaw Warsaw Poland
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30
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Serapian SA, Colombo G. Designing Molecular Spanners to Throw in the Protein Networks. Chemistry 2020; 26:4656-4670. [DOI: 10.1002/chem.201904523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2019] [Revised: 11/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Stefano A. Serapian
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of Pavia Via Taramelli 12 27100 Pavia Italy
| | - Giorgio Colombo
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of Pavia Via Taramelli 12, 27 100 Pavia Italy
- SCITEC-CNR Via Mario Bianco 9 20131 Milano Italy
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31
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Narayan B, Fathizadeh A, Templeton C, He P, Arasteh S, Elber R, Buchete NV, Levy RM. The transition between active and inactive conformations of Abl kinase studied by rock climbing and Milestoning. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2020; 1864:129508. [PMID: 31884066 PMCID: PMC7012767 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2019.129508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2019] [Revised: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Kinases are a family of enzymes that catalyze the transfer of the ɤ-phosphate group from ATP to a protein's residue. Malfunctioning kinases are involved in many health problems such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Kinases transitions between multiple conformations of inactive to active forms attracted considerable interest. METHOD A reaction coordinate is computed for the transition between the active to inactive conformation in Abl kinase with a focus on the DFG-in to DFG-out flip. The method of Rock Climbing is used to construct a path locally, which is subsequently optimized using a functional of the entire path. The discrete coordinate sets along the reaction path are used in a Milestoning calculation of the free energy landscape and the rate of the transition. RESULTS The estimated transition times are between a few milliseconds and seconds, consistent with simulations of the kinetics and with indirect experimental data. The activation requires the transient dissociation of the salt bridge between Lys271 and Glu286. The salt bridge reforms once the DFG motif is stabilized by a locked conformation of Phe382. About ten residues are identified that contribute significantly to the process and are included as part of the reaction space. CONCLUSIONS The transition from DFG-in to DFG-out in Abl kinase was simulated using atomic resolution of a fully solvated protein yielding detailed description of the kinetics and the mechanism of the DFG flip. The results are consistent with other computational methods that simulate the kinetics and with some indirect experimental measurements. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE The activation of kinases includes a conformational transition of the DFG motif that is important for enzyme activity but is not accessible to conventional Molecular Dynamics. We propose a detailed mechanism for the transition, at a timescale longer than conventional MD, using a combination of reaction path and Milestoning algorithms. The mechanism includes local structural adjustments near the binding site as well as collective interactions with more remote residues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brajesh Narayan
- School of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Arman Fathizadeh
- Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 201 E. 24(th) Street, 1 University Station (C0200), Austin, TX 78712-1229, USA
| | - Clark Templeton
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 200 E. Dean Keaton St. Stop C0400, Austin, TX 78712-1589, USA
| | - Peng He
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, 1801 N Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| | - Shima Arasteh
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, 1801 N Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
| | - Ron Elber
- Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 201 E. 24(th) Street, 1 University Station (C0200), Austin, TX 78712-1229, USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at Austin, 2506 Speedway STOP A5300, Austin, TX 78712-1224, USA.
| | | | - Ron M Levy
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, 1801 N Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA
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Paul F, Meng Y, Roux B. Identification of Druggable Kinase Target Conformations Using Markov Model Metastable States Analysis of apo-Abl. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:1896-1912. [PMID: 31999924 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.9b01158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Kinases are important targets for drug development. However, accounting for the impact of possible structural rearrangements on the binding of kinase inhibitors is complicated by the extensive flexibility of their catalytic domain. The dynamic N-lobe contains four particular mobile structural elements: the Asp-Phe-Gly (DFG) motif, the phosphate (P) positioning loop, the activation (A) loop, and the αC helix. In our previous study [Meng et al. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2018 14, 2721-2732], we combined various simulation techniques with Markov state modeling (MSM) to explore the free energy landscape of Abl kinase beyond conformations that are known from X-ray crystallography. Here we examine the resulting Markov model in greater detail by analyzing its metastable states. A characterization of the states in terms of their DFG state, P-loop, and αC conformations is presented and compared to existing classification schemes. Several metastable states are found to be structurally close to known crystal structures of different kinases in complex with a variety of inhibitors. These results suggest that the set of conformations accessible to tyrosine kinases may be shared within the entire family and that the conformational dynamics of one kinase in the absence of any ligand can provide meaningful information about possible target conformations for inhibitors of any member of the kinase family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Paul
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637-1454, United States
| | - Yilin Meng
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637-1454, United States
| | - Benoît Roux
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637-1454, United States
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33
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Gagic Z, Ruzic D, Djokovic N, Djikic T, Nikolic K. In silico Methods for Design of Kinase Inhibitors as Anticancer Drugs. Front Chem 2020; 7:873. [PMID: 31970149 PMCID: PMC6960140 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2019.00873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Rational drug design implies usage of molecular modeling techniques such as pharmacophore modeling, molecular dynamics, virtual screening, and molecular docking to explain the activity of biomolecules, define molecular determinants for interaction with the drug target, and design more efficient drug candidates. Kinases play an essential role in cell function and therefore are extensively studied targets in drug design and discovery. Kinase inhibitors are clinically very important and widely used antineoplastic drugs. In this review, computational methods used in rational drug design of kinase inhibitors are discussed and compared, considering some representative case studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zarko Gagic
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
| | - Dusan Ruzic
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Nemanja Djokovic
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Teodora Djikic
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Katarina Nikolic
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
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34
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Lakkaniga NR, Balasubramaniam M, Zhang S, Frett B, Li HY. Structural Characterization of the Aurora Kinase B "DFG-flip" Using Metadynamics. AAPS JOURNAL 2019; 22:14. [PMID: 31853739 DOI: 10.1208/s12248-019-0399-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Aurora kinase B (AKB), a Ser/Thr kinase that plays a crucial role in mitosis, is overexpressed in several cancers. Clinical inhibitors targeting AKB bind to the active DFG "in" conformation of the kinase. It would be beneficial, however, to understand if AKB is susceptible to type II kinase inhibitors that bind to the inactive, DFG "out" conformation, since type II inhibitors achieve higher kinome selectivity and higher potency in vivo. The DFG "out" conformation of AKB is not yet experimentally determined which makes the design of type II inhibitors exceedingly difficult. An alternate approach is to simulate the DFG "out" conformation from the experimentally determined DFG "in" conformation using atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. In this work, we employed metadynamics (MTD) approach to simulate the DFG "out" conformation of AKB by choosing the appropriate collective variables. We examined structural changes during the DFG-flip and determined the interactions crucial to stabilize the kinase in active and inactive states. Interestingly, the MTD approach also identified a unique transition state (DFG "up"), which can be targeted by small molecule inhibitors. Structural insights about these conformations is essential for structure-guided design of next-generation AKB inhibitors. This work also emphasizes the usefulness of MTD simulations in predicting macromolecular conformational changes at reduced computational costs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naga Rajiv Lakkaniga
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72205, USA
| | | | - Shuxing Zhang
- Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 77225, USA
| | - Brendan Frett
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72205, USA
| | - Hong-Yu Li
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72205, USA.
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35
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Todde G, Friedman R. Conformational modifications induced by internal tandem duplications on the FLT3 kinase and juxtamembrane domains. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:18467-18476. [PMID: 31342980 DOI: 10.1039/c9cp02938a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The aberrant expression of FLT3 tyrosine kinase is associated primarily with acute myeloid leukaemia. This blood malignancy is often related to the onset of internal tandem duplications (ITDs) in the native sequence of the protein. The ITDs occur mainly in the juxtamembrane domain of the protein and alter the normal activity of the enzyme. In this work, we have studied the native form of FLT3 and six mutants by molecular dynamics simulations. The catalytic activity of FLT3 is exerted by the tyrosine kinase domain (KD) and regulated by the juxtamembrane (JM) domain. Analysis of the dynamics of these two domains have shown that the introduction of ITDs in the JM domain alters both structural and dynamic parameters. The presence of ITDs allowed the protein to span a larger portion of the conformational space, particularly in the JM domain and the activation loop. The FLT3 mutants were found to adopt more stable configurations than the native enzyme. This was due to the different arrangements assumed by the JM domain. Larger fluctuations of the activation loop were found in four of the six mutants. In the native FLT3, the key residue Tyr572 is involved in a strong and stable interaction with an ion pair. This interaction, which is thought to keep the JM in place hence regulating the activity of the enzyme, was found to break in all FLT3 mutants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guido Todde
- Department of Chemistry ad Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnæus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden.
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New 2,6,9-trisubstituted purine derivatives as Bcr-Abl and Btk inhibitors and as promising agents against leukemia. Bioorg Chem 2019; 94:103361. [PMID: 31699386 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2019.103361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2019] [Accepted: 10/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Bcr-Abl and Btk kinases are among the targets that have been considered for the treatment of leukemia. Therefore, several strategies have focused on the use of inhibitors as chemotherapeutic tools to treat these types of leukemia, such as imatinib (for Bcr-Abl) or ibrutinib (for Btk). However, the efficacy of these drugs has been reduced due to resistance mechanisms, which have motivated the development of new and more effective compounds. In this study, we designed, synthesized and evaluated 2,6,9-trisubstituted purine derivatives as novel Bcr-Abl and Btk inhibitors. We identified 5c and 5d as potent inhibitors of both kinases (IC50 values of 40 nM and 0.58/0.66 μM for Abl and Btk, respectively). From docking and QSAR analyses, we concluded that fluorination of the arylpiperazine system is detrimental to the activity against two kinases, and we also validated our hypothesis that the substitution on the 6-phenylamino ring is important for the inhibition of both kinases. In addition, our studies indicated that most compounds could suppress the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cells (HL60, MV4-11, CEM, K562 and Ramos cells) at low micromolar concentrations in vitro. Finally, we preliminarily demonstrated that 5c inhibited the downstream signaling of both kinases in the respective cell models. Therefore, 5c or 5d possessed potency to be further optimized as anti-leukemia drugs by simultaneously inhibiting the Bcr-Abl and Btk kinases.
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37
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Tsai CC, Yue Z, Shen J. How Electrostatic Coupling Enables Conformational Plasticity in a Tyrosine Kinase. J Am Chem Soc 2019; 141:15092-15101. [PMID: 31476863 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b06064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Protein kinases are important cellular signaling molecules involved in cancer and a multitude of other diseases. It is well-known that inactive kinases display a remarkable conformational plasticity; however, the molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Conformational heterogeneity presents an opportunity but also a challenge in kinase drug discovery. The ability to predictively model various conformational states could accelerate selective inhibitor design. Here we performed a proton-coupled molecular dynamics study to explore the conformational landscape of a c-Src kinase. Starting from a completely inactive structure, the simulations captured all major types of conformational states without the use of a target structure, mutation, or bias. The simulations allowed us to test the experimental hypotheses regarding the mechanism of DFG flip, its coupling to the αC-helix movement, and the formation of regulatory spine. Perhaps the most significant finding is how key titratable residues, such as DFG-Asp, αC-Glu, and HRD-Asp, change protonation states dependent on the DFG, αC, and activation loop conformations. Our data offer direct evidence to support a long-standing hypothesis that protonation of Asp favors the DFG-out state and explain why DFG flip is also possible in simulations with deprotonated Asp. The simulations also revealed intermediate states, among which a unique DFG-out/α-C state formed as DFG-Asp is moved into a back pocket forming a salt bridge with catalytic Lys, which can be tested in selective inhibitor design. Our finding of how proton coupling enables the remarkable conformational plasticity may shift the paradigm of computational studies of kinases which assume fixed protonation states. Understanding proton-coupled conformational dynamics may hold a key to further innovation in kinase drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng-Chieh Tsai
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences , University of Maryland School of Pharmacy , Baltimore , Maryland 21201 , United States
| | - Zhi Yue
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences , University of Maryland School of Pharmacy , Baltimore , Maryland 21201 , United States
| | - Jana Shen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences , University of Maryland School of Pharmacy , Baltimore , Maryland 21201 , United States
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38
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Meletiou A, Gebbie-Rayet J, Laughton C. Tios: The Internet of Simulations. Turning Molecular Dynamics into a Data Streaming Web Application. J Chem Inf Model 2019; 59:3359-3364. [PMID: 31339723 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00351] [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] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The configuration of most current academic high-performance computing (HPC) resources tends to enforce ways of working with, and thinking about, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations that are not always optimal. For example, when the aim of the simulation(s) is to produce a representative sample of a Boltzmann weighted ensemble, the ideal scenario would be to be able to do just that-i.e. to tap into a running simulation of indefinite length, collect data from it in real time, and only terminate the simulation once the quality of a sample was assured. Current approaches, based on batch jobs of proscribed maximum length, and a postprocessing style of data analysis, inhibit this. In the spirit of the Internet of Things, we have developed Tios, a Python application that turns MD simulations into remotely discoverable and accessible streaming web applications to which researchers can connect and download data as they please. Tios is freely available, works with standard MD codes, and requires no modifications to them. In this paper we outline how Tios works and present a number of test cases that demonstrate its capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Athina Meletiou
- School of Pharmacy and Centre for Biomolecular Sciences , University of Nottingham , University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD , United Kingdom
| | - James Gebbie-Rayet
- Scientific Computing Department , STFC Daresbury Laboratory , Warrington WA4 4AD , United Kingdom
| | - Charles Laughton
- School of Pharmacy and Centre for Biomolecular Sciences , University of Nottingham , University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD , United Kingdom
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39
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Abstract
Classically, phenotype is what is observed, and genotype is the genetic makeup. Statistical studies aim to project phenotypic likelihoods of genotypic patterns. The traditional genotype-to-phenotype theory embraces the view that the encoded protein shape together with gene expression level largely determines the resulting phenotypic trait. Here, we point out that the molecular biology revolution at the turn of the century explained that the gene encodes not one but ensembles of conformations, which in turn spell all possible gene-associated phenotypes. The significance of a dynamic ensemble view is in understanding the linkage between genetic change and the gained observable physical or biochemical characteristics. Thus, despite the transformative shift in our understanding of the basis of protein structure and function, the literature still commonly relates to the classical genotype-phenotype paradigm. This is important because an ensemble view clarifies how even seemingly small genetic alterations can lead to pleiotropic traits in adaptive evolution and in disease, why cellular pathways can be modified in monogenic and polygenic traits, and how the environment may tweak protein function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Nussinov
- Cancer and Inflammation Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
- Sackler Institute of Molecular Medicine, Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Chung-Jung Tsai
- Cancer and Inflammation Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Cancer and Inflammation Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
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40
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McCoy MD, Shivakumar V, Nimmagadda S, Jafri MS, Madhavan S. SNP2SIM: a modular workflow for standardizing molecular simulation and functional analysis of protein variants. BMC Bioinformatics 2019; 20:171. [PMID: 30943891 PMCID: PMC6448223 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-019-2774-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Molecular simulations are used to provide insight into protein structure and dynamics, and have the potential to provide important context when predicting the impact of sequence variation on protein function. In addition to understanding molecular mechanisms and interactions on the atomic scale, translational applications of those approaches include drug screening, development of novel molecular therapies, and targeted treatment planning. Supporting the continued development of these applications, we have developed the SNP2SIM workflow that generates reproducible molecular dynamics and molecular docking simulations for downstream functional variant analysis. The Python workflow utilizes molecular dynamics software (NAMD (Phillips et al., J Comput Chem 26(16):1781-802, 2005), VMD (Humphrey et al., J Mol Graph 14(1):33-8, 27-8, 1996)) to generate variant specific scaffolds for simulated small molecule docking (AutoDock Vina (Trott and Olson, J Comput Chem 31(2):455-61, 2010)). Results SNP2SIM is composed of three independent modules that can be used sequentially to generate the variant scaffolds of missense protein variants from the wildtype protein structure. The workflow first generates the mutant structure and configuration files required to execute molecular dynamics simulations of solvated protein variant structures. The resulting trajectories are clustered based on the structural diversity of residues involved in ligand binding to produce one or more variant scaffolds of the protein structure. Finally, these unique structural conformations are bound to small molecule ligand libraries to predict variant induced changes to drug binding relative to the wildtype protein structure. Conclusions SNP2SIM provides a platform to apply molecular simulation based functional analysis of sequence variation in the protein targets of small molecule therapies. In addition to simplifying the simulation of variant specific drug interactions, the workflow enables large scale computational mutagenesis by controlling the parameterization of molecular simulations across multiple users or distributed computing infrastructures. This enables the parallelization of the computationally intensive molecular simulations to be aggregated for downstream functional analysis, and facilitates comparing various simulation options, such as the specific residues used to define structural variant clusters. The Python scripts that implement the SNP2SIM workflow are available (SNP2SIM Repository. https://github.com/mccoymd/SNP2SIM, Accessed 2019 February ), and individual SNP2SIM modules are available as apps on the Seven Bridges Cancer Genomics Cloud (Lau et al., Cancer Res 77(21):e3-e6, 2017; Cancer Genomics Cloud [www.cancergenomicscloud.org; Accessed 2018 November]).
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew D McCoy
- Innovation Center for Biomedical Informatics, Georgetown University Medical Center, 2115 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 110, Washington, D.C., 20007, USA.
| | - Vikram Shivakumar
- Innovation Center for Biomedical Informatics, Georgetown University Medical Center, 2115 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 110, Washington, D.C., 20007, USA
| | - Sridhar Nimmagadda
- Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University, 1550 Orleans St, #492, Cancer Research Building II, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA
| | - Mohsin Saleet Jafri
- School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, 4461 Rockfish Creek Lane, MS 2A1, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA
| | - Subha Madhavan
- Innovation Center for Biomedical Informatics, Georgetown University Medical Center, 2115 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 110, Washington, D.C., 20007, USA
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41
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Porter JR, Moeder KE, Sibbald CA, Zimmerman MI, Hart KM, Greenberg MJ, Bowman GR. Cooperative Changes in Solvent Exposure Identify Cryptic Pockets, Switches, and Allosteric Coupling. Biophys J 2019; 116:818-830. [PMID: 30744991 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2018.11.3144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Revised: 11/09/2018] [Accepted: 11/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Proteins are dynamic molecules that undergo conformational changes to a broad spectrum of different excited states. Unfortunately, the small populations of these states make it difficult to determine their structures or functional implications. Computer simulations are an increasingly powerful means to identify and characterize functionally relevant excited states. However, this advance has uncovered a further challenge: it can be extremely difficult to identify the most salient features of large simulation data sets. We reasoned that many functionally relevant conformational changes are likely to involve large, cooperative changes to the surfaces that are available to interact with potential binding partners. To examine this hypothesis, we introduce a method that returns a prioritized list of potentially functional conformational changes by segmenting protein structures into clusters of residues that undergo cooperative changes in their solvent exposure, along with the hierarchy of interactions between these groups. We term these groups exposons to distinguish them from other types of clusters that arise in this analysis and others. We demonstrate, using three different model systems, that this method identifies experimentally validated and functionally relevant conformational changes, including conformational switches, allosteric coupling, and cryptic pockets. Our results suggest that key functional sites are hubs in the network of exposons. As a further test of the predictive power of this approach, we apply it to discover cryptic allosteric sites in two different β-lactamase enzymes that are widespread sources of antibiotic resistance. Experimental tests confirm our predictions for both systems. Importantly, we provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, for a cryptic allosteric site in CTX-M-9 β-lactamase. Experimentally testing this prediction did not require any mutations and revealed that this site exerts the most potent allosteric control over activity of any pockets found in β-lactamases to date. Discovery of a similar pocket that was previously overlooked in the well-studied TEM-1 β-lactamase demonstrates the utility of exposons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin R Porter
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Katelyn E Moeder
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Carrie A Sibbald
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Maxwell I Zimmerman
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Kathryn M Hart
- Department of Chemistry, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts
| | - Michael J Greenberg
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Gregory R Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Biological Systems Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
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Georgoulia PS, Todde G, Bjelic S, Friedman R. The catalytic activity of Abl1 single and compound mutations: Implications for the mechanism of drug resistance mutations in chronic myeloid leukaemia. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2019; 1863:732-741. [PMID: 30684523 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2019.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2018] [Revised: 01/16/2019] [Accepted: 01/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Abl1 is a protein tyrosine kinase whose aberrant activation due to mutations is the culprit of several cancers, most notably chronic myeloid leukaemia. Several Abl1 inhibitors are used as anti-cancer drugs. Unfortunately, drug resistance limits their effectiveness. The main cause for drug resistance is mutations in the kinase domain (KD) of Abl1 that evolve in patients. The T315I mutation confers resistance against all clinically-available inhibitors except ponatinib. Resistance to ponatinib can develop by compound (double) mutations. METHODS Kinetic measurements of the KD of Abl1 and its mutants were carried out to examine their catalytic activity. Specifically, mutants that lead to drug resistance against ponatinib were considered. Molecular dynamics simulations and multiple sequence analysis were used for explanation of the experimental findings. RESULTS The catalytic efficiency of the T315I pan-resistance mutant is more than two times lower than that of the native KD. All ponatinib resistant mutations restore the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme. Two of them (G250E/T315I and Y253H/E255V) have a catalytic efficiency that is more than five times that of the native KD. CONCLUSIONS The measurements and analysis suggest that resistance is at least partially due to the development of a highly efficient kinase through subsequent mutations. The simulations highlight modifications in two structurally important regions of Abl1, the activation and phosphate binding loops, upon mutations. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE Experimental and computational methods were used together to explain how mutations in the kinase domain of Abl1 lead to resistance against the most advanced drug currently in use to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panagiota S Georgoulia
- Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnæus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden; Linnæus University Centre of Excellence "Biomaterials Chemistry", 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Guido Todde
- Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnæus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden; Linnæus University Centre of Excellence "Biomaterials Chemistry", 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden
| | - Sinisa Bjelic
- Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnæus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden.
| | - Ran Friedman
- Department of Chemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnæus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden; Linnæus University Centre of Excellence "Biomaterials Chemistry", 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden.
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Witek J, Wang S, Schroeder B, Lingwood R, Dounas A, Roth HJ, Fouché M, Blatter M, Lemke O, Keller B, Riniker S. Rationalization of the Membrane Permeability Differences in a Series of Analogue Cyclic Decapeptides. J Chem Inf Model 2018; 59:294-308. [PMID: 30457855 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.8b00485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Cyclization and selected backbone N-methylations are found to be often necessary but not sufficient conditions for peptidic drugs to have a good bioavailability. Thus, the design of cyclic peptides with good passive membrane permeability and good solubility remains a challenge. The backbone scaffold of a recently published series of cyclic decapeptides with six selected backbone N-methylations was designed to favor the adoption of a closed conformation with β-turns and four transannular hydrogen bonds. Although this conformation was indeed adopted by the peptides as determined by NMR measurements, substantial differences in the membrane permeability were observed. In this work, we aim to rationalize the impact of discrete side chain modifications on membrane permeability for six of these cyclic decapeptides. The thermodynamic and kinetic properties were investigated using molecular dynamics simulations and Markov state modeling in water and chloroform. The study highlights the influence that side-chain modifications can have on the backbone conformation. Peptides with a d-proline in the β-turns were more likely to adopt, even in water, the closed conformation with transannular hydrogen bonds, which facilitates transition through the membrane. The population of the closed conformation in water was found to correlate positively with PAMPA log Pe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jagna Witek
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry , ETH Zürich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2 , 8093 Zürich , Switzerland
| | - Shuzhe Wang
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry , ETH Zürich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2 , 8093 Zürich , Switzerland
| | - Benjamin Schroeder
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry , ETH Zürich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2 , 8093 Zürich , Switzerland
| | - Robin Lingwood
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry , ETH Zürich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2 , 8093 Zürich , Switzerland
| | - Andreas Dounas
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry , ETH Zürich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2 , 8093 Zürich , Switzerland
| | - Hans-Jörg Roth
- Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research , Novartis Pharma AG, Novartis Campus , 4056 Basel , Switzerland
| | - Marianne Fouché
- Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research , Novartis Pharma AG, Novartis Campus , 4056 Basel , Switzerland
| | - Markus Blatter
- Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research , Novartis Pharma AG, Novartis Campus , 4056 Basel , Switzerland
| | - Oliver Lemke
- Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy , Freie Universität Berlin , Takustrasse 3 , 14195 Berlin , Germany
| | - Bettina Keller
- Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy , Freie Universität Berlin , Takustrasse 3 , 14195 Berlin , Germany
| | - Sereina Riniker
- Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy , Freie Universität Berlin , Takustrasse 3 , 14195 Berlin , Germany
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Perricone U, Gulotta MR, Lombino J, Parrino B, Cascioferro S, Diana P, Cirrincione G, Padova A. An overview of recent molecular dynamics applications as medicinal chemistry tools for the undruggable site challenge. MEDCHEMCOMM 2018; 9:920-936. [PMID: 30108981 PMCID: PMC6072422 DOI: 10.1039/c8md00166a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Molecular dynamics (MD) has become increasingly popular due to the development of hardware and software solutions and the improvement in algorithms, which allowed researchers to scale up calculations in order to speed them up. MD simulations are usually used to address protein folding issues or protein-ligand complex stability through energy profile analysis over time. In recent years, the development of new tools able to deeply explore a potential energy surface (PES) has allowed researchers to focus on the dynamic nature of the binding recognition process and binding-induced protein conformational changes. Moreover, modern approaches have been demonstrated to be effective and reliable in calculating some kinetic and thermodynamic parameters behind the host-guest recognition process. Starting from all of these considerations, several efforts have been made in order to integrate MD within the virtual screening process in drug discovery. Knowledge retrieved from MD can, in fact, be exploited as a starting point to build pharmacophores or docking constraints in the early stage of the screening campaign as well as to define key features, in order to unravel hidden binding modes and help the optimisation of the molecular structure of a lead compound. Based on these outcomes, researchers are nowadays using MD as an invaluable tool to discover and target previously considered undruggable binding sites, including protein-protein interactions and allosteric sites on a protein surface. As a matter of fact, the use of MD has been recognised as vital to the discovery of selective protein-protein interaction modulators. The use of a dynamic overview on how the host-guest recognition occurs and of the relative conformational modifications induced allows researchers to optimise small molecules and small peptides capable of tightly interacting within the cleft between two proteins. In this review, we aim to present the most recent applications of MD as an integrated tool to be used in the rational design of small molecules or small peptides able to modulate undruggable targets, such as allosteric sites and protein-protein interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ugo Perricone
- Computational and Medicinal Chemistry Group , Fondazione Ri.MED , Via Bandiera 11 , 90133 Palermo , Italy .
| | - Maria Rita Gulotta
- Computational and Medicinal Chemistry Group , Fondazione Ri.MED , Via Bandiera 11 , 90133 Palermo , Italy .
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF) , Università degli Studi di Palermo , Via Archirafi 32 , 90123 Palermo , Italy
| | - Jessica Lombino
- Computational and Medicinal Chemistry Group , Fondazione Ri.MED , Via Bandiera 11 , 90133 Palermo , Italy .
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF) , Università degli Studi di Palermo , Via Archirafi 32 , 90123 Palermo , Italy
| | - Barbara Parrino
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF) , Università degli Studi di Palermo , Via Archirafi 32 , 90123 Palermo , Italy
| | - Stella Cascioferro
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF) , Università degli Studi di Palermo , Via Archirafi 32 , 90123 Palermo , Italy
| | - Patrizia Diana
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF) , Università degli Studi di Palermo , Via Archirafi 32 , 90123 Palermo , Italy
| | - Girolamo Cirrincione
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche Chimiche e Farmaceutiche (STEBICEF) , Università degli Studi di Palermo , Via Archirafi 32 , 90123 Palermo , Italy
| | - Alessandro Padova
- Computational and Medicinal Chemistry Group , Fondazione Ri.MED , Via Bandiera 11 , 90133 Palermo , Italy .
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