1
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Polycarpou G, Skourtis SS. Intra-strand phosphate-mediated pathways in microsolvated double-stranded DNA. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2024; 36:375301. [PMID: 38848732 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ad559d] [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: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
We argue that dry DNA charge transport in molecular junctions, over distances of tens of nanometers, can take place via independent intra-strand pathways involving the phosphate groups. Such pathways explain recent single-molecule experiments that compare currents in intact and nicked 100 base-pair double-stranded DNA. We explore the conditions that favor independent intra-strand transport channels with the participation of the phosphate groups, as opposed to purely base-mediated transport involving the pi-stacked bases and inter-strand transitions. Our computations demonstrate how long-distance transport pathways in DNA are tuned by the degree of solvation, which affects the level of dynamic disorder in the pi-stacking, and the energies of phosphate-group molecular orbitals.
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2
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Lee AJ, Rackers JA, Pathak S, Bricker WP. Building an ab initio solvated DNA model using Euclidean neural networks. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0297502. [PMID: 38358990 PMCID: PMC10868815 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297502] [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: 07/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Accurately modeling large biomolecules such as DNA from first principles is fundamentally challenging due to the steep computational scaling of ab initio quantum chemistry methods. This limitation becomes even more prominent when modeling biomolecules in solution due to the need to include large numbers of solvent molecules. We present a machine-learned electron density model based on a Euclidean neural network framework that includes a built-in understanding of equivariance to model explicitly solvated double-stranded DNA. By training the machine learning model using molecular fragments that sample the key DNA and solvent interactions, we show that the model predicts electron densities of arbitrary systems of solvated DNA accurately, resolves polarization effects that are neglected by classical force fields, and captures the physics of the DNA-solvent interaction at the ab initio level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex J. Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America
| | - Joshua A. Rackers
- Center for Computing Research, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America
| | - Shivesh Pathak
- Center for Computing Research, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America
| | - William P. Bricker
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America
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3
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Qin L, Yu Q, Huang Y, Zhang L, Yan X, Wu W, Liao F, Zhang J, Cui H, Zhang J, Fan H. A novel fluorescent sensor with an overtone peak reference for highly sensitive detection of mercury (II) ions and hydrogen sulfide: Mechanisms and applications in environmental monitoring and bioanalysis. Anal Chim Acta 2024; 1287:342086. [PMID: 38182341 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.342086] [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: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2024]
Abstract
The present study introduces a novel fluorescent sensor with an overtone peak reference designed for the detection of mercury (Ⅱ) ions (Hg2+) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The study proposes two novel response mechanisms that hinges on the synergistic effect of cation exchange dissociation (CED) and photo-induced electron transfer (PET). This sensor exhibits a remarkable detection limit of 2.9 nM for Hg2+. Additionally, the sensor reacts with H2S to generate nickel sulfide (NiS) semiconductor nanoparticles, which amplify the fluorescence signal and enable a detection limit of 3.1 nM for H2S. The detection limit for H2S is further improved to 29.1 pM through the surface functionalization of the nanomaterial with pyridine groups (increasing reactivity) and chelation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), which enhances the sensor's specificity. This improvement is primarily due to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of AuNPs and their affinity for H2S. The single-emission strategy can yield skewed results due to environmental changes, whereas the overtone peak reference strategy enhances result accuracy and reliability by detecting environmental interference through reference emission peaks. In another observation, the low-toxicity dihydropyrene-bipyridine nanorods (TPP-BPY) has been successfully utilized for both endogenous and exogenous H2S detection in vivo using a mouse model. The successful development of TPP-BPY is expected to provide an effective tool for studying the role of H2S in biomedical systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Longshua Qin
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China
| | - Qiangqiang Yu
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China
| | - Yong Huang
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China
| | - Leichang Zhang
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China
| | - Xinying Yan
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China
| | - Wenqi Wu
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China
| | - Fusheng Liao
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China
| | - Hanfeng Cui
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China.
| | - Jing Zhang
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China.
| | - Hao Fan
- Affiliated Hospital and College of Pharmacy, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China.
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4
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Bekker GJ, Fukunishi Y, Higo J, Kamiya N. Binding Mechanism of Riboswitch to Natural Ligand Elucidated by McMD-Based Dynamic Docking Simulations. ACS OMEGA 2024; 9:3412-3422. [PMID: 38284074 PMCID: PMC10809319 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c06826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Flavin mononucleotide riboswitches are common among many pathogenic bacteria and are therefore considered to be an attractive target for antibiotics development. The riboswitch binds riboflavin (RBF, also known as vitamin B2), and although an experimental structure of their complex has been solved with the ligand bound deep inside the RNA molecule in a seemingly unreachable state, the binding mechanism between these molecules is not yet known. We have therefore used our Multicanonical Molecular Dynamics (McMD)-based dynamic docking protocol to analyze their binding mechanism by simulating the binding process between the riboswitch aptamer domain and the RBF, starting from the apo state of the riboswitch. Here, the refinement stage was crucial to identify the native binding configuration, as several other binding configurations were also found by McMD-based docking simulations. RBF initially binds the interface between P4 and P6 including U61 and G62, which forms a gateway where the ligand lingers until this gateway opens sufficiently to allow the ligand to pass through and slip into the hidden binding site including A48, A49, and A85.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gert-Jan Bekker
- Institute
for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yoshifumi Fukunishi
- Cellular
and Molecular Biotechnology Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
(AIST), 2-3-26, Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064, Japan
| | - Junichi Higo
- Graduate
School of Information Science, University
of Hyogo, 7-1-28 minatojima
Minami-machi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan
| | - Narutoshi Kamiya
- Graduate
School of Information Science, University
of Hyogo, 7-1-28 minatojima
Minami-machi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan
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5
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Ali Z, Kaur S, Kukhta T, Abu-Saleh AAAA, Jhunjhunwala A, Mitra A, Trant JF, Sharma P. Structural Mapping of the Base Stacks Containing Post-transcriptionally Modified Bases in RNA. J Phys Chem B 2023. [PMID: 37369074 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c02268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
Post-transcriptionally modified bases play vital roles in many biochemical processes involving RNA. Analysis of the non-covalent interactions associated with these bases in RNA is crucial for providing a more complete understanding of the RNA structure and function; however, the characterization of these interactions remains understudied. To address this limitation, we present a comprehensive analysis of base stacks involving all crystallographic occurrences of the most biologically relevant modified bases in a large dataset of high-resolution RNA crystal structures. This is accompanied by a geometrical classification of the stacking contacts using our established tools. Coupled with quantum chemical calculations and an analysis of the specific structural context of these stacks, this provides a map of the stacking conformations available to modified bases in RNA. Overall, our analysis is expected to facilitate structural research on altered RNA bases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zakir Ali
- Computational Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Centre for Advanced Studies in Chemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
| | - Sarabjeet Kaur
- Computational Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Centre for Advanced Studies in Chemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
- Surface Chemistry and Catalysis: Characterisation and Application Team (COK-KAT), Leuven (Arenberg) Celestijnenlaan 200f─Box 2461, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Teagan Kukhta
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada
| | - Abd Al-Aziz A Abu-Saleh
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada
- Binary Star Research Services, LaSalle, Ontario N9J 3X8, Canada
| | - Ayush Jhunjhunwala
- Center for Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics, International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-H), Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana 500032, India
| | - Abhijit Mitra
- Center for Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics, International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-H), Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana 500032, India
| | - John F Trant
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada
- Binary Star Research Services, LaSalle, Ontario N9J 3X8, Canada
| | - Purshotam Sharma
- Computational Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Centre for Advanced Studies in Chemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada
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6
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Zhang Z, Šponer J, Bussi G, Mlýnský V, Šulc P, Simmons CR, Stephanopoulos N, Krepl M. Atomistic Picture of Opening-Closing Dynamics of DNA Holliday Junction Obtained by Molecular Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:2794-2809. [PMID: 37126365 PMCID: PMC10170514 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Holliday junction (HJ) is a noncanonical four-way DNA structure with a prominent role in DNA repair, recombination, and DNA nanotechnology. By rearranging its four arms, HJ can adopt either closed or open state. With enzymes typically recognizing only a single state, acquiring detailed knowledge of the rearrangement process is an important step toward fully understanding the biological function of HJs. Here, we carried out standard all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the spontaneous opening-closing transitions, which revealed complex conformational transitions of HJs with an involvement of previously unconsidered "half-closed" intermediates. Detailed free-energy landscapes of the transitions were obtained by sophisticated enhanced sampling simulations. Because the force field overstabilizes the closed conformation of HJs, we developed a system-specific modification which for the first time allows the observation of spontaneous opening-closing HJ transitions in unbiased MD simulations and opens the possibilities for more accurate HJ computational studies of biological processes and nanomaterials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengyue Zhang
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic
- CEITEC─Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
- National Center for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Giovanni Bussi
- Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Vojtěch Mlýnský
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Šulc
- Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, Arizona State University, 1001 S. McAllister Ave, Tempe, 85287 Arizona, United States
| | - Chad R Simmons
- Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, Arizona State University, 1001 S. McAllister Ave, Tempe, 85287 Arizona, United States
| | - Nicholas Stephanopoulos
- Biodesign Center for Molecular Design and Biomimetics, Arizona State University, 1001 S. McAllister Ave, Tempe, 85287 Arizona, United States
| | - Miroslav Krepl
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacky University Olomouc, Slechtitelu 241/27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic
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7
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Langer D, Wicher B, Dutkiewicz Z, Bendzinska-Berus W, Bednarczyk-Cwynar B, Tykarska E. Polymorphism of Butyl Ester of Oleanolic Acid—The Dominance of Dispersive Interactions over Electrostatic. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24076572. [PMID: 37047544 PMCID: PMC10095383 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24076572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Oleanolic (OA) and glycyrrhetinic acids (GE), as well as their derivatives, show a variety of pharmacological properties. Their crystal structures provide valuable information related to the assembly modes of these biologically active compounds. In the known-to-date crystals of OA esters, their 11-oxo derivatives, and GE ester crystals, triterpenes associate, forming different types of ribbons and layers whose construction is based mainly on van der Waals forces and weak C-H···O interactions. New crystal structures of 11-oxo OA methyl ester and the polymorph of OA butyl ester reveal an alternative aggregation mode. Supramolecular architectures consist of helical chains which are stabilized by hydrogen bonds of O-H···O type. It was found that two polymorphic forms of butyl OA ester (layered and helical) are related monotropically. In a structure of metastable form, O-H···O hydrogen bonds occur, while the thermodynamically preferred phase is governed mainly by van der Waals interactions. The intermolecular interaction energies calculated using CrystalExplorer, PIXEL, and Psi4 programs showed that even in motifs formed through O-H···O hydrogen bonds, the dispersive forces have a significant impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominik Langer
- Department of Chemical Technology of Drugs, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Grunwaldzka 6, 60-780 Poznan, Poland
| | - Barbara Wicher
- Department of Chemical Technology of Drugs, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Grunwaldzka 6, 60-780 Poznan, Poland
| | - Zbigniew Dutkiewicz
- Department of Chemical Technology of Drugs, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Grunwaldzka 6, 60-780 Poznan, Poland
| | - Wioletta Bendzinska-Berus
- Department of Chemical Technology of Drugs, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Grunwaldzka 6, 60-780 Poznan, Poland
| | - Barbara Bednarczyk-Cwynar
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Grunwaldzka 6, 60-780 Poznan, Poland
| | - Ewa Tykarska
- Department of Chemical Technology of Drugs, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Grunwaldzka 6, 60-780 Poznan, Poland
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8
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Ren FD, Liu YZ, Wang XL, Qiu LL, Meng ZH, Cheng X, Li YX. Strong External Electric Fields Reduce Explosive Sensitivity: A Theoretical Investigation into the Reaction Selectivity in NH2NO2∙∙∙NH3. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28062586. [PMID: 36985558 PMCID: PMC10058811 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28062586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2023] [Revised: 03/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Controlling the selectivity of a detonation initiation reaction of explosive is essential to reduce sensitivity, and it seems impossible to reduce it by strengthening the external electric field. To verify this, the effects of external electric fields on the initiation reactions in NH2NO2∙∙∙NH3, a model system of the nitroamine explosive with alkaline additive, were investigated at the MP2/6-311++G(2d,p) and CCSD(T)/6-311++G(2d,p) levels. The concerted effect in the intermolecular hydrogen exchange is characterized by an index of the imaginary vibrations. Due to the weakened concerted effects by the electric field along the −x-direction opposite to the “reaction axis”, the dominant reaction changes from the intermolecular hydrogen exchange to 1,3-intramolecular hydrogen transference with the increase in the field strengths. Furthermore, the stronger the field strengths, the higher the barrier heights become, indicating the lower sensitivities. Therefore, by increasing the field strength and adjusting the orientation between the field and “reaction axis”, not only can the reaction selectivity be controlled, but the sensitivity can also be reduced, in particular under a super-strong field. Thus, a traditional concept, in which the explosive is dangerous under the super-strong external electric field, is theoretically broken. Compared to the neutral medium, a low sensitivity of the explosive with alkaline can be achieved under the stronger field. Employing atoms in molecules, reduced density gradient, and surface electrostatic potentials, the origin of the reaction selectivity and sensitivity change is revealed. This work provides a new idea for the technical improvement regarding adding the external electric field into the explosive system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fu-De Ren
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +86-351-392-2117
| | - Ying-Zhe Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Fluorine and Nitrogen Chemicals, Xi’an Modern Chemistry Research Institute, Xi’an 710065, China
| | - Xiao-Lei Wang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
| | - Li-Li Qiu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Zi-Hui Meng
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Xiang Cheng
- School of Intelligent Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Zhengzhou 450003, China
| | - Yong-Xiang Li
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China
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9
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Villot C, Lao KU. Electronic structure theory on modeling short-range noncovalent interactions between amino acids. J Chem Phys 2023; 158:094301. [PMID: 36889981 DOI: 10.1063/5.0138032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
While short-range noncovalent interactions (NCIs) are proving to be of importance in many chemical and biological systems, these atypical bindings happen within the so-called van der Waals envelope and pose an enormous challenge for current computational methods. We introduce SNCIAA, a database of 723 benchmark interaction energies of short-range noncovalent interactions between neutral/charged amino acids originated from protein x-ray crystal structures at the "gold standard" coupled-cluster with singles, doubles, and perturbative triples/complete basis set [CCSD(T)/CBS] level of theory with a mean absolute binding uncertainty less than 0.1 kcal/mol. Subsequently, a systematic assessment of commonly used computational methods, such as the second-order Møller-Plesset theory (MP2), density functional theory (DFT), symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT), composite electronic-structure methods, semiempirical approaches, and the physical-based potentials with machine learning (IPML) on SNCIAA is carried out. It is shown that the inclusion of dispersion corrections is essential even though these dimers are dominated by electrostatics, such as hydrogen bondings and salt bridges. Overall, MP2, ωB97M-V, and B3LYP+D4 turned out to be the most reliable methods for the description of short-range NCIs even in strongly attractive/repulsive complexes. SAPT is also recommended in describing short-range NCIs only if the δMP2 correction has been included. The good performance of IPML for dimers at close-equilibrium and long-range conditions is not transferable to the short-range. We expect that SNCIAA will assist the development/improvement/validation of computational methods, such as DFT, force-fields, and ML models, in describing NCIs across entire potential energy surfaces (short-, intermediate-, and long-range NCIs) on the same footing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corentin Villot
- Department of Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284, USA
| | - Ka Un Lao
- Department of Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 23284, USA
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10
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de Oliveira MT, Alves JMA, Vrech NL, Braga AAC, Barboza CA. A comprehensive benchmark investigation of quantum chemical methods for carbocations. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:1903-1922. [PMID: 36541431 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp04603b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The application of various density functional approximations (DFAs) and an emphasis on popular methods without any consensus have prevailed in computational studies dedicated to carbocations. More importantly, an extensive and rigorous benchmark investigation on density functionals for the class is still lacking. To close this gap, we present a comprehensive benchmark study of quantum chemical methods on a series of classical and nonclassical carbocations, the CARBO33 dataset. We evaluate a total of 107 DFT methods from all rungs giving particular attention to double hybrid density functionals as the potential of the class has been largely undermined in the context of carbocations. To support our findings, DLPNO-CCSD(T) at the complete basis set (CBS) limit and W1-F12 are used as reference methods. Our results indicate that the composite CBS-QB3 method performs poorly and should not be adopted for target energies. Oftentimes, the tested DFAs of a lower rung perform better than several DFAs in a higher rung of Perdew's "Jacob's ladder". Nonetheless, double hybrids DSD-PBEP86-NL and ωB97X-2-D3(BJ) stand out by showing the overall best performance. Among the hybrids evaluated, about half of them show mean absolute deviation (MAD) below 1.1 kcal mol-1, including the popular hybrids M06-2X and mPW1PW91. In this family, MN15-D3(BJ) performs particularly well (MAD = 0.77 kcal mol-1) displaying reliable results across various tests. Highly popular B3LYP exhibited one of the worst performances (MAD = 4.74 kcal mol-1), and we do not recommend its application to carbocations. We also assess the 24 general-purpose basis sets of single- up to quadruple-ζ quality. The best compromise between accuracy and computational cost is achieved with cc-pVTZ followed by def2-TZVP. Computations on larger structures of general interest, including terpene carbocations, are also presented for selected DFT methods confirming general trends in the results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo T de Oliveira
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute of Molecular Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086, Australia. .,Chemistry Institute of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, Av. Trabalhador São Carlense 400, 13566-590, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Júlia M A Alves
- Chemistry Institute of São Carlos, University of São Paulo, Av. Trabalhador São Carlense 400, 13566-590, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
| | - Natália L Vrech
- Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Ataualpa A C Braga
- Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Cristina A Barboza
- Faculty of Chemistry, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, Wrocław, Poland.,Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotników 32/46, Warsaw, Poland
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11
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Nakagawa S, Kimura A, Okamoto Y. Polarizable Molecular Block Model: Toward the Development of an Induced Dipole Force Field for DNA. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:10646-10661. [PMID: 36512703 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c06227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
For flexible and highly ionized macromolecules such as DNA, it is important to correctly evaluate the intramolecular polarization in an induced dipole force field. In a proposed polarizable molecular block (PMB) model, a large molecule is divided into several molecular blocks. The atomic charges of the blocks are optimized by using the respective electrostatic potentials (ESPs) on the molecular surface. By using the capped hydrogen removal operation, the total charge of the blocks is controlled exactly to have an integer charge. The atomic polarizabilities of the blocks are optimized by using the respective polarized one-electron potentials that are the differences between ESPs with and without an external test charge. Induced dipole-charge interactions between the blocks are all included, but those interactions within the blocks are strictly excluded. All dipole-dipole interactions are included, but the damping functions are applied to the close dipole-dipole pairs. Several types of damping (simple scaling, exponential, linear, and Gaussian) are evaluated. The validity of the PMB model was verified by using trinucleotide duplexes which have A-, B-, and Z-DNA forms. The reference energies of trinucleotide duplexes including counterions (GGT3Na-ACC3Na, GAC3Na-GTC3Na, and GCG3Na-CGC3Na) are calculated using ωB97XD/aug-cc-pVDZ. All damping types reproduced well the reference interaction energies, dipole moments, and ESPs. Among them, the simple scaling with strong attenuation to 1-2 atomic pairs showed the highest stability against the polarization catastrophe. This study shows that it is possible to develop a high-quality polarizable force field by treating the intramolecular polarization on a block-by-block basis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Setsuko Nakagawa
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi464-8602, Japan.,Kinjo Gakuin University, Nagoya, Aichi463-8521, Japan
| | - Akihiro Kimura
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi464-8602, Japan
| | - Yuko Okamoto
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi464-8602, Japan.,High Performance Computing Division, Information Technology Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi464-8601, Japan.,Global Engagement Center, International Affairs, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi464-8601, Japan
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12
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Paloncýová M, Pykal M, Kührová P, Banáš P, Šponer J, Otyepka M. Computer Aided Development of Nucleic Acid Applications in Nanotechnologies. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2022; 18:e2204408. [PMID: 36216589 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202204408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2022] [Revised: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Utilization of nucleic acids (NAs) in nanotechnologies and nanotechnology-related applications is a growing field with broad application potential, ranging from biosensing up to targeted cell delivery. Computer simulations are useful techniques that can aid design and speed up development in this field. This review focuses on computer simulations of hybrid nanomaterials composed of NAs and other components. Current state-of-the-art molecular dynamics simulations, empirical force fields (FFs), and coarse-grained approaches for the description of deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid are critically discussed. Challenges in combining biomacromolecular and nanomaterial FFs are emphasized. Recent applications of simulations for modeling NAs and their interactions with nano- and biomaterials are overviewed in the fields of sensing applications, targeted delivery, and NA templated materials. Future perspectives of development are also highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markéta Paloncýová
- Regional Center of Advanced Technologies and Materials, The Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, Olomouc, 779 00, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Pykal
- Regional Center of Advanced Technologies and Materials, The Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, Olomouc, 779 00, Czech Republic
| | - Petra Kührová
- Regional Center of Advanced Technologies and Materials, The Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, Olomouc, 779 00, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Banáš
- Regional Center of Advanced Technologies and Materials, The Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, Olomouc, 779 00, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Regional Center of Advanced Technologies and Materials, The Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, Olomouc, 779 00, Czech Republic
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, v. v. i., Královopolská 135, Brno, 612 65, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Otyepka
- Regional Center of Advanced Technologies and Materials, The Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacký University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 27, Olomouc, 779 00, Czech Republic
- IT4Innovations, VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava, 17. listopadu 2172/15, Ostrava-Poruba, 708 00, Czech Republic
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13
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Lee AJ, Rackers JA, Bricker WP. Predicting accurate ab initio DNA electron densities with equivariant neural networks. Biophys J 2022; 121:3883-3895. [PMID: 36057785 PMCID: PMC9674991 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2022.08.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Revised: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the fundamental limitations of accurately modeling biomolecules like DNA is the inability to perform quantum chemistry calculations on large molecular structures. We present a machine learning model based on an equivariant Euclidean neural network framework to obtain accurate ab initio electron densities for arbitrary DNA structures that are much too large for conventional quantum methods. The model is trained on representative B-DNA basepair steps that capture both base pairing and base stacking interactions. The model produces accurate electron densities for arbitrary B-DNA structures with typical errors of less than 1%. Crucially, the error does not increase with system size, which suggests that the model can extrapolate to large DNA structures with negligible loss of accuracy. The model also generalizes reasonably to other DNA structural motifs such as the A- and Z-DNA forms, despite being trained on only B-DNA configurations. The model is used to calculate electron densities of several large-scale DNA structures, and we show that the computational scaling for this model is essentially linear. We also show that this machine learning electron density model can be used to calculate accurate electrostatic potentials for DNA. These electrostatic potentials produce more accurate results compared with classical force fields and do not show the usual deficiencies at short range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex J Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
| | - Joshua A Rackers
- Center for Computing Research, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
| | - William P Bricker
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
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14
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Wang X, Yu B, Iwahara J. Slow Rotational Dynamics of Cytosine NH 2 Groups in Double-Stranded DNA. Biochemistry 2022; 61:1415-1418. [PMID: 35759792 PMCID: PMC9805297 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Aromatic NH2 groups are essential as hydrogen-bond donors in secondary structures of DNA and RNA. Although rapid rotations of NH2 groups of adenine and guanine bases were previously characterized, there has been a lack of quantitative information about slow rotations of cytosine NH2 groups in Watson-Crick base pairs. In this study, using an NMR method we had recently developed, we determined the kinetic rate constants and energy barriers for cytosine NH2 rotations in a 15-base-pair DNA duplex. Our data show that the rotational dynamics of cytosine NH2 groups depend on local environments. Qualitative correlation between the ranges of 15N chemical shifts and rotational time scales for various NH2 groups of nucleic acids and proteins illuminates a relationship between the partial double-bond character of the C-N bond and the time scale for NH2 rotations.
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15
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Shakiba M, Stippell E, Li W, Akimov AV. Nonadiabatic Molecular Dynamics with Extended Density Functional Tight-Binding: Application to Nanocrystals and Periodic Solids. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:5157-5180. [PMID: 35758936 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
In this work, we report a new methodology for nonadiabatic molecular dynamics calculations within the extended tight-binding (xTB) framework. We demonstrate the applicability of the developed approach to finite and periodic systems with thousands of atoms by modeling "hot" electron relaxation dynamics in silicon nanocrystals and electron-hole recombination in both a graphitic carbon nitride monolayer and a titanium-based metal-organic framework (MOF). This work reports the nonadiabatic dynamic simulations in the largest Si nanocrystals studied so far by the xTB framework, with diameters up to 3.5 nm. For silicon nanocrystals, we find a non-monotonic dependence of "hot" electron relaxation rates on the nanocrystal size, in agreement with available experimental reports. We rationalize this relationship by a combination of decreasing nonadiabatic couplings related to system size and the increase of available coherent transfer pathways in systems with higher densities of states. We emphasize the importance of proper treatment of coherences for obtaining such non-monotonic dependences. We characterize the electron-hole recombination dynamics in the graphitic carbon nitride monolayer and the Ti-containing MOF. We demonstrate the importance of spin-adaptation and proper sampling of surface hopping trajectories in modeling such processes. We also assess several trajectory surface hopping schemes and highlight their distinct qualitative behavior in modeling the excited-state dynamics in superexchange-like models depending on how they handle coherences between nearly parallel states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Shakiba
- Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, United States
| | - Elizabeth Stippell
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
| | - Wei Li
- School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
| | - Alexey V Akimov
- Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14260, United States
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16
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Fereydooni Naghani F, Emamian S, Zare K. A comprehensive theoretical analysis on the intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions with the Lewis bases having multiple hydrogen bonding ability. J PHYS ORG CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/poc.4357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Saeedreza Emamian
- Chemistry Department, Shahrood Branch Islamic Azad University Shahrood Iran
| | - Karim Zare
- Department of Chemistry, Science and Research Branch Islamic Azad University Tehran Iran
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17
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Affinity and Correlation in DNA. J 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/j5020016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
A statistical analysis of important DNA sequences and related proteins has been performed to study the relationships between monomers, and some general considerations about these macromolecules can be provided from the results. First, the most important relationship between sites in all the DNA sequences examined is that between two consecutive base pairs. This is an indication of an energetic stabilization due to the stacking interaction of these couples of base pairs. Secondly, the difference between human chromosome sequences and their coding parts is relevant both in the relationships between sites and in some specific compositional rules, such as the second Chargaff rule. Third, the evidence of the relationship in two successive triplets of DNA coding sequences generates a relationship between two successive amino acids in the proteins. This is obviously impossible if all the relationships between the sites are statistical evidence and do not involve causes; therefore, in this article, due to stacking interactions and this relationship in coding sequences, we will divide the concept of the relationship between sites into two concepts: affinity and correlation, the first with physical causes and the second without. Finally, from the statistical analyses carried out, it will emerge that the human genome is uniform, with the only significant exception being the Y chromosome.
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18
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Prasad VK, Otero-de-la-Roza A, DiLabio GA. Small-Basis Set Density-Functional Theory Methods Corrected with Atom-Centered Potentials. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:2913-2930. [PMID: 35412817 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Density functional theory (DFT) is currently the most popular method for modeling noncovalent interactions and thermochemistry. The accurate calculation of noncovalent interaction energies, reaction energies, and barrier heights requires choosing an appropriate functional and, typically, a relatively large basis set. Deficiencies of the density-functional approximation and the use of a limited basis set are the leading sources of error in the calculation of noncovalent and thermochemical properties in molecular systems. In this article, we present three new DFT methods based on the BLYP, M06-2X, and CAM-B3LYP functionals in combination with the 6-31G* basis set and corrected with atom-centered potentials (ACPs). ACPs are one-electron potentials that have the same form as effective-core potentials, except they do not replace any electrons. The ACPs developed in this work are used to generate energy corrections to the underlying DFT/basis-set method such that the errors in predicted chemical properties are minimized while maintaining the low computational cost of the parent methods. ACPs were developed for the elements H, B, C, N, O, F, Si, P, S, and Cl. The ACP parameters were determined using an extensive training set of 118655 data points, mostly of complete basis set coupled-cluster level quality. The target molecular properties for the ACP-corrected methods include noncovalent interaction energies, molecular conformational energies, reaction energies, barrier heights, and bond separation energies. The ACPs were tested first on the training set and then on a validation set of 42567 additional data points. We show that the ACP-corrected methods can predict the target molecular properties with accuracy close to complete basis set wavefunction theory methods, but at a computational cost of double-ζ DFT methods. This makes the new BLYP/6-31G*-ACP, M06-2X/6-31G*-ACP, and CAM-B3LYP/6-31G*-ACP methods uniquely suited to the calculation of noncovalent, thermochemical, and kinetic properties in large molecular systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viki Kumar Prasad
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, 3247 University Way, Kelowna, British Columbia V1V 1V7, Canada
| | - Alberto Otero-de-la-Roza
- Departamento de Química Física y Analítica, Facultad de Química, Universidad de Oviedo, MALTA Consolider Team, Oviedo E-33006, Spain
| | - Gino A DiLabio
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, 3247 University Way, Kelowna, British Columbia V1V 1V7, Canada
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19
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Prasad VK, Otero-de-la-Roza A, DiLabio GA. Fast and Accurate Quantum Mechanical Modeling of Large Molecular Systems Using Small Basis Set Hartree-Fock Methods Corrected with Atom-Centered Potentials. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:2208-2232. [PMID: 35313106 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c01128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
There has been significant interest in developing fast and accurate quantum mechanical methods for modeling large molecular systems. In this work, by utilizing a machine learning regression technique, we have developed new low-cost quantum mechanical approaches to model large molecular systems. The developed approaches rely on using one-electron Gaussian-type functions called atom-centered potentials (ACPs) to correct for the basis set incompleteness and the lack of correlation effects in the underlying minimal or small basis set Hartree-Fock (HF) methods. In particular, ACPs are proposed for ten elements common in organic and bioorganic chemistry (H, B, C, N, O, F, Si, P, S, and Cl) and four different base methods: two minimal basis sets (MINIs and MINIX) plus a double-ζ basis set (6-31G*) in combination with dispersion-corrected HF (HF-D3/MINIs, HF-D3/MINIX, HF-D3/6-31G*) and the HF-3c method. The new ACPs are trained on a very large set (73 832 data points) of noncovalent properties (interaction and conformational energies) and validated additionally on a set of 32 048 data points. All reference data are of complete basis set coupled-cluster quality, mostly CCSD(T)/CBS. The proposed ACP-corrected methods are shown to give errors in the tenths of a kcal/mol range for noncovalent interaction energies and up to 2 kcal/mol for molecular conformational energies. More importantly, the average errors are similar in the training and validation sets, confirming the robustness and applicability of these methods outside the boundaries of the training set. In addition, the performance of the new ACP-corrected methods is similar to complete basis set density functional theory (DFT) but at a cost that is orders of magnitude lower, and the proposed ACPs can be used in any computational chemistry program that supports effective-core potentials without modification. It is also shown that ACPs improve the description of covalent and noncovalent bond geometries of the underlying methods and that the improvement brought about by the application of the ACPs is directly related to the number of atoms to which they are applied, allowing the treatment of systems containing some atoms for which ACPs are not available. Overall, the ACP-corrected methods proposed in this work constitute an alternative accurate, economical, and reliable quantum mechanical approach to describe the geometries, interaction energies, and conformational energies of systems with hundreds to thousands of atoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viki Kumar Prasad
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, 3247 University Way, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada V1V 1V7
| | - Alberto Otero-de-la-Roza
- MALTA Consolider Team, Departamento de Química Física y Analítica, Facultad de Química, Universidad de Oviedo, E-33006 Oviedo, Spain
| | - Gino A DiLabio
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Okanagan, 3247 University Way, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada V1V 1V7
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20
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Grupa U, Liebl K, Zacharias M. Orientation Dependence of DNA Blunt-End Stacking Studied by Free-Energy Simulations. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:13850-13857. [PMID: 34928161 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c07829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
DNA blunt ends can associate mediated by stacking interactions between the terminal base pairs that form blunt ends. The blunt end association plays a role in DNA repair and recombination processes and can also be of importance for the design of DNA-based nano-materials. Its function depends on the sequence and on the geometric arrangement that leads to stable interaction. For a stacked state, the relative orientation (twisting) of the base pairs is important. Molecular dynamics and advanced sampling simulations were used to calculate free energy change associated with twist changes of the stacked blunt-end base pairs. The calculations reproduce blunt stacking arrangements found in crystal structures of DNA oligonucleotides as free energy minima. To elucidate the physical origin of the stabilization of certain angular arrangements, the interactions between backbone atoms in the blunt-end stack were switched off in additional free energy calculations. It allows us to decipher the contributions to stacking stabilization due to the nucleobases and the backbone and to analyze the sequence dependence of the angular stacking preferences. Good qualitative agreement was also found for the comparison with quantum mechanical calculations. The results may help in the design of novel DNA-based materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrich Grupa
- Center of Functional Protein Assemblies and Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, Ernst-Otto-Fischer-Str. 8, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Korbinian Liebl
- Center of Functional Protein Assemblies and Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, Ernst-Otto-Fischer-Str. 8, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Martin Zacharias
- Center of Functional Protein Assemblies and Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, Ernst-Otto-Fischer-Str. 8, 85748 Garching, Germany
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21
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Mráziková K, Šponer J, Mlýnský V, Auffinger P, Kruse H. Short-Range Imbalances in the AMBER Lennard-Jones Potential for (Deoxy)Ribose···Nucleobase Lone-Pair···π Contacts in Nucleic Acids. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:5644-5657. [PMID: 34738826 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c01047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The lone-pair···π (lp···π) (deoxy)ribose···nucleobase stacking is a recurring interaction in Z-DNA and RNAs that is characterized by sub-van der Waals lp···π contacts (<3.0 Å). It is a part of the structural signature of CpG Z-step motifs in Z-DNA and r(UNCG) tetraloops that are known to behave poorly in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Although the exact origin of the MD simulation issues remains unclear, a significant part of the problem might be due to an imbalanced description of nonbonded interactions, including the characteristic lp···π stacking. To gain insights into the links between lp···π stacking and MD, we present an in-depth comparison between accurate large-basis-set double-hybrid Kohn-Sham density functional theory calculations DSD-BLYP-D3/ma-def2-QZVPP (DHDF-D3) and data obtained with the nonbonded potential of the AMBER force field (AFF) for NpN Z-steps (N = G, A, C, and U). Among other differences, we found that the AFF overestimates the DHDF-D3 lp···π distances by ∼0.1-0.2 Å, while the deviation between the DHDF-D3 and AFF descriptions sharply increases in the short-range region of the interaction. Based on atom-in-molecule polarizabilities and symmetry-adapted perturbation theory analysis, we inferred that the DHDF-D3 versus AFF differences partly originate in identical nucleobase carbon atom Lennard-Jones (LJ) parameters despite the presence/absence of connected electron-withdrawing groups that lead to different effective volumes or vdW radii. Thus, to precisely model the very short CpG lp···π contact distances, we recommend revision of the nucleobase atom LJ parameters. Additionally, we suggest that the large discrepancy between DHDF-D3 and AFF short-range repulsive part of the interaction energy potential may significantly contribute to the poor performances of MD simulations of nucleic acid systems containing Z-steps. Understanding where, and if possible why, the point-charge-type effective potentials reach their limits is vital for developing next-generation FFs and for addressing specific issues in contemporary MD simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaudia Mráziková
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic.,National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic.,Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacky University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 241/27, 783 71 Olomouc-Holice, Czech Republic
| | - Vojtěch Mlýnský
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic.,Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacky University Olomouc, Šlechtitelů 241/27, 783 71 Olomouc-Holice, Czech Republic
| | - Pascal Auffinger
- Architecture and Reactivity of RNA, University of Strasbourg, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of the CNRS, 67084 Strasbourg, France
| | - Holger Kruse
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic
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22
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Altun A, Garcia-Ratés M, Neese F, Bistoni G. Unveiling the complex pattern of intermolecular interactions responsible for the stability of the DNA duplex. Chem Sci 2021; 12:12785-12793. [PMID: 34703565 PMCID: PMC8494058 DOI: 10.1039/d1sc03868k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Herein, we provide new insights into the intermolecular interactions responsible for the intrinsic stability of the duplex structure of a large portion of human B-DNA by using advanced quantum mechanical methods. Our results indicate that (i) the effect of non-neighboring bases on the inter-strand interaction is negligibly small, (ii) London dispersion effects are essential for the stability of the duplex structure, (iii) the largest contribution to the stability of the duplex structure is the Watson-Crick base pairing - consistent with previous computational investigations, (iv) the effect of stacking between adjacent bases is relatively small but still essential for the duplex structure stability and (v) there are no cooperativity effects between intra-strand stacking and inter-strand base pairing interactions. These results are consistent with atomic force microscope measurements and provide the first theoretical validation of nearest neighbor approaches for predicting thermodynamic data of arbitrary DNA sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmet Altun
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1 D-45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr Germany
| | - Miquel Garcia-Ratés
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1 D-45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr Germany
| | - Frank Neese
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1 D-45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr Germany
| | - Giovanni Bistoni
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz 1 D-45470 Mülheim an der Ruhr Germany
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23
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Largy E, König A, Ghosh A, Ghosh D, Benabou S, Rosu F, Gabelica V. Mass Spectrometry of Nucleic Acid Noncovalent Complexes. Chem Rev 2021; 122:7720-7839. [PMID: 34587741 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Nucleic acids have been among the first targets for antitumor drugs and antibiotics. With the unveiling of new biological roles in regulation of gene expression, specific DNA and RNA structures have become very attractive targets, especially when the corresponding proteins are undruggable. Biophysical assays to assess target structure as well as ligand binding stoichiometry, affinity, specificity, and binding modes are part of the drug development process. Mass spectrometry offers unique advantages as a biophysical method owing to its ability to distinguish each stoichiometry present in a mixture. In addition, advanced mass spectrometry approaches (reactive probing, fragmentation techniques, ion mobility spectrometry, ion spectroscopy) provide more detailed information on the complexes. Here, we review the fundamentals of mass spectrometry and all its particularities when studying noncovalent nucleic acid structures, and then review what has been learned thanks to mass spectrometry on nucleic acid structures, self-assemblies (e.g., duplexes or G-quadruplexes), and their complexes with ligands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Largy
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, INSERM, ARNA, UMR 5320, U1212, IECB, F-33600 Pessac, France
| | - Alexander König
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, INSERM, ARNA, UMR 5320, U1212, IECB, F-33600 Pessac, France
| | - Anirban Ghosh
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, INSERM, ARNA, UMR 5320, U1212, IECB, F-33600 Pessac, France
| | - Debasmita Ghosh
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, INSERM, ARNA, UMR 5320, U1212, IECB, F-33600 Pessac, France
| | - Sanae Benabou
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, INSERM, ARNA, UMR 5320, U1212, IECB, F-33600 Pessac, France
| | - Frédéric Rosu
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, INSERM, IECB, UMS 3033, F-33600 Pessac, France
| | - Valérie Gabelica
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, INSERM, ARNA, UMR 5320, U1212, IECB, F-33600 Pessac, France
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24
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Pal S, Paul S. Theoretical investigation of conformational deviation of the human parallel telomeric G-quadruplex DNA in the presence of different salt concentrations and temperatures under confinement. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:14372-14382. [PMID: 34179908 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp06702d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Various experimental reports address the stability of G-quadruplex DNA inside a close confinement such as α-hemolysin, nanocavity water pool and different metal-organic-frameworks (MOFs). To understand the conformational change of G-quadruplex DNA at the atomistic level, we have carried out a total of 40 μs simulation run under both non-polar and polar confinement conditions. To investigate the dynamics, we have considered two different KCl salt concentrations, i.e., 0.47 M (minimal salt concentration) and higher than 2 M (higher salt concentration), at two distinct temperatures, 300 K and 350 K. Here, we have observed that the human telomeric G-quadruplex DNA deviates more from its crystal structure at minimal salt concentration under both non-polar and polar confinement conditions. Besides, the loop regions deviate and fluctuate more compared to the other regions, i.e., sugar-phosphate backbone and tetrad regions. The presence of K+ ions is found to be primarily responsible for this phenomenon. From the spatial density function (SDF) plots, a higher density of K+ ions is observed in the backbone region. Furthermore, from the residue-wise first solvation shell estimation, we have noticed that the K+ ions mainly accumulate in the tetrad region under both non-polar and polar confinement conditions due to which the tetrad regions are more rigid than the loop regions. Higher salt concentration results in increased rigidity of the G-quadruplex DNA. Our study provides valuable insight into the conformational deviation of the G-quadruplex DNA under nanoconfinement conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saikat Pal
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam-781039, India.
| | - Sandip Paul
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam-781039, India.
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25
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Chen H, Skylaris CK. Analysis of DNA interactions and GC content with energy decomposition in large-scale quantum mechanical calculations. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:8891-8899. [PMID: 33876048 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp06630c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
GC content is a contributing factor to the stability of nucleic acids due to hydrogen bonding. More hydrogen bonding generally results in greater stability. Empirical evidence, however, has suggested that the GC content of a nucleic acid is a poor predictor of its stability, implying that there are sequence-dependent interactions besides what its GC content indicates. To examine how much such sequence-dependent interactions affect the interaction energies of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) molecules, dsDNA molecules of different sequences are generated and examined in silico for variabilities in the interaction energies within each group of dsDNA molecules of the same GC content. Since the amount of hydrogen bonding depends on the GC content, holding the GC content fixed when examining the differences in interaction energies allows sequence-dependent interactions to be isolated. The nature of sequence-dependent interactions is then dissected using energy decomposition analysis (EDA). By using EDA, the components of the interactions that depend on the neighboring base pairs help explain some of the variability in the interaction energies of the dsDNA molecules despite having the same GC content. This work provides a new paradigm and tool for the study and analysis of the distributions of interaction components in dsDNA with the same GC content using EDA within large-scale quantum chemistry calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Chen
- School of Chemistry, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
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26
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Alenaizan A, Borca CH, Karunakaran SC, Kendall AK, Stubbs G, Schuster GB, Sherrill CD, Hud NV. X-ray Fiber Diffraction and Computational Analyses of Stacked Hexads in Supramolecular Polymers: Insight into Self-Assembly in Water by Prospective Prebiotic Nucleobases. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:6079-6094. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c12010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Asem Alenaizan
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
- NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
- Center for Computational Molecular Science and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
| | - Carlos H. Borca
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
- Center for Computational Molecular Science and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
| | - Suneesh C. Karunakaran
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
- NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
| | - Amy K. Kendall
- Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States
| | - Gerald Stubbs
- Department of Biological Sciences and Center for Structural Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States
| | - Gary B. Schuster
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
| | - C. David Sherrill
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
- NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
- Center for Computational Molecular Science and Technology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
- School of Computational Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0765, United States
| | - Nicholas V. Hud
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
- NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0400, United States
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27
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Chawla M, Gorle S, Shaikh AR, Oliva R, Cavallo L. Replacing thymine with a strongly pairing fifth Base: A combined quantum mechanics and molecular dynamics study. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2021; 19:1312-1324. [PMID: 33738080 PMCID: PMC7940798 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2020] [Revised: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The non-natural ethynylmethylpyridone C-nucleoside (W), a thymidine (T) analogue that can be incorporated in oligonucleotides by automated synthesis, has recently been reported to form a high fidelity base pair with adenosine (A) and to be well accommodated in B-DNA duplexes. The enhanced binding affinity for A of W, as compared to T, makes it an ideal modification for biotechnological applications, such as efficient probe hybridization for the parallel detection of multiple DNA strands. In order to complement the experimental study and rationalize the impact of the non-natural W nucleoside on the structure, stability and dynamics of DNA structures, we performed quantum mechanics (QM) calculations along with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Consistently with the experimental study, our QM calculations show that the A:W base pair has an increased stability as compared to the natural A:T pair, due to an additional CH-π interaction. Furthermore, we show that mispairing between W and guanine (G) causes a distortion in the planarity of the base pair, thus explaining the destabilization of DNA duplexes featuring a G:W pair. MD simulations show that incorporation of single or multiple consecutive A:W pairs in DNA duplexes causes minor changes to the intra- and inter-base geometrical parameters, while a moderate widening/shrinking of the major/minor groove of the duplexes is observed. QM calculations applied to selected stacks from the MD simulations also show an increased stacking energy for W, over T, with the neighboring bases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohit Chawla
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, Kaust Catalysis Center, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Suresh Gorle
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, USA
| | - Abdul Rajjak Shaikh
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, Kaust Catalysis Center, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Romina Oliva
- Department of Sciences and Technologies, University Parthenope of Naples, Centro Direzionale Isola C4, I-80143 Naples, Italy
| | - Luigi Cavallo
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, Kaust Catalysis Center, Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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Pal S, Paul S. An in silico investigation of the binding modes and pathway of APTO-253 on c-KIT G-quadruplex DNA. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:3361-3376. [PMID: 33502401 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp05210h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
The stability of c-KIT G-quadruplex DNA via ligands has been a significant concern in the growing field of cancer therapy. Thus, it is very important to understand the mechanism behind the high binding affinity of the small drug molecules on the c-KIT G-quadruplex DNA. In this study, we have investigated the binding mode and pathway of the APTO-253 ligand on the c-KIT G-quadruplex DNA employing a total of 10 μs all atom molecular dynamics simulations and further 8.82 μs simulations via the umbrella sampling method using both OL15 and BSC1 latest force fields for DNA structures. From the cluster structure analysis, mainly three binding pathways i.e., top, bottom and side loop stacking modes are identified. Moreover, RMSD, RMSF and 2D-RMSD values indicate that the c-KIT G-quadruplex DNA and APTO-253 molecules are stable throughout the simulation run. Furthermore, the number of hydrogen bonds in each tetrad and the distance between the two central K+ cations confirm that the c-KIT G-quadruplex DNA maintains its conformation in the process of complex formation with the APTO-253 ligand. The binding free energies and the minimum values in the potential of mean forces suggest that the binding processes are energetically favorable. Furthermore, we have found that the bottom stacking mode is the most favorable binding mode among all the three modes for the OL15 force field. However, for the BSC1 force field, both the top and bottom binding modes of the APTO-253 ligand in c-KIT G-quadruplex DNA are comparable to each other. To investigate the driving force for the complex formation, we have noticed that the van der Waals (vdW) and π-π stacking interactions are mainly responsible. Our detailed studies provide useful information for the discovery of novel drugs in the field of stabilization of G-quadruplex DNAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saikat Pal
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Assam, 781039, India.
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29
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Gheorghiu A, Coveney PV, Arabi AA. The influence of base pair tautomerism on single point mutations in aqueous DNA. Interface Focus 2020; 10:20190120. [PMID: 33178413 PMCID: PMC7653342 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The relationship between base pair hydrogen bond proton transfer and the rate of spontaneous single point mutations at ambient temperatures and pressures in aqueous DNA is investigated. By using an ensemble-based multiscale computational modelling method, statistically robust rates of proton transfer for the A:T and G:C base pairs within a solvated DNA dodecamer are calculated. Several different proton transfer pathways are observed within the same base pair. It is shown that, in G:C, the double proton transfer tautomer is preferred, while the single proton transfer process is favoured in A:T. The reported range of rate coefficients for double proton transfer is consistent with recent experimental data. Notwithstanding the approximately 1000 times more common presence of single proton transfer products from A:T, observationally there is bias towards G:C to A:T mutations in a wide range of living organisms. We infer that the double proton transfer reactions between G:C base pairs have a negligible contribution towards this bias for the following reasons: (i) the maximum half-life of the G*:C* tautomer is in the range of picoseconds, which is significantly smaller than the milliseconds it takes for DNA to unwind during replication, (ii) statistically, the majority of G*:C* tautomers revert back to their canonical forms through a barrierless process, and (iii) the thermodynamic instability of the tautomers with respect to the canonical base pairs. Through similar reasoning, we also deduce that proton transfer in the A:T base pair does not contribute to single point mutations in DNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Gheorghiu
- Centre for Computational Science, University College London, London, UK
| | - P V Coveney
- Centre for Computational Science, University College London, London, UK.,Informatics Institute, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - A A Arabi
- Centre for Computational Science, University College London, London, UK.,College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Biochemistry Department, United Arab Emirates University, PO Box 17666, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
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30
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Das S, Roy S, Bhattacharyya D. DNA base sequence specificity through partial intercalation: DFT-D based energy analysis of molecular dynamics snapshots. J Mol Graph Model 2020; 101:107722. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2020.107722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2020] [Revised: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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31
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Bouchal T, Durník I, Illík V, Réblová K, Kulhánek P. Importance of base-pair opening for mismatch recognition. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:11322-11334. [PMID: 33080020 PMCID: PMC7672436 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2020] [Revised: 09/09/2020] [Accepted: 09/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Mismatch repair is a highly conserved cellular pathway responsible for repairing mismatched dsDNA. Errors are detected by the MutS enzyme, which most likely senses altered mechanical property of damaged dsDNA rather than a specific molecular pattern. While the curved shape of dsDNA in crystallographic MutS/DNA structures suggests the role of DNA bending, the theoretical support is not fully convincing. Here, we present a computational study focused on a base-pair opening into the minor groove, a specific base-pair motion observed upon interaction with MutS. Propensities for the opening were evaluated in terms of two base-pair parameters: Opening and Shear. We tested all possible base pairs in anti/anti, anti/syn and syn/anti orientations and found clear discrimination between mismatches and canonical base-pairs only for the opening into the minor groove. Besides, the discrimination gap was also confirmed in hotspot and coldspot sequences, indicating that the opening could play a more significant role in the mismatch recognition than previously recognized. Our findings can be helpful for a better understanding of sequence-dependent mutability. Further, detailed structural characterization of mismatches can serve for designing anti-cancer drugs targeting mismatched base pairs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomáš Bouchal
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic.,National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Ivo Durník
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic.,National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Viktor Illík
- National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Kamila Réblová
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Kulhánek
- CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic.,National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
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32
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Biological activity of quinazoline analogues and molecular modeling of their interactions with G-quadruplexes. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2020; 1865:129773. [PMID: 33132199 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2020.129773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 10/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Quinazolines 1 to 6, with an aromatic or aryl-vinyl substituent in position 2 are selected with the aim to compare their structures and biological activity. The selection includes a natural alkaloid, schizocommunin, and the synthetic 2-(2'-quinolyl)-3H-quinazolin-4-one, known to interact with guanine-quadruplex dependent enzymes, respectively telomerase and topoisomerase. METHODS Breast cancer cells of the MDA cell line have been used to study the bioactivity of the tested compounds by the method of Comet Assay and FACS analyses. We model observed effects assuming stacking interactions of studied heterocycles with a naked skeleton of G-quadruplex, consisting of guanine quartet layers and potassium ions. Interaction energies are computed using a dispersion corrected density functional theory method, and an electron-correlated molecular orbital theory method. RESULTS Selected compounds do not remarkably delay nor change the dynamics of cellular progression through the cell cycle phases, while changing significantly cell morphology. Our computational models quantify structural effects on heterocyclic G4-complex stabilization energies, which directly correlate with observed biological activity. CONCLUSION Our computational model of G-quadruplexes is an acceptable tool for the study of interaction energies of G-quadruplexes and heterocyclic ligands, predicting, and allowing design of novel structures. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE Genotoxicity of quinazolin-4-one analogues on human breast cancer cells is not related to molecular metabolism but rather to their interference with G-quadruplex regulatory mechanisms. Computed stabilization energies of heterocyclic ligand complexes of G-quadruplexes might be useful in the prediction of novel telomerase / helicase, topoisomerase and NA polymerase dependent drugs.
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33
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Gutiérrez-Flores J, Hernández-Lemus E, Cortés-Guzmán F, Ramos E. Do weak interactions affect the biological behavior of DNA? A DFT study of CpG island-like chains. J Mol Model 2020; 26:266. [PMID: 32918237 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-020-04501-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The origin, stability, and contribution to the formation of noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen bonds and π - π stacking, have been already widely discussed. However, there are few discussions about the relevance of these weak interactions in DNA performance. In this work, we seek to shed light on the effect of hydrogen bonds and π - π stacking interactions on the biological behavior of DNA through the description of these intermolecular forces in CpG island-like (GC-rich) chains. Furthermore, we made some comparisons with TATA box-like (TA-rich) chains in order to describe hydrogen bond and π - π stacking interactions as a function of the DNA sequence. For hydrogen bonds, we found that there is not a significant effect related to the number of base pairs. Whereas for π - π stacking interactions, the energy tended to decrease as the number of base pairs increased. We observed anticooperative effects for both hydrogen bonds and π - π stacking interactions. These results are in contrast with those of TATA box-like chains since cooperative and additive effects were found for both hydrogen bonds and π - π stacking, respectively. Based on the chemical hardness and density of states, we can conclude that proteins may interact easier with GC-rich chains. We conclude that regardless of the chain length, a protein could interact more easily with these genomics regions because the π - π stacking energies did not increase as a function of the number of base pairs, making, for the first time, a first approximation of the influence of noncovalent interaction on DNA behavior. We did all this work by means of DFT framework included in the DMol3 code (M06-L/DNP). Graphical Abstract Cartoon representation of how nocovalent interactions affect the interaction of DNA with a protein, i.e., how hydrogen bond and π - π stacking interactions influence the biological behavior of DNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge Gutiérrez-Flores
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, CDMX, México
| | | | - Fernando Cortés-Guzmán
- Instituto de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, CDMX, México
| | - Estrella Ramos
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, 04510, CDMX, México.
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Kruse H, Mrazikova K, D'Ascenzo L, Sponer J, Auffinger P. Short but Weak: The Z‐DNA Lone‐Pair⋅⋅⋅π Conundrum Challenges Standard Carbon Van der Waals Radii. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.202004201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Holger Kruse
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 135 61265 Brno Czech Republic
| | - Klaudia Mrazikova
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 135 61265 Brno Czech Republic
- National Centre for Biomolecular ResearchFaculty of ScienceMasaryk University Kamenice 5 62500 Brno Czech Republic
| | - Luigi D'Ascenzo
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational BiologyThe Scripps Research Institute La Jolla CA 92037 USA
| | - Jiri Sponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 135 61265 Brno Czech Republic
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and MaterialsFaculty of SciencePalacký University Šlechtitelů 27 78371 Olomouc Czech Republic
| | - Pascal Auffinger
- Université de StrasbourgCNRS, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, UPR9002 F-67000 Strasbourg France
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35
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Kruse H, Mrazikova K, D'Ascenzo L, Sponer J, Auffinger P. Short but Weak: The Z‐DNA Lone‐Pair⋅⋅⋅π Conundrum Challenges Standard Carbon Van der Waals Radii. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020; 59:16553-16560. [DOI: 10.1002/anie.202004201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Holger Kruse
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 135 61265 Brno Czech Republic
| | - Klaudia Mrazikova
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 135 61265 Brno Czech Republic
- National Centre for Biomolecular Research Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kamenice 5 62500 Brno Czech Republic
| | - Luigi D'Ascenzo
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology The Scripps Research Institute La Jolla CA 92037 USA
| | - Jiri Sponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Královopolská 135 61265 Brno Czech Republic
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials Faculty of Science Palacký University Šlechtitelů 27 78371 Olomouc Czech Republic
| | - Pascal Auffinger
- Université de Strasbourg CNRS, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, UPR9002 F-67000 Strasbourg France
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36
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Kruse H, Szabla R, Šponer J. Surprisingly broad applicability of the cc-pVnZ-F12 basis set for ground and excited states. J Chem Phys 2020; 152:214104. [PMID: 32505162 DOI: 10.1063/5.0006871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Excellent convergence properties for the (aug-)cc-pVnZ-F12 basis set family, purpose-made for explicitly correlated calculations, are demonstrated with conventional wave function methods and Kohn-Sham density functional theory for various ground and excited-state calculations. Among the ground-state properties studied are dipole moments, covalent bond lengths, and interaction and reaction energies. For excited states, we looked at vertical excitation energies, UV absorption, and excited-state absorption spectra. Convergence is compared against the basis sets cc-pVnZ, def2-nVD, aug-pcseg-n, and nZaPa-NR. It is established that the cc-pVnZ-F12 family consistently yields results of n + 1 quality and better. Especially, the cc-pVDZ-F12 basis set is found to be a basis set of good cost vs performance trade-off.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holger Kruse
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 61265 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Rafał Szabla
- EaStCHEM, School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Joseph Black Building, David Brewster Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 61265 Brno, Czech Republic
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37
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Mlýnský V, Kührová P, Kühr T, Otyepka M, Bussi G, Banáš P, Šponer J. Fine-Tuning of the AMBER RNA Force Field with a New Term Adjusting Interactions of Terminal Nucleotides. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:3936-3946. [PMID: 32384244 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Determination of RNA structural-dynamic properties is challenging for experimental methods. Thus, atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations represent a helpful technique complementary to experiments. However, contemporary MD methods still suffer from limitations of force fields (ffs), including imbalances in the nonbonded ff terms. We have recently demonstrated that some improvement of state-of-the-art AMBER RNA ff can be achieved by adding a new term for H-bonding called gHBfix, which increases tuning flexibility and reduces risk of side-effects. Still, the first gHBfix version did not fully correct simulations of short RNA tetranucleotides (TNs). TNs are key benchmark systems due to availability of unique NMR data, although giving too much weight on improving TN simulations can easily lead to overfitting to A-form RNA. Here we combine the gHBfix version with another term called tHBfix, which separately treats H-bond interactions formed by terminal nucleotides. This allows to refine simulations of RNA TNs without affecting simulations of other RNAs. The approach is in line with adopted strategy of current RNA ffs, where the terminal nucleotides possess different parameters for terminal atoms than the internal nucleotides. Combination of gHBfix with tHBfix significantly improves the behavior of RNA TNs during well-converged enhanced-sampling simulations using replica exchange with solute tempering. TNs mostly populate canonical A-form like states while spurious intercalated structures are largely suppressed. Still, simulations of r(AAAA) and r(UUUU) TNs show some residual discrepancies with primary NMR data which suggests that future tuning of some other ff terms might be useful. Nevertheless, the tHBfix has a clear potential to improve modeling of key biochemical processes, where interactions of RNA single stranded ends are involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vojtěch Mlýnský
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Kralovopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Petra Kührová
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, tř. 17 listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Tomáš Kühr
- Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, tř. 17 listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Otyepka
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Kralovopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic.,Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, tř. 17 listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Giovanni Bussi
- Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, SISSA, via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Pavel Banáš
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Kralovopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic.,Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, tř. 17 listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Kralovopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic
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38
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Khalilinia E, Ebrahimi A. π-Stacking effects on acid capacity of p-aminobenzoic acid. Struct Chem 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s11224-020-01530-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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39
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Pal S, Paul S. Understanding The Role of Reline, a Natural DES, on Temperature-Induced Conformational Changes of C-Kit G-Quadruplex DNA: A Molecular Dynamics Study. J Phys Chem B 2020; 124:3123-3136. [PMID: 32207949 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c00644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The noncanonical guanine-rich DNAs have drawn particular attention to the scientific world due to their controllable diverse and polymorphic structures. Apart from biological and medical significance, G-quadruplex DNAs are widely used in various fields such as nanotechnology, nanomachine, biosensors, and biocatalyst. So far, the applications of the G-quadruplex DNA are mainly limited in the water medium. Recently, a new generation of solvent named deep eutectic solvent (DES) has become very popular and has been widely used as a reaction medium of biocatalytic reactions and long-term storage medium for nucleic acids, even at high temperature. Hence, it is essential to understand the role of DES on temperature-induced conformational changes of a G-quadruplex DNA. In this research work, we have explored the temperature-mediated conformational dynamics of c-kit oncogene promoter G-quadruplex DNA in reline medium in the temperature range of 300-500 K, using a total of 10 μs unbiased all-atom molecular dynamics simulation. Here, from RMSD, RMSF, Rg and principal component analyses, we notice that the c-kit G-quadruplex DNA is stable up to 450 K in reline medium. However, it unfolds in water medium at 450 K. It is found that the hydrogen bonding interactions between c-kit G-quadruplex DNA and reline play a key role in the stabilization of the G-quadruplex DNA even at high temperature. Furthermore, in this work we have observed a very interesting and distinctive phenomenon of the central cation of the G-quadruplex DNA. Its position was seen to fluctuate between the two tetrad cores, that is, the region between tetrad-1 and tetrad-2 and that between tetrad-2 and tetrad-3 and vice versa at 450 and 500 K in reline medium which is absent in water medium at 450 K. Moreover, the rate of its oscillation is increased when temperature is increased.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saikat Pal
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Assam, India, 781039
| | - Sandip Paul
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati Assam, India, 781039
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40
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Stacking geometry between two sheared Watson-Crick basepairs: Computational chemistry and bioinformatics based prediction. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2020; 1864:129600. [PMID: 32179130 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2020.129600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2019] [Revised: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Molecular modeling of RNA double helices is possible using most probable values of basepair parameters obtained from crystal structure database. The A:A w:wC non-canonical basepair, involving Watson-Crick edges of two Adenines in cis orientation, appears quite frequently in database. Bimodal distribution of its Shear, due to two different H-bonding schemes, introduces the confusion in assigning most the probable value. Its effect is pronounced when the A:A w:wC basepair stacks on Sheared wobble G:U W:WC basepairs. METHODS We employed molecular dynamics simulations of three possible double helices with GAG, UAG and GAU sequence motifs at their centers and quantum chemical calculation for non-canonical A:A w:wC basepair stacked on G:U W:WC basepair. RESULTS We noticed stable structures of GAG motif with specifically negative Shear of the A:A basepair but stabilities of the other motifs were not found with A:A w:wC basepairing. Hybrid DFT-D and MP2 stacking energy analyses on dinucleotide step sequences, A:A w:wC::G:U W:WC and A:A w:wC::U:G W:WC reveal that viable orientation of A:A::G:U prefers one of the H-bonding modes with negative Shear, supported by crystal structure database. The A:A::U:G dinucleotide, however, prefers structure with only positive Shear. CONCLUSIONS The quantum chemical calculations explain why MD simulations of GAG sequence motif only appear stable. In the cases of the GAU and UAG motifs "tug of war" situation between positive and negative Shears of A:A w:wC basepair induces conformational plasticity. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE We have projected comprehensive reason behind the promiscuous nature of A:A w:wC basepair which brings occasional structural plasticity.
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Chen JL, Sun T, Wang YB, Wang W. Toward a less costly but accurate calculation of the CCSD(T)/CBS noncovalent interaction energy. J Comput Chem 2020; 41:1252-1260. [PMID: 32045021 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2019] [Revised: 01/12/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The popular method of calculating the noncovalent interaction energies at the coupled-cluster single-, double-, and perturbative triple-excitations [CCSD(T)] theory level in the complete basis set (CBS) limit was to add a CCSD(T) correction term to the CBS second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2). The CCSD(T) correction term is the difference between the CCSD(T) and MP2 interaction energies evaluated in a medium basis set. However, the CCSD(T) calculations with the medium basis sets are still very expensive for systems with more than 30 atoms. Comparatively, the domain-based local pair natural orbital coupled-cluster method [DLPNO-CCSD(T)] can be applied to large systems with over 1,000 atoms. Considering both the computational accuracy and efficiency, in this work, we propose a new scheme to calculate the CCSD(T)/CBS interaction energies. In this scheme, the MP2/CBS term keeps intact and the CCSD(T) correction term is replaced by a DLPNO-CCSD(T) correction term which is the difference between the DLPNO-CCSD(T) and DLPNO-MP2 interaction energies evaluated in a medium basis set. The interaction energies of the noncovalent systems in the S22, HSG, HBC6, NBC10, and S66 databases were recalculated employing this new scheme. The consistent and tight settings of the truncation parameters for DLPNO-CCSD(T) and DLPNO-MP2 in this noncanonical CCSD(T)/CBS calculations lead to the maximum absolute deviation and root-mean-square deviation from the canonical CCSD(T)/CBS interaction energies of less than or equal to 0.28 kcal/mol and 0.09 kcal/mol, respectively. The high accuracy and low cost of this new computational scheme make it an excellent candidate for the study of large noncovalent systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiu-Li Chen
- Department of Chemistry, and Key Laboratory of Guizhou High Performance Computational Chemistry, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Tao Sun
- Department of Chemistry, and Key Laboratory of Guizhou High Performance Computational Chemistry, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Yi-Bo Wang
- Department of Chemistry, and Key Laboratory of Guizhou High Performance Computational Chemistry, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Weizhou Wang
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Henan Key Laboratory of Function-Oriented Porous Materials, Luoyang Normal University, Luoyang, China
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42
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Harding DP, Kingsley LJ, Spraggon G, Wheeler SE. Importance of model size in quantum mechanical studies of DNA intercalation. J Comput Chem 2020; 41:1175-1184. [PMID: 32011009 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2019] [Revised: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 01/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The convergence of DFT-computed interaction energies with increasing binding site model size was assessed. The data show that while accurate intercalator interaction energies can be derived from binding site models featuring only the flanking nucleotides for uncharged intercalators that bind parallel to the DNA base pairs, errors remain significant even when including distant nucleotides for intercalators that are charged, exhibit groove-binding tails that engage in noncovalent interactions with distant nucleotides, or that bind perpendicular to the DNA base pairs. Consequently, binding site models that include at least three adjacent nucleotides are required to consistently predict converged binding energies. The computationally inexpensive HF-3c method is shown to provide reliable interaction energies and can be routinely applied to such large models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Drew P Harding
- Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.,Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Laura J Kingsley
- Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California
| | - Glen Spraggon
- Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, San Diego, California
| | - Steven E Wheeler
- Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
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Qin KS, Ichibha T, Hongo K, Maezono R. Inconsistencies in ab initio evaluations of non-additive contributions of DNA stacking energies. Chem Phys 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphys.2019.110554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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44
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Kim M, Gould T, Rocca D, Lebègue S. Establishing the accuracy of density functional approaches for the description of noncovalent interactions in biomolecules. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:21685-21695. [DOI: 10.1039/d0cp04137h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Biomolecules have complex structures, and noncovalent interactions are crucial to determine their conformations and functionalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minho Kim
- Université de Lorraine and CNRS
- LPCT
- UMR 7019
- Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy 54506
- France
| | - Tim Gould
- Queensland Micro- and Nanotechnology Centre
- Griffith University
- Nathan
- Australia
| | - Dario Rocca
- Université de Lorraine and CNRS
- LPCT
- UMR 7019
- Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy 54506
- France
| | - Sébastien Lebègue
- Université de Lorraine and CNRS
- LPCT
- UMR 7019
- Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy 54506
- France
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45
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Kruse H, Šponer J. Revisiting the Potential Energy Surface of the Stacked Cytosine Dimer: FNO-CCSD(T) Interaction Energies, SAPT Decompositions, and Benchmarking. J Phys Chem A 2019; 123:9209-9222. [PMID: 31560201 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.9b05940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Nucleobase stacking interactions are crucial for the stability of nucleic acids. This study investigates base stacking energies of the cytosine homodimer in different configurations, including intermolecular separation plots, detailed twist dependence, and displaced structures. Highly accurate ab initio quantum chemical single point energies using an energy function based on MP2 complete basis set extrapolation ([6 → 7]ZaPa-NR) and a CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ-F12 high-level correction are presented as new reference data, providing the most accurate stacking energies of nucleobase dimers currently available. Accurate SAPT2+(3)δMP2 energy decomposition is used to obtain detailed insights into the nature of base stacking interactions at varying vertical distances and twist values. The ab initio symmetry adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) energy decomposition suggests that the base stacking originates from an intricate interplay between dispersion attraction, short-range exchange-repulsion, and Coulomb interaction. The interpretation of the SAPT data is a complex issue as key energy terms vary substantially in the region of optimal (low energy) base stacking geometries. Thus, attempts to highlight one leading stabilizing SAPT base stacking term may be misleading and the outcome strongly depends on the used geometries within the range of geometries sampled in nucleic acids upon thermal fluctuations. Modern dispersion-corrected density functional theory (among them DSD-BLYP-D3, ωB97M-V, and ωB97M-D3BJ) is benchmarked and often reaches up to spectroscopic accuracy (below 1 kJ/mol). The classical AMBER force field is benchmarked with multiple different sets of point-charges (e.g. HF, DFT, and MP2-based) and is found to produce reasonable agreement with the benchmark data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holger Kruse
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences , Královopolská 135 , CZ-61265 Brno , Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences , Královopolská 135 , CZ-61265 Brno , Czech Republic.,Central European Institute of Technology , Masaryk University , Kamenice 753/5 , 62500 Brno , Czech Republic
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Emamian S, Lu T, Kruse H, Emamian H. Exploring Nature and Predicting Strength of Hydrogen Bonds: A Correlation Analysis Between Atoms-in-Molecules Descriptors, Binding Energies, and Energy Components of Symmetry-Adapted Perturbation Theory. J Comput Chem 2019; 40:2868-2881. [PMID: 31518004 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 424] [Impact Index Per Article: 84.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2019] [Revised: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 08/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
This work studies the underlying nature of H-bonds (HBs) of different types and strengths and tries to predict binding energies (BEs) based on the properties derived from wave function analysis. A total of 42 HB complexes constructed from 28 neutral and 14 charged monomers were considered. This set was designed to sample a wide range of HB strengths to obtain a complete view about HBs. BEs were derived with the accurate coupled cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples correction (CCSD(T))(T) method and the physical components of the BE were investigated by symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT). Quantum theory of atoms-in-molecules (QTAIM) descriptors and other HB indices were calculated based on high-quality density functional theory wave functions. We propose a new and rigorous classification of H-bonds (HBs) based on the SAPT decomposition. Neutral complexes are either classified as "very weak" HBs with a BE ≥ -2.5 kcal/mol that are mainly dominated by both dispersion and electrostatic interactions or as "weak-to-medium" HBs with a BE varying between -2.5 and -14.0 kcal/mol that are only dominated by electrostatic interactions. On the other hand, charged complexes are divided into "medium" HBs with a BE in the range of -11.0 to -15.0 kcal/mol, which are mainly dominated by electrostatic interactions, or into "strong" HBs whose BE is more negative than -15.0 kcal/mol, which are mainly dominated by electrostatic together with induction interactions. Among various explored correlations between BEs and wave function-based HB descriptors, a fairly satisfactory correlation was found for the electron density at the bond critical point (BCP; ρBCP ) of HBs. The fitted equation for neutral complexes is BE/kcal/mol = - 223.08 × ρBCP /a. u. + 0.7423 with a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 14.7%, while that for charged complexes is BE/kcal/mol = - 332.34 × ρBCP /a. u. - 1.0661 with a MAPE of 10.0%. In practice, these equations may be used for a quick estimation of HB BEs, for example, for intramolecular HBs or large HB networks in biomolecules. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saeedreza Emamian
- Chemistry Department, Shahrood Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrood, Iran
| | - Tian Lu
- Beijing Kein Research Center for Natural Sciences, Beijing, 100022, People's Republic of China
| | - Holger Kruse
- Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Hamidreza Emamian
- Materials Science & Metallurgy Department, Technology & Processing of New Materials Research Center, Neyshabur Branch, Islamic Azad University, Neyshabur, Iran
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Chawla M, Minenkov Y, Vu KB, Oliva R, Cavallo L. Structural and Energetic Impact of Non-natural 7-Deaza-8-azaguanine, 7-Deaza-8-azaisoguanine, and Their 7-Substituted Derivatives on Hydrogen-Bond Pairing with Cytosine and Isocytosine. Chembiochem 2019; 20:2262-2270. [PMID: 30983115 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201900245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The impact of 7-deaza-8-azaguanine (DAG) and 7-deaza-8-azaisoguanine (DAiG) modifications on the geometry and stability of the G:C Watson-Crick (cWW) base pair and the G:iC and iG:C reverse Watson-Crick (tWW) base pairs has been characterized theoretically. In addition, the effect on the same base pairs of seven C7-substituted DAG and DAiG derivatives, some of which have been previously experimentally characterized, has been investigated. Calculations indicate that all of these modifications have a negligible impact on the geometry of the above base pairs, and that modification of the heterocycle skeleton has a small impact on the base-pair interaction energies. Instead, base-pair interaction energies are dependent on the nature of the C7 substituent. For the 7-substituted DAG-C cWW systems, a linear correlation between the base-pair interaction energy and the Hammett constant of the 7-substituent is found, with higher interaction energies corresponding to more electron-withdrawing substituents. Therefore, the explored modifications are expected to be accommodated in both parallel and antiparallel nucleic acid duplexes without perturbing their geometry, while the strength of a base pair (and duplex) featuring a DAG modification can, in principle, be tuned by incorporating different substituents at the C7 position.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohit Chawla
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, Kaust Catalysis Center, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
| | - Yury Minenkov
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Institutskiy Pereulok 9, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region, 141700, Russia
| | - Khanh B Vu
- NTT Hi-Tech Institute, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, 298-300A Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Romina Oliva
- Department of Sciences and Technologies, University Parthenope of Naples, Centro Direzionale Isola C4, 80143, Naples, Italy
| | - Luigi Cavallo
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Physical Sciences and Engineering Division, Kaust Catalysis Center, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia
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48
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Harding DP, Bootsma AN, Wheeler SE. Better Sensing through Stacking: The Role of Non-Covalent Interactions in Guanine-Binding Sensors. J Phys Chem B 2018; 123:487-495. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b12158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Drew P. Harding
- Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842, United States
- Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
| | - Andrea N. Bootsma
- Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842, United States
- Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
| | - Steven E. Wheeler
- Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77842, United States
- Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
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