1
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Wang L, Behara PK, Thompson MW, Gokey T, Wang Y, Wagner JR, Cole DJ, Gilson MK, Shirts MR, Mobley DL. The Open Force Field Initiative: Open Software and Open Science for Molecular Modeling. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:7043-7067. [PMID: 38989715 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c01558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
Force fields are a key component of physics-based molecular modeling, describing the energies and forces in a molecular system as a function of the positions of the atoms and molecules involved. Here, we provide a review and scientific status report on the work of the Open Force Field (OpenFF) Initiative, which focuses on the science, infrastructure and data required to build the next generation of biomolecular force fields. We introduce the OpenFF Initiative and the related OpenFF Consortium, describe its approach to force field development and software, and discuss accomplishments to date as well as future plans. OpenFF releases both software and data under open and permissive licensing agreements to enable rapid application, validation, extension, and modification of its force fields and software tools. We discuss lessons learned to date in this new approach to force field development. We also highlight ways that other force field researchers can get involved, as well as some recent successes of outside researchers taking advantage of OpenFF tools and data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lily Wang
- Open Force Field, Open Molecular Software Foundation, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Pavan Kumar Behara
- Center for Neurotherapeutics, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Matthew W Thompson
- Open Force Field, Open Molecular Software Foundation, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Trevor Gokey
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Yuanqing Wang
- Simons Center for Computational Physical Chemistry and Center for Data Science, New York, New York 10004, United States
| | - Jeffrey R Wagner
- Open Force Field, Open Molecular Software Foundation, Davis, California 95616, United States
| | - Daniel J Cole
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Michael K Gilson
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Michael R Shirts
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80305, United States
| | - David L Mobley
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, United States
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, United States
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2
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Biswas S, Kaur S, Myers CA, Chen AA, Welch JT. Aggregation in Aqueous Solutions of 2-(Tetrafluoro(trifluoromethyl)-λ 6-sulfanyl-ethan-1-ol (CF 3SF 4-ethanol)): A Comparison with Aqueous Trifluoroethanol and Hexafluoroisopropanol Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Dynamic Light Scattering Experiments. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:30037-30047. [PMID: 37636933 PMCID: PMC10448670 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c02019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023]
Abstract
2-Tetrafluoro(trifluoromethyl)-λ6-sulfanylethan-1-ol (CF3SF4-ethanol) combines the polar hydrophobicity of tetrafluoro(trifluoromethyl)-λ6-sulfanyl (CF3SF4) group with the polarity of simple alcohols. The properties of aqueous solutions of the well-known fluorinated alcohols 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) and 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) were compared with those of aqueous solutions of the novel CF3SF4-ethanol. Those properties were computed using all atom molecular dynamics simulations with OPLS-compatible parameters. DFT ab initio calculations were used to accurately describe the nonsymmetrical, hypervalent sulfur in CF3SF4-ethanol. Although the molecular and conformational characteristics of CF3SF4-ethanol are like those of both TFE and HFIP, the greater hydrophobicity and lower polarity of CF3SF4-ethanol resulted in solution phase aggregation at a much lower concentration. The properties computed for TFE and HFIP in this work were consistent with published computational and experimental studies. CF3SF4-ethanol is predicted to be environmentally benign and hence an excellent green solvent candidate while possessing many of the same properties as TFE or HFIP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samadrita Biswas
- Department
of Chemistry, University at Albany, State
University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, New York 12222, United States
| | - Simi Kaur
- Department
of Chemistry, University at Albany, State
University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, New York 12222, United States
- RNA
Institute, University at Albany, State University
of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, New York 12222, United States
| | - Christopher A. Myers
- RNA
Institute, University at Albany, State University
of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, New York 12222, United States
- Department
of Physics, University at Albany, State
University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, New York 12222, United States
| | - Alan A. Chen
- Department
of Chemistry, University at Albany, State
University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, New York 12222, United States
- RNA
Institute, University at Albany, State University
of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, New York 12222, United States
| | - John T. Welch
- Department
of Chemistry, University at Albany, State
University of New York, 1400 Washington Ave, Albany, New York 12222, United States
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3
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Junqueira GMA, Ballester MY, Nascimento MAC. Reactivity properties of the HOSO and HSO 2 isomers in liquid medium: a sequential Monte Carlo/quantum mechanics study. J Mol Model 2023; 29:189. [PMID: 37249704 DOI: 10.1007/s00894-023-05514-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT The rationalization of acid rain formation steps is fundamental for mitigating its effects. It is believed the hydroxysulfinyl radical is an intermediate species for the production of atmospheric sulfuric acid. Two stable configurations HOSO and HSO2 have been reported for such a radical in the gas phase. This work aims at studying these isomers in the aqueous medium. The electrical and reactivity quantities - electronic chemical potential ([Formula: see text]), chemical hardness ([Formula: see text]), and electrophilicity ([Formula: see text]) - are here calculated and compared. Considering first solvation shells (15 H2O for HSO2 and 23 H2O for HOSO), an increase of 25% in the dipole moment of HSO2 was obtained, while the dipole moment of HOSO decreases in 11%. Both solvated isomers grow softer ([Formula: see text] decreases) contrasted to the gas phase. METHODS HOSO and HSO2 are studied through a sequential Monte Carlo/quantum mechanics approach. Lennard-Jones plus the Coulomb potentials were used to represent intermolecular potential interaction in the frame of the DICE package. Molecular structure calculations were performed at CASPT2/aug - cc - pV(T + d)Z level of theory using the MOLPRO suite of programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geórgia Maria A Junqueira
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-909, RJ, Brazil.
| | - Maikel Y Ballester
- Department of Physics, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Campus Universitário, Juiz de Fora, 36015-260, MG, Brazil
| | - Marco Antonio Chaer Nascimento
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, 21941-909, RJ, Brazil
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4
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Hosseini AN, van der Spoel D. Simulations of Amyloid-Forming Peptides in the Crystal State. Protein J 2023:10.1007/s10930-023-10119-3. [PMID: 37145206 DOI: 10.1007/s10930-023-10119-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
There still is little treatment available for amyloid diseases, despite their significant impact on individuals and the social and economic implications for society. One reason for this is that the physical nature of amyloid formation is not understood sufficiently well. Therefore, fundamental research at the molecular level remains necessary to support the development of therapeutics. A few structures of short peptides from amyloid-forming proteins have been determined. These can in principle be used as scaffolds for designing aggregation inhibitors. Attempts to this end have often used the tools of computational chemistry, in particular molecular simulation. However, few simulation studies of these peptides in the crystal state have been presented so far. Hence, to validate the capability of common force fields (AMBER19SB, CHARMM36m, and OPLS-AA/M) to yield insight into the dynamics and structural stability of amyloid peptide aggregates, we have performed molecular dynamics simulations of twelve different peptide crystals at two different temperatures. From the simulations, we evaluate the hydrogen bonding patterns, the isotropic B-factors, the change in energy, the Ramachandran plots, and the unit cell parameters and compare the results with the crystal structures. Most crystals are stable in the simulations but for all force fields there is at least one that deviates from the experimental crystal, suggesting more work is needed on these models.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Najla Hosseini
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Box 596, SE, 75124, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - David van der Spoel
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Box 596, SE, 75124, Uppsala, Sweden.
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5
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Di Mino C, Clancy AJ, Sella A, Howard CA, Headen TF, Seel AG, Skipper NT. Weak Interactions in Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO)-Tertiary Amide Solutions: The Versatility of DMSO as a Solvent. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:1357-1366. [PMID: 36752593 PMCID: PMC9940205 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c07155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
The structures of equimolar mixtures of the commonly used polar aprotic solvents dimethylformamide (DMF) and dimethylacetamide (DMAc) in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) have been investigated via neutron diffraction augmented by extensive hydrogen/deuterium isotopic substitution. Detailed 3-dimensional structural models of these solutions have been derived from the neutron data via Empirical Potential Structure Refinement (EPSR). The intermolecular center-of-mass (CoM) distributions show that the first coordination shell of the amides comprises ∼13-14 neighbors, of which approximately half are DMSO. In spite of this near ideal coordination shell mixing, the changes to the amide-amide structure are found to be relatively subtle when compared to the pure liquids. Analysis of specific intermolecular atom-atom correlations allows quantitative interpretation of the competition between weak interactions in the solution. We find a hierarchy of formic and methyl C-H···O hydrogen bonds forms the dominant local motifs, with peak positions in the range of 2.5-3.0 Å. We also observe a rich variety of steric and dispersion interactions, including those involving the O═C-N amide π-backbones. This detailed insight into the structural landscape of these important liquids demonstrates the versatility of DMSO as a solvent and the remarkable sensitivity of neutron diffraction, which is critical for understanding weak intermolecular interactions at the nanoscale and thereby tailoring solvent properties to specific applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Di Mino
- Department
of Physics and Astronomy, University College
London, Gower Street, LondonWC1E
6BT, U.K.
| | - Adam J. Clancy
- Department
of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, LondonWC1H 0AJ, U.K.
| | - Andrea Sella
- Department
of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, LondonWC1H 0AJ, U.K.
| | - Christopher A. Howard
- Department
of Physics and Astronomy, University College
London, Gower Street, LondonWC1E
6BT, U.K.
| | - Thomas F. Headen
- ISIS
Neutron and Muon Source, Science and Technology
Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus, DidcotOX11 0QX, U.K.
| | - Andrew G. Seel
- ISIS
Neutron and Muon Source, Science and Technology
Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus, DidcotOX11 0QX, U.K.,E-mail: . Phone: +44 (0)1793 547500
| | - Neal T. Skipper
- Department
of Physics and Astronomy, University College
London, Gower Street, LondonWC1E
6BT, U.K.,E-mail: . Phone: +44 (0)207 679 3526
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6
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Zhu Q, Ge Y, Li W, Ma J. Treating Polarization Effects in Charged and Polar Bio-Molecules Through Variable Electrostatic Parameters. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:396-411. [PMID: 36592097 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c01130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Polarization plays important roles in charged and hydrogen bonding containing systems. Much effort ranging from the construction of physics-based models to quantum mechanism (QM)-based and machine learning (ML)-assisted models have been devoted to incorporating the polarization effect into the conventional force fields at different levels, such as atomic and coarse grained (CG). The application of polarizable force fields or polarization models was limited by two aspects, namely, computational cost and transferability. Different from physics-based models, no predetermining parameters were required in the QM-based approaches. Taking advantage of both the accuracy of QM calculations and efficiency of molecular mechanism (MM) and ML, polarization effects could be treated more efficiently while maintaining the QM accuracy. The computational cost could be reduced with variable electrostatic parameters, such as the charge, dipole, and electronic dielectric constant with the help of linear scaling fragmentation-based QM calculations and ML models. Polarization and entropy effects on the prediction of partition coefficient of druglike molecules are demonstrated by using both explicit or implicit all-atom molecular dynamics simulations and machine learning-assisted models. Directions and challenges for future development are also envisioned.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing210023, P. R. China
| | - Yang Ge
- Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing210023, P. R. China
| | - Wei Li
- Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing210023, P. R. China
| | - Jing Ma
- Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing210023, P. R. China
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7
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Kojasoy V, Tantillo DJ. Impacts of noncovalent interactions involving sulfur atoms on protein stability, structure, folding, and bioactivity. Org Biomol Chem 2022; 21:11-23. [PMID: 36345987 DOI: 10.1039/d2ob01602h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
This review discusses the various types of noncovalent interactions in which sulfur atoms participate and their effects on protein stability, structure, folding and bioactivity. Current approaches and recommendations for modelling these noncovalent interactions (in terms of both geometries and interaction energies) are highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Volga Kojasoy
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
| | - Dean J Tantillo
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
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8
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Raush E, Abagyan R, Totrov M. Graph-Convolutional Neural Net Model of the Statistical Torsion Profiles for Small Organic Molecules. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:5896-5906. [PMID: 36456533 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
We present a graph-convolutional neural network (GCNN)-based method for learning and prediction of statistical torsional profiles (STP) in small organic molecules based on the experimental X-ray structure data. A specialized GCNN torsion profile model is trained using the structures in the Crystallography Open Database (COD). The GCNN-STP model captures torsional preferences over a wide range of torsion rotor chemotypes and correctly predicts a variety of effects from the vicinal atoms and moieties. GCNN-STP statistical profiles also show good agreement with quantum chemically (DFT) calculated torsion energy profiles. Furthermore, we demonstrate the application of the GCNN-STP statistical profiles for conformer generation. A web server that allows interactive profile prediction and viewing is made freely available at https://www.molsoft.com/tortool.html.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugene Raush
- Molsoft L.L.C., 11199 Sorrento Valley Road, S209, San Diego, California92121, United States
| | - Ruben Abagyan
- Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California92093, United States
| | - Maxim Totrov
- Molsoft L.L.C., 11199 Sorrento Valley Road, S209, San Diego, California92121, United States
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9
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Mattei A, Hong RS, Dietrich H, Firaha D, Helfferich J, Liu YM, Sasikumar K, Abraham NS, Miglani Bhardwaj R, Neumann MA, Sheikh AY. Efficient Crystal Structure Prediction for Structurally Related Molecules with Accurate and Transferable Tailor-Made Force Fields. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:5725-5738. [PMID: 35930763 PMCID: PMC9476662 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Crystal structure prediction (CSP) his generally used to complement experimental solid form screening and applied to individual molecules in drug development. The fast development of algorithms and computing resources offers the opportunity to use CSP earlier and for a broader range of applications in the drug design cycle. This study presents a novel paradigm of CSP specifically designed for structurally related molecules, referred to as Quick-CSP. The approach prioritizes more accurate physics through robust and transferable tailor-made force fields (TMFFs), such that significant efficiency gains are achieved through the reduction of expensive ab initio calculations. The accuracy of the TMFF is increased by the introduction of electrostatic multipoles, and the fragment-based force field parameterization scheme is demonstrated to be transferable for a family of chemically related molecules. The protocol is benchmarked with structurally related compounds from the Bromodomain and Extraterminal (BET) domain inhibitors series. A new convergence criterion is introduced that aims at performing only as many ab initio optimizations of crystal structures as required to locate the bottom of the crystal energy landscape within a user-defined accuracy. The overall approach provides significant cost savings ranging from three- to eight-fold less than the full-CSP workflow. The reported advancements expand the scope and utility of the underlying CSP building blocks as well as their novel reassembly to other applications earlier in the drug design cycle to guide molecule design and selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Mattei
- Solid State Chemistry, Research & Development, AbbVie Inc., 1 N Waukegan Road, North Chicago, Illinois 60064, United States
| | - Richard S Hong
- Solid State Chemistry, Research & Development, AbbVie Inc., 1 N Waukegan Road, North Chicago, Illinois 60064, United States
| | - Hanno Dietrich
- Avant-garde Materials Simulation, GmbH, Alte Str. 2, 79249 Merzhausen, Germany
| | - Dzmitry Firaha
- Avant-garde Materials Simulation, GmbH, Alte Str. 2, 79249 Merzhausen, Germany
| | - Julian Helfferich
- Avant-garde Materials Simulation, GmbH, Alte Str. 2, 79249 Merzhausen, Germany
| | - Yifei Michelle Liu
- Avant-garde Materials Simulation, GmbH, Alte Str. 2, 79249 Merzhausen, Germany
| | - Kiran Sasikumar
- Avant-garde Materials Simulation, GmbH, Alte Str. 2, 79249 Merzhausen, Germany
| | - Nathan S Abraham
- Solid State Chemistry, Research & Development, AbbVie Inc., 1 N Waukegan Road, North Chicago, Illinois 60064, United States
| | - Rajni Miglani Bhardwaj
- Solid State Chemistry, Research & Development, AbbVie Inc., 1 N Waukegan Road, North Chicago, Illinois 60064, United States
| | - Marcus A Neumann
- Avant-garde Materials Simulation, GmbH, Alte Str. 2, 79249 Merzhausen, Germany
| | - Ahmad Y Sheikh
- Solid State Chemistry, Research & Development, AbbVie Inc., 1 N Waukegan Road, North Chicago, Illinois 60064, United States
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10
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Peluso P, Chankvetadze B. Recognition in the Domain of Molecular Chirality: From Noncovalent Interactions to Separation of Enantiomers. Chem Rev 2022; 122:13235-13400. [PMID: 35917234 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
It is not a coincidence that both chirality and noncovalent interactions are ubiquitous in nature and synthetic molecular systems. Noncovalent interactivity between chiral molecules underlies enantioselective recognition as a fundamental phenomenon regulating life and human activities. Thus, noncovalent interactions represent the narrative thread of a fascinating story which goes across several disciplines of medical, chemical, physical, biological, and other natural sciences. This review has been conceived with the awareness that a modern attitude toward molecular chirality and its consequences needs to be founded on multidisciplinary approaches to disclose the molecular basis of essential enantioselective phenomena in the domain of chemical, physical, and life sciences. With the primary aim of discussing this topic in an integrated way, a comprehensive pool of rational and systematic multidisciplinary information is provided, which concerns the fundamentals of chirality, a description of noncovalent interactions, and their implications in enantioselective processes occurring in different contexts. A specific focus is devoted to enantioselection in chromatography and electromigration techniques because of their unique feature as "multistep" processes. A second motivation for writing this review is to make a clear statement about the state of the art, the tools we have at our disposal, and what is still missing to fully understand the mechanisms underlying enantioselective recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Peluso
- Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare ICB, CNR, Sede secondaria di Sassari, Traversa La Crucca 3, Regione Baldinca, Li Punti, I-07100 Sassari, Italy
| | - Bezhan Chankvetadze
- Institute of Physical and Analytical Chemistry, School of Exact and Natural Sciences, Tbilisi State University, Chavchavadze Avenue 3, 0179 Tbilisi, Georgia
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11
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Ringrose C, Horton JT, Wang LP, Cole DJ. Exploration and validation of force field design protocols through QM-to-MM mapping. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:17014-17027. [PMID: 35792069 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp02864f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The scale of the parameter optimisation problem in traditional molecular mechanics force field construction means that design of a new force field is a long process, and sub-optimal choices made in the early stages can persist for many generations. We hypothesise that careful use of quantum mechanics to inform molecular mechanics parameter derivation (QM-to-MM mapping) should be used to significantly reduce the number of parameters that require fitting to experiment and increase the pace of force field development. Here, we design and train a collection of 15 new protocols for small, organic molecule force field derivation, and test their accuracy against experimental liquid properties. Our best performing model has only seven fitting parameters, yet achieves mean unsigned errors of just 0.031 g cm-3 and 0.69 kcal mol-1 in liquid densities and heats of vaporisation, compared to experiment. The software required to derive the designed force fields is freely available at https://github.com/qubekit/QUBEKit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Ringrose
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
| | - Joshua T Horton
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
| | - Lee-Ping Wang
- Department of Chemistry, The University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA
| | - Daniel J Cole
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
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12
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Leskourová A, Kolář MH. The effect of off-center σ -hole on the atom-centered partial charges in halogenated molecules. J Comput Chem 2022; 43:864-869. [PMID: 35298034 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2022] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Partial atomic charges belong to key concepts of computational chemistry. In some cases, however, they fail in describing the electrostatics of molecules. One such example is the σ -hole, a region of positive electrostatic potential located on halogens and other atoms. In molecular mechanics, the σ -hole is often modeled as a pseudo-atom with a positive partial charge located off the halogen nucleus. Here we address a question, to what extent the pseudo-atom affects partial charges of other atoms in the molecule. To this aim, we have thoroughly analyzed partial charges of over 2300 halogenated molecules from the ZINC database calculated by the restricted electrostatic potential (RESP) method and compared them with the charges fitted by RESP including the pseudo-atom. We show that the pseudo-atom improves charge fitting for a vast majority of molecules. The σ -hole, modeled as the off-center charge, affects the atoms within three covalent bonds from the halogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aneta Leskourová
- Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Michal H Kolář
- Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic
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13
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Fortuna A, Costa PJ. Optimized Halogen Atomic Radii for PBSA Calculations Using Off-Center Point Charges. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:3361-3375. [PMID: 34185532 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
In force-field methods, the usage of off-center point charges, also called extra points (EPs), is a common strategy to tackle the anisotropy of the electrostatic potential of covalently bonded halogens (X), thus allowing the description of halogen bonds (XBs) at the molecular mechanics/molecular dynamics (MM/MD) level. Diverse EP implementations exist in the literature differing on the charge sets and/or the X-EP distances. Poisson-Boltzmann and surface area (PBSA) calculations can be used to obtain solvation free energies (ΔGsolv) of small molecules, often to compute binding free energies (ΔGbind) at the MM-PBSA level. This method depends, among other parameters, on the empirical assignment of atomic radii (PB radii). Given the multiplicity of off-center point-charge models and the lack of specific PB radii for halogens compatible with such implementations, in this work, we assessed the performance of PBSA calculations for the estimation of ΔGsolv values in water (ΔGhyd), also conducting an optimization of the halogen PB radii (Cl, Br, and I) for each EP model. We not only expand the usage of EP models in the scope of the general AMBER force field (GAFF) but also provide the first optimized halogen PB radii in the context of the CHARMM general force field (CGenFF), thus contributing to improving the description of halogenated compounds in PBSA calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreia Fortuna
- BioISI-Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.,Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Av. Professor Gama Pinto, 1649-003 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Paulo J Costa
- BioISI-Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
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14
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Lu C, Wu C, Ghoreishi D, Chen W, Wang L, Damm W, Ross GA, Dahlgren MK, Russell E, Von Bargen CD, Abel R, Friesner RA, Harder ED. OPLS4: Improving Force Field Accuracy on Challenging Regimes of Chemical Space. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:4291-4300. [PMID: 34096718 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 559] [Impact Index Per Article: 186.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Chao Lu
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Chuanjie Wu
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Delaram Ghoreishi
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Wei Chen
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Lingle Wang
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Wolfgang Damm
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Gregory A. Ross
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Markus K. Dahlgren
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Ellery Russell
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | | | - Robert Abel
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Richard A. Friesner
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, 3000 Broadway, New York, New York 10027, United States
| | - Edward D. Harder
- Schrodinger, Incorporated, 120 West 45th Street, New York, New York 10036, United States
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15
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Janeček M, Kührová P, Mlýnský V, Otyepka M, Šponer J, Banáš P. W-RESP: Well-Restrained Electrostatic Potential-Derived Charges. Revisiting the Charge Derivation Model. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:3495-3509. [PMID: 33999623 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Representation of electrostatic interactions by a Coulombic pairwise potential between atom-centered partial charges is a fundamental and crucial part of empirical force fields used in classical molecular dynamics simulations. The broad success of the AMBER force-field family originates mainly from the restrained electrostatic potential (RESP) charge model, which derives partial charges to reproduce the electrostatic field around the molecules. However, the description of the electrostatic potential around molecules by standard RESP may be biased for some types of molecules. In this study, we modified the RESP charge derivation model to improve its description of the electrostatic potential around molecules and thus electrostatic interactions in the force field. In particular, we reoptimized the atomic radii for definition of the grid points around the molecule, redesigned the restraining scheme, and included extra point (EP) charges. The RESP fitting was significantly improved for aromatic heterocyclic molecules. Thus, the suggested W-RESP(-EP) charge derivation model shows some potential for improving the performance of the nucleic acid force fields, for which the poor description of nonbonded interactions, such as the underestimated stability of base pairing, is well-established. We also report some preliminary simulation tests (around 1 ms of simulation data) on A-RNA duplexes, tetranucleotides, and tetraloops. The simulations reveal no adverse effects, while the description of base-pairing interactions might be improved. The new charges can thus be used in future attempts to improve the nucleic acid simulation force fields, in combination with reparametrization of the other terms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Janeček
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, tř. 17 listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic.,Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Petra Kührová
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacky University, Křížkovského 511/8, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Vojtěch Mlýnský
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacky University, Křížkovského 511/8, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech Republic.,Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Otyepka
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, tř. 17 listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic.,Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacky University, Křížkovského 511/8, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech Republic.,Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jiří Šponer
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacky University, Křížkovského 511/8, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech Republic.,Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Banáš
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), Palacky University, Křížkovského 511/8, 779 00 Olomouc, Czech Republic.,Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Královopolská 135, 612 65 Brno, Czech Republic
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16
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Schindler CEM, Baumann H, Blum A, Böse D, Buchstaller HP, Burgdorf L, Cappel D, Chekler E, Czodrowski P, Dorsch D, Eguida MKI, Follows B, Fuchß T, Grädler U, Gunera J, Johnson T, Jorand Lebrun C, Karra S, Klein M, Knehans T, Koetzner L, Krier M, Leiendecker M, Leuthner B, Li L, Mochalkin I, Musil D, Neagu C, Rippmann F, Schiemann K, Schulz R, Steinbrecher T, Tanzer EM, Unzue Lopez A, Viacava Follis A, Wegener A, Kuhn D. Large-Scale Assessment of Binding Free Energy Calculations in Active Drug Discovery Projects. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:5457-5474. [PMID: 32813975 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Accurate ranking of compounds with regards to their binding affinity to a protein using computational methods is of great interest to pharmaceutical research. Physics-based free energy calculations are regarded as the most rigorous way to estimate binding affinity. In recent years, many retrospective studies carried out both in academia and industry have demonstrated its potential. Here, we present the results of large-scale prospective application of the FEP+ method in active drug discovery projects in an industry setting at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. We compare these prospective data to results obtained on a new diverse, public benchmark of eight pharmaceutically relevant targets. Our results offer insights into the challenges faced when using free energy calculations in real-life drug discovery projects and identify limitations that could be tackled by future method development. The new public data set we provide to the community can support further method development and comparative benchmarking of free energy calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hannah Baumann
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Andreas Blum
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Dietrich Böse
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | | | - Lars Burgdorf
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | | | - Eugene Chekler
- EMD Serono Research and Development Institute Inc., 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, United States
| | - Paul Czodrowski
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Dieter Dorsch
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | | | - Bruce Follows
- EMD Serono Research and Development Institute Inc., 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, United States
| | - Thomas Fuchß
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Ulrich Grädler
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Jakub Gunera
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Theresa Johnson
- EMD Serono Research and Development Institute Inc., 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, United States
| | - Catherine Jorand Lebrun
- EMD Serono Research and Development Institute Inc., 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, United States
| | - Srinivasa Karra
- EMD Serono Research and Development Institute Inc., 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, United States
| | - Markus Klein
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Tim Knehans
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Lisa Koetzner
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Mireille Krier
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | | | | | - Liwei Li
- EMD Serono Research and Development Institute Inc., 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, United States
| | - Igor Mochalkin
- EMD Serono Research and Development Institute Inc., 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, United States
| | - Djordje Musil
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Constantin Neagu
- EMD Serono Research and Development Institute Inc., 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, United States
| | | | - Kai Schiemann
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Robert Schulz
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany.,Institute of Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 2+4, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Eva-Maria Tanzer
- EMD Serono Research and Development Institute Inc., 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, United States
| | | | - Ariele Viacava Follis
- EMD Serono Research and Development Institute Inc., 45A Middlesex Turnpike, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, United States
| | - Ansgar Wegener
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - Daniel Kuhn
- Merck KGaA, Frankfurter Strasse 250, 64293 Darmstadt, Germany
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17
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Spinn A, Handle PH, Kraml J, Hofer TS, Liedl KR. Charge Anisotropy of Nitrogen: Where Chemical Intuition Fails. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:4443-4453. [PMID: 32427474 PMCID: PMC7365557 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00204] [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: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
For more than half a century computer simulations were developed and employed to study ensemble properties of a wide variety of atomic and molecular systems with tremendous success. Nowadays, a selection of force-fields is available that describe the interactions in such systems. A key feature of force-fields is an adequate description of the electrostatic potential (ESP). Several force-fields model the ESP via point charges positioned at the atom centers. A major shortcoming of this approach, its inability to model anisotropies in the ESP, can be mitigated using additional charge sites. It has been shown that nitrogen is the most problematic element abundant in many polymers as well as large molecules of biological origin. To tackle this issue, small organic molecules containing a single nitrogen atom were studied. In performing rigorous scans of the surroundings of these nitrogen atoms, positions where a single extra charge can enhance the ESP description the most were identified. Significant improvements are found for ammonia, amines, and amides. Interestingly, the optimal location for the extra charge does not correlate with the chemically intuitive position of the nitrogen lone pair. In fact, the placement of an extra charge in the lone-pair location does not lead to significant improvements in most cases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Johannes Kraml
- Institute of General, Inorganic
and Theoretical Chemistry, University of
Innsbruck, Innrain 80-82, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Thomas S. Hofer
- Institute of General, Inorganic
and Theoretical Chemistry, University of
Innsbruck, Innrain 80-82, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Klaus R. Liedl
- Institute of General, Inorganic
and Theoretical Chemistry, University of
Innsbruck, Innrain 80-82, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
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18
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Cournia Z, Allen BK, Beuming T, Pearlman DA, Radak BK, Sherman W. Rigorous Free Energy Simulations in Virtual Screening. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:4153-4169. [PMID: 32539386 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Virtual high throughput screening (vHTS) in drug discovery is a powerful approach to identify hits: when applied successfully, it can be much faster and cheaper than experimental high-throughput screening approaches. However, mainstream vHTS tools have significant limitations: ligand-based methods depend on knowledge of existing chemical matter, while structure-based tools such as docking involve significant approximations that limit their accuracy. Recent advances in scientific methods coupled with dramatic speedups in computational processing with GPUs make this an opportune time to consider the role of more rigorous methods that could improve the predictive power of vHTS workflows. In this Perspective, we assert that alchemical binding free energy methods using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations have matured to the point where they can be applied in virtual screening campaigns as a final scoring stage to prioritize the top molecules for experimental testing. Specifically, we propose that alchemical absolute binding free energy (ABFE) calculations offer the most direct and computationally efficient approach within a rigorous statistical thermodynamic framework for computing binding energies of diverse molecules, as is required for virtual screening. ABFE calculations are particularly attractive for drug discovery at this point in time, where the confluence of large-scale genomics data and insights from chemical biology have unveiled a large number of promising disease targets for which no small molecule binders are known, precluding ligand-based approaches, and where traditional docking approaches have foundered to find progressible chemical matter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe Cournia
- Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou, 11527 Athens, Greece
| | - Bryce K Allen
- Silicon Therapeutics, 300 A Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - Thijs Beuming
- Latham BioPharm Group, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - David A Pearlman
- QSimulate Incorporated, 625 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Brian K Radak
- Silicon Therapeutics, 300 A Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - Woody Sherman
- Silicon Therapeutics, 300 A Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
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19
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Zhu Z, Xu Z, Zhu W. Interaction Nature and Computational Methods for Halogen Bonding: A Perspective. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:2683-2696. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhengdan Zhu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zhijian Xu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Weiliang Zhu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- Open Studio for Druggability Research of Marine Natural Products, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), 1 Wenhai Road, Aoshanwei, Jimo, Qingdao 266237, China
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20
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Abdel-Azeim S. Revisiting OPLS-AA Force Field for the Simulation of Anionic Surfactants in Concentrated Electrolyte Solutions. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:1136-1145. [PMID: 31904948 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.9b00947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Hereby, we developed a set of nonbonded parameters within all-atom optimized potentials for liquid simulations (OPLS-AA) force field for the simulation of concentrated electrolyte solutions of anionic surfactants. More specifically, the aim of this paper is to assess the performance of five sets of atomic charges calculated using different population analyses (DDEC6, CHelpG, CHelpG-SMD, RESP, and CM5), as well as the original set of charges used in the literature for sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) simulation. Recently, Farafonov et al. have revised the SDS OPLS-AA force field; however, we were unable to obtain the experimental rodlike micelles using this parameter set on long time scale. In fact, the initial SDS bilayer micelle adopted a rodlike shape transiently and then broke down into spherical micelles. Updating OPLS-AA force field with DDEC6, CHelpG, and CHelpG-SMD charges resulted in stable rod micelles for a long simulation time (1 μs). The atomic charges of Farafonov (taken from Shelley et al.), RESP, and CM5 could not correctly describe SDS in concentrated electrolyte solutions. Analysis of the interaction of SDS with the counterions and solvent highlights the role of a balance of the intermolecular forces that must be met to describe adequately the anionic surfactant electrolyte solutions. Further, the optimization of the SDS Lennard-Jones parameters enabled the Farafonov set to properly reproduce the experimental rod micelle. In addition, we have examined the performance of different parameters of sodium ions: the first developed based on the Kirkwood-Buff integrals (KBI) and the second developed by Joung et al. The excessive ion pairing caused by KBI parameters screens significantly SDS-water interactions, which stabilize the rod micelle. Further, a tight interaction of the Na+-SDS head group resulted in stabilization of the bilayer micelle as observed in the case of Na+ parameters developed by Joung et al.
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Affiliation(s)
- Safwat Abdel-Azeim
- Center for Integrative Petroleum Research (CIPR), College of Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences , King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) , Dhahran 31261 , Saudi Arabia
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21
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Allen AA, Robertson MJ, Payne MC, Cole DJ. Development and Validation of the Quantum Mechanical Bespoke Protein Force Field. ACS OMEGA 2019; 4:14537-14550. [PMID: 31528808 PMCID: PMC6740169 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.9b01769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 07/30/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Molecular mechanics force field parameters for macromolecules, such as proteins, are traditionally fit to reproduce experimental properties of small molecules, and thus, they neglect system-specific polarization. In this paper, we introduce a complete protein force field that is designed to be compatible with the quantum mechanical bespoke (QUBE) force field by deriving nonbonded parameters directly from the electron density of the specific protein under study. The main backbone and sidechain protein torsional parameters are rederived in this work by fitting to quantum mechanical dihedral scans for compatibility with QUBE nonbonded parameters. Software is provided for the preparation of QUBE input files. The accuracy of the new force field, and the derived torsional parameters, is tested by comparing the conformational preferences of a range of peptides and proteins with experimental measurements. Accurate backbone and sidechain conformations are obtained in molecular dynamics simulations of dipeptides, with NMR J coupling errors comparable to the widely used OPLS force field. In simulations of five folded proteins, the secondary structure is generally retained, and the NMR J coupling errors are similar to standard transferable force fields, although some loss of the experimental structure is observed in certain regions of the proteins. With several avenues for further development, the use of system-specific nonbonded force field parameters is a promising approach for next-generation simulations of biological molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice
E. A. Allen
- TCM
Group, Cavendish Laboratory, 19 JJ Thomson Ave, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom
| | - Michael J. Robertson
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and Department of Structural Biology Stanford University School of Medicine, 279 Campus Drive, Stanford, California 94305, United States
| | - Michael C. Payne
- TCM
Group, Cavendish Laboratory, 19 JJ Thomson Ave, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel J. Cole
- School
of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle
University, Newcastle
upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United
Kingdom
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22
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Wahl J, Freyss J, von Korff M, Sander T. Accuracy evaluation and addition of improved dihedral parameters for the MMFF94s. J Cheminform 2019; 11:53. [PMID: 31392432 PMCID: PMC6686419 DOI: 10.1186/s13321-019-0371-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2018] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The Platinum dataset of protein-bound ligand conformations was used to benchmark the ability of the MMFF94s force field to generate bioactive conformations by minimization of randomly generated conformers. Torsion angle parameters that generally caused wrong geometries were reparameterized by conducting dihedral scans using ab initio calculations at the MP2 level. This reparameterization resulted in a systematic improvement of generated conformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel Wahl
- Scientific Computing Drug Discovery, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hegenheimermattweg 89, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
| | - Joel Freyss
- Global Information Systems, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hegenheimermattweg 91, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
| | - Modest von Korff
- Scientific Computing Drug Discovery, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hegenheimermattweg 89, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Sander
- Scientific Computing Drug Discovery, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hegenheimermattweg 89, 4123 Allschwil, Switzerland
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23
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Nunes R, Vila-Viçosa D, Costa PJ. Tackling Halogenated Species with PBSA: Effect of Emulating the σ-Hole. J Chem Theory Comput 2019; 15:4241-4251. [PMID: 31142112 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.9b00106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
To model halogen-bond phenomena using classical force fields, an extra point (EP) of charge is frequently introduced at a given distance from the halogen (X) to emulate the σ-hole. The resulting molecular dynamics (MD) trajectories can be used in subsequent molecular mechanics (MM) combined with Poisson-Boltzmann and surface area calculations (PBSA) to estimate protein-ligand binding free energies (Δ Gbind). While EP addition improves the MM/MD description of halogen-containing systems, its effect on the calculation of solvation free energies (Δ Gsolv) using the PBSA approach is yet to be assessed. As the PBSA calculations depend, among other parameters, on the empirical assignment of radii (PB radii), a problematic issue arises, since standard halogen radii are smaller than the typical X···EP distances, thus placing the EP within the solvent dielectric. Herein, we took a common literature EP parametrization scheme, which uses X···EP = Rmin and RESP charges in the context of GAFF, and performed a comprehensive study on the performance of PBSA (using three different setups) in the calculation of Δ Gsolv values for 142 halogenated compounds (bearing Cl, Br, or I) for which the experimental values are known. By conducting an optimization (minimizing the error against experimental values), we provide a new optimized set of halogen PB radii, for each PBSA setup, that should be used in the context of the aforementioned scenario. A simultaneous optimization of PB radii and X···EP distances shows that a wide range of distance/radius pairs can be used without significant loss of accuracy, therefore laying the basis for expanding this halogen radii optimization strategy to other force fields and EP implementations. As ligand Δ Gsolv estimation is an important term in the determination of protein-ligand Δ Gbind, this work is particularly relevant in the framework of structure-based virtual screening and related computer-aided drug design routines.
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24
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Kumar P, Gruza B, Bojarowski SA, Dominiak PM. Extension of the transferable aspherical pseudoatom data bank for the comparison of molecular electrostatic potentials in structure-activity studies. ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA A-FOUNDATION AND ADVANCES 2019; 75:398-408. [PMID: 30821272 DOI: 10.1107/s2053273319000482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
The transferable aspherical pseudoatom data bank, UBDB2018, is extended with over 130 new atom types present in small and biological molecules of great importance in biology and chemistry. UBDB2018 can be applied either as a source of aspherical atomic scattering factors in a standard X-ray experiment (dmin ≃ 0.8 Å) instead of the independent atom model (IAM), and can therefore enhance the final crystal structure geometry and refinement parameters; or as a tool to reconstruct the molecular charge-density distribution and derive the electrostatic properties of chemical systems for which 3D structural data are available. The extended data bank has been extensively tested, with the focus being on the accuracy of the molecular electrostatic potential computed for important drug-like molecules, namely the HIV-1 protease inhibitors. The UBDB allows the reconstruction of the reference B3LYP/6-31G** potentials, with a root-mean-squared error of 0.015 e bohr-1 computed for entire potential grids which span values from ca 200 e bohr-1 to ca -0.1 e bohr-1 and encompass both the inside and outside regions of a molecule. UBDB2018 is shown to be applicable to enhancing the physical meaning of the molecular electrostatic potential descriptors used to construct predictive quantitative structure-activity relationship/quantitative structure-property relationship (QSAR/QSPR) models for drug discovery studies. In addition, it is suggested that electron structure factors computed from UBDB2018 may significantly improve the interpretation of electrostatic potential maps measured experimentally by means of electron diffraction or single-particle cryo-EM methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant Kumar
- Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, Warszawa 02-089, Poland
| | - Barbara Gruza
- Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, Warszawa 02-089, Poland
| | - Sławomir Antoni Bojarowski
- Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, Warszawa 02-089, Poland
| | - Paulina Maria Dominiak
- Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, Warszawa 02-089, Poland
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25
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Peluso P, Dessì A, Dallocchio R, Mamane V, Cossu S. Recent studies of docking and molecular dynamics simulation for liquid-phase enantioseparations. Electrophoresis 2019; 40:1881-1896. [PMID: 30710444 DOI: 10.1002/elps.201800493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2018] [Revised: 01/25/2019] [Accepted: 01/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Liquid-phase enantioseparations have been fruitfully applied in several fields of science. Various applications along with technical and theoretical advancements contributed to increase significantly the knowledge in this area. Nowadays, chromatographic techniques, in particular HPLC on chiral stationary phase, are considered as mature technologies. In the last thirty years, CE has been also recognized as one of the most versatile technique for analytical scale separation of enantiomers. Despite the huge number of papers published in these fields, understanding mechanistic details of the stereoselective interaction between selector and selectand is still an open issue, in particular for high-molecular weight chiral selectors like polysaccharide derivatives. With the ever growing improvement of computer facilities, hardware and software, computational techniques have become a basic tool in enantioseparation science. In this field, molecular docking and dynamics simulations proved to be extremely adaptable to model and visualize at molecular level the spatial proximity of interacting molecules in order to predict retention, selectivity, enantiomer elution order, and profile noncovalent interaction patterns underlying the recognition process. On this basis, topics and trends in using docking and molecular dynamics as theoretical complement of experimental LC and CE chiral separations are described herein. The basic concepts of these computational strategies and seminal studies performed over time are presented, with a specific focus on literature published between 2015 and November 2018. A systematic compilation of all published literature has not been attempted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Peluso
- Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare ICB CNR - Sede Secondaria di Sassari, Sassari, Sardegna, Italy
| | - Alessandro Dessì
- Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare ICB CNR - Sede Secondaria di Sassari, Sassari, Sardegna, Italy
| | - Roberto Dallocchio
- Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare ICB CNR - Sede Secondaria di Sassari, Sassari, Sardegna, Italy
| | - Victor Mamane
- Institut de Chimie de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, Alsace, France
| | - Sergio Cossu
- Dipartimento di Scienze Molecolari e Nanosistemi DSMN, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Mestre Venezia, Veneto, Italy
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Horton JT, Allen AEA, Dodda LS, Cole DJ. QUBEKit: Automating the Derivation of Force Field Parameters from Quantum Mechanics. J Chem Inf Model 2019; 59:1366-1381. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.8b00767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Joshua T. Horton
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
| | - Alice E. A. Allen
- TCM Group, Cavendish Laboratory, 19 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom
| | - Leela S. Dodda
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8107, United States
| | - Daniel J. Cole
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
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27
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New developments in force fields for biomolecular simulations. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2018; 49:129-138. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2018.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2017] [Revised: 01/30/2018] [Accepted: 02/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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