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Kocyigit A, Kanımdan E, Yenigun VB, Ozman Z, Balıbey FB, Durmuş E, Yasar O. Olive Leaf Extract Downregulates the Protein Expression of Key SARS-CoV-2 Entry Enzyme ACE-2, TMPRSS2, and Furin. Chem Biodivers 2024; 21:e202400717. [PMID: 38837886 DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.202400717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2024] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses ongoing global health challenges due to its propensity for mutations, which can undermine vaccine efficacy. With no definitive treatment available, urgent research into affordable and biocompatible therapeutic agents is extremely urgent. Angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2), transmembrane protease serine subtype 2 (TMPRSS2), and Furin enzymes, which allow the virus to enter cells, are particularly important as potential drug targets among scientists. Olive leaf extract (OLE) has garnered attention for its potential against Coronavirus Disease-9 (COVID-19), yet its mechanism remains understudied. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of OLE on ACE-2, TMPRSS2, and Furin protein expressions by cell culture study. Total phenol, flavonoid content, and antioxidant capacity were measured by photometric methods, and oleuropein levels were measured by liquid LC-HR-MS. Cell viability was analyzed by ATP levels using a luminometric method. ACE-2, TMPRSS2, and Furin expressions were analyzed by the Western Blotting method. ACE-2, TMPRSS2, and Furin protein expression levels were significantly lower in a dose dependent manner and the highest inhibition was seen at 100 μg/ml OLE. The results showed that OLE may be a promising treatment candidate for COVID-19 disease. However, further studies need to be conducted in cells co-infected with the virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdurrahim Kocyigit
- Bezmialem Vakıf University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey
- Bezmialem Vakif University, Traditional and Complementary Medicine Advanced Research Applications and Research Center, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Ebru Kanımdan
- Bezmialem Vakıf University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey
- Bezmialem Vakif University, Vocational School of Health Services, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Vildan Betul Yenigun
- Bezmialem Vakıf University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey
- Bezmialem Vakif University, Vocational School of Health Services, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Zeynep Ozman
- Bezmialem Vakıf University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey
- Bezmialem Vakıf University, Institute of Health Sciences, Medical Biochemistry, Turkey
| | - Fatmanur Babalı Balıbey
- Bezmialem Vakıf University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Ezgi Durmuş
- Bezmialem Vakıf University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey
- Bezmialem Vakıf University, Institute of Health Sciences, Medical Biochemistry, Turkey
| | - Oznur Yasar
- Bezmialem Vakıf University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Istanbul, Turkey
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2
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Chen M, Jiang X, Zhang L, Chen X, Wen Y, Gu Z, Li X, Zheng M. The emergence of machine learning force fields in drug design. Med Res Rev 2024; 44:1147-1182. [PMID: 38173298 DOI: 10.1002/med.22008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
In the field of molecular simulation for drug design, traditional molecular mechanic force fields and quantum chemical theories have been instrumental but limited in terms of scalability and computational efficiency. To overcome these limitations, machine learning force fields (MLFFs) have emerged as a powerful tool capable of balancing accuracy with efficiency. MLFFs rely on the relationship between molecular structures and potential energy, bypassing the need for a preconceived notion of interaction representations. Their accuracy depends on the machine learning models used, and the quality and volume of training data sets. With recent advances in equivariant neural networks and high-quality datasets, MLFFs have significantly improved their performance. This review explores MLFFs, emphasizing their potential in drug design. It elucidates MLFF principles, provides development and validation guidelines, and highlights successful MLFF implementations. It also addresses potential challenges in developing and applying MLFFs. The review concludes by illuminating the path ahead for MLFFs, outlining the challenges to be overcome and the opportunities to be harnessed. This inspires researchers to embrace MLFFs in their investigations as a new tool to perform molecular simulations in drug design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingan Chen
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
- Lingang Laboratory, Shanghai, China
| | - Xinyu Jiang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lehan Zhang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoxu Chen
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yiming Wen
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou, China
| | - Zhiyong Gu
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xutong Li
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Mingyue Zheng
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, Hangzhou, China
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3
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Nguyen H, Nguyen HL, Lan PD, Thai NQ, Sikora M, Li MS. Interaction of SARS-CoV-2 with host cells and antibodies: experiment and simulation. Chem Soc Rev 2023; 52:6497-6553. [PMID: 37650302 DOI: 10.1039/d1cs01170g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the devastating global COVID-19 pandemic announced by WHO in March 2020. Through unprecedented scientific effort, several vaccines, drugs and antibodies have been developed, saving millions of lives, but the fight against COVID-19 continues as immune escape variants of concern such as Delta and Omicron emerge. To develop more effective treatments and to elucidate the side effects caused by vaccines and therapeutic agents, a deeper understanding of the molecular interactions of SARS-CoV-2 with them and human cells is required. With special interest in computational approaches, we will focus on the structure of SARS-CoV-2 and the interaction of its spike protein with human angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) as a prime entry point of the virus into host cells. In addition, other possible viral receptors will be considered. The fusion of viral and human membranes and the interaction of the spike protein with antibodies and nanobodies will be discussed, as well as the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on protein synthesis in host cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hung Nguyen
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, al. Lotnikow 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Hoang Linh Nguyen
- Institute of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, Duy Tan University, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam
- Faculty of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam
| | - Pham Dang Lan
- Life Science Lab, Institute for Computational Science and Technology, Quang Trung Software City, Tan Chanh Hiep Ward, District 12, 729110 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Faculty of Physics and Engineering Physics, VNUHCM-University of Science, 227, Nguyen Van Cu Street, District 5, 749000 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Nguyen Quoc Thai
- Dong Thap University, 783 Pham Huu Lau Street, Ward 6, Cao Lanh City, Dong Thap, Vietnam
| | - Mateusz Sikora
- Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
- Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Mai Suan Li
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, al. Lotnikow 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland.
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Abduljalil JM, Elghareib AM, Samir A, Ezat AA, Elfiky AA. How helpful were molecular dynamics simulations in shaping our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein dynamics? Int J Biol Macromol 2023:125153. [PMID: 37268078 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S) represents an important viral component that is required for successful viral infection in humans owing to its essential role in recognition of and entry to host cells. The spike is also an appealing target for drug designers who develop vaccines and antivirals. This article is important as it summarizes how molecular simulations successfully shaped our understanding of spike conformational behavior and its role in viral infection. MD simulations found that the higher affinity of SARS-CoV-2-S to ACE2 is linked to its unique residues that add extra electrostatic and van der Waal interactions in comparison to the SARS-CoV S. This illustrates the spread potential of the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 relative to the epidemic SARS-CoV. Different mutations at the S-ACE2 interface, which is believed to increase the transmission of the new variants, affected the behavior and binding interactions in different simulations. The contributions of glycans to the opening of S were revealed via simulations. The immune evasion of S was linked to the spatial distribution of glycans. This help the virus to escape the immune system recognition. This article is important as it summarizes how molecular simulations successfully shaped our understanding of spike conformational behavior and its role in viral infection. This will pave the way to us preparing for the next pandemic as the computational tools are tailored to help fight new challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jameel M Abduljalil
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Thamar University, Dhamar, Yemen; Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Ahmed M Elghareib
- Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Ahmed Samir
- Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Ahmed A Ezat
- Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Abdo A Elfiky
- Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
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5
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Ma Y, Li Z, Chen X, Ding B, Li N, Lu T, Zhang B, Suo B, Jin Z. Machine-learning assisted scheduling optimization and its application in quantum chemical calculations. J Comput Chem 2023; 44:1174-1188. [PMID: 36648254 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.27075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Easy and effective usage of computational resources is crucial for scientific calculations, both from the perspectives of timeliness and economic efficiency. This work proposes a bi-level optimization framework to optimize the computational sequences. Machine-learning (ML) assisted static load-balancing, and different dynamic load-balancing algorithms can be integrated. Consequently, the computational and scheduling engine of the ParaEngine is developed to invoke optimized quantum chemical (QC) calculations. Illustrated benchmark calculations include high-throughput drug suit, solvent model, P38 protein, and SARS-CoV-2 systems. The results show that the usage rate of given computational resources for high throughput and large-scale fragmentation QC calculations can primarily profit, and faster accomplishing computational tasks can be expected when employing high-performance computing (HPC) clusters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingjin Ma
- Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - ZhiYing Li
- Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xin Chen
- ShenZhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
| | - Bowen Ding
- Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ning Li
- Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wen Zhou, China
| | - Teng Lu
- Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Baohua Zhang
- Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - BingBing Suo
- Department of Physics, Northwest University, Xi'an, China
| | - Zhong Jin
- Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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6
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Li M, Du J, Liu W, Li Z, Lv F, Hu C, Dai Y, Zhang X, Zhang Z, Liu G, Pan Q, Yu Y, Wang X, Zhu P, Tan X, Garber PA, Zhou X. Comparative susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV across mammals. THE ISME JOURNAL 2023; 17:549-560. [PMID: 36690780 PMCID: PMC9869846 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-023-01368-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Exploring wild reservoirs of pathogenic viruses is critical for their long-term control and for predicting future pandemic scenarios. Here, a comparative in vitro infection analysis was first performed on 83 cell cultures derived from 55 mammalian species using pseudotyped viruses bearing S proteins from SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV. Cell cultures from Thomas's horseshoe bats, king horseshoe bats, green monkeys, and ferrets were found to be highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV pseudotyped viruses. Moreover, five variants (del69-70, D80Y, S98F, T572I, and Q675H), that beside spike receptor-binding domain can significantly alter the host tropism of SARS-CoV-2. An examination of phylogenetic signals of transduction rates revealed that closely related taxa generally have similar susceptibility to MERS-CoV but not to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped viruses. Additionally, we discovered that the expression of 95 genes, e.g., PZDK1 and APOBEC3, were commonly associated with the transduction rates of SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped viruses. This study provides basic documentation of the susceptibility, variants, and molecules that underlie the cross-species transmission of these coronaviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Juan Du
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Weiqiang Liu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Zihao Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Fei Lv
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Chunyan Hu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yichen Dai
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Zhan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Gaoming Liu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Qi Pan
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yang Yu
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China
| | - Xiao Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Pingfen Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Xu Tan
- Beijing Advanced Center for Structural Biology, Beijing Frontier Innovation Center, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China
| | - Paul A Garber
- Department of Anthropology, Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Xuming Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
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Avelar M, Pedraza-González L, Sinicropi A, Flores-Morales V. Triterpene Derivatives as Potential Inhibitors of the RBD Spike Protein from SARS-CoV-2: An In Silico Approach. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28052333. [PMID: 36903578 PMCID: PMC10005606 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28052333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The appearance of a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, in 2019 kicked off an international public health emergency. Although rapid progress in vaccination has reduced the number of deaths, the development of alternative treatments to overcome the disease is still necessary. It is known that the infection begins with the interaction of the spike glycoprotein (at the virus surface) and the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 cell receptor (ACE2). Therefore, a straightforward solution for promoting virus inhibition seems to be the search for molecules capable of abolishing such attachment. In this work, we tested 18 triterpene derivatives as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein by means of molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations, modeling the RBD S1 subunit from the X-ray structure of the RBD-ACE2 complex (PDB ID: 6M0J). Molecular docking revealed that at least three triterpene derivatives of each type (i.e., oleanolic, moronic and ursolic) present similar interaction energies as the reference molecule, i.e., glycyrrhizic acid. Molecular dynamics suggest that two compounds from oleanolic and ursolic acid, OA5 and UA2, can induce conformational changes capable of disrupting the RBD-ACE2 interaction. Finally, physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties simulations revealed favorable biological activity as antivirals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayra Avelar
- Laboratorio de Síntesis Asimétrica y Bio-Quimioinformática (LSAyB), Ingeniería Química (UACQ), Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Campus XXI Km 6 Carr. Zac-Gdl, Zacatecas 98160, Mexico
- Correspondence: (M.A.); (V.F.-M.)
| | - Laura Pedraza-González
- Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, Via Moruzzi 13, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Adalgisa Sinicropi
- Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
- Institute of Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds (CNR-ICCOM), Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
- CSGI, Consorzio per lo Sviluppo dei Sistemi a Grande Interfase, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Virginia Flores-Morales
- Laboratorio de Síntesis Asimétrica y Bio-Quimioinformática (LSAyB), Ingeniería Química (UACQ), Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Campus XXI Km 6 Carr. Zac-Gdl, Zacatecas 98160, Mexico
- Correspondence: (M.A.); (V.F.-M.)
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8
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Silvestri A, Zayas-Arrabal J, Vera-Hidalgo M, Di Silvio D, Wetzl C, Martinez-Moro M, Zurutuza A, Torres E, Centeno A, Maestre A, Gómez JM, Arrastua M, Elicegui M, Ontoso N, Prato M, Coluzza I, Criado A. Ultrasensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein by graphene field-effect transistors. NANOSCALE 2023; 15:1076-1085. [PMID: 36546457 DOI: 10.1039/d2nr05103f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), originated a global health crisis, causing over 2 million casualties and altering human daily life all over the world. This pandemic emergency revealed the limitations of current diagnostic tests, highlighting the urgency to develop faster, more precise and sensitive sensors. Graphene field effect transistors (GFET) are analytical platforms that enclose all these requirements. However, the design of a sensitive and robust GFET is not a straightforward objective. In this work, we report a GFET array biosensor for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using the human membrane protein involved in the virus internalisation: angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). By finely controlling the graphene functionalisation, by tuning the Debye length, and by deeply characterising the ACE2-spike protein interactions, we have been able to detect the target protein with an extremely low limit of detection (2.94 aM). This work set the basis for a new class of analytical platforms, based on human membrane proteins, with the potential to detect a broad variety of pathogens, even before their isolation, being a powerful tool in the fight against future pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Silvestri
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramon 194, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
| | - Julian Zayas-Arrabal
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramon 194, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
| | - Mariano Vera-Hidalgo
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramon 194, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
| | - Desire Di Silvio
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramon 194, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
| | - Cecilia Wetzl
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramon 194, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
- University of the Basque Country UPV-EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Marta Martinez-Moro
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramon 194, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
| | - Amaia Zurutuza
- Graphenea Semiconductor SLU., Paseo Mikeletegi 83, 20009 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Elias Torres
- Graphenea Semiconductor SLU., Paseo Mikeletegi 83, 20009 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Alba Centeno
- Graphenea Semiconductor SLU., Paseo Mikeletegi 83, 20009 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Arantxa Maestre
- Graphenea Semiconductor SLU., Paseo Mikeletegi 83, 20009 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Juan Manuel Gómez
- Graphenea Semiconductor SLU., Paseo Mikeletegi 83, 20009 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - María Arrastua
- Graphenea Semiconductor SLU., Paseo Mikeletegi 83, 20009 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Marta Elicegui
- Graphenea Semiconductor SLU., Paseo Mikeletegi 83, 20009 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Nerea Ontoso
- Graphenea Semiconductor SLU., Paseo Mikeletegi 83, 20009 San Sebastián, Spain
| | - Maurizio Prato
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramon 194, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 1, 3412 7 Trieste, Italy
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Ivan Coluzza
- BCMaterials, Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures, Bld. Martina Casiano, UPV/EHU Science Park, Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain.
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Alejandro Criado
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramon 194, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
- Universidade da Coruña, CICA - Centro Interdisciplinar de Química e Bioloxía, Rúa as Carballeiras, 15071 A Coruña, Spain.
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9
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Ogden DS, Moradi M. Atomic-level characterization of the conformational transition pathways in SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2022:2022.11.29.518406. [PMID: 36482979 PMCID: PMC9727763 DOI: 10.1101/2022.11.29.518406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronaviruses 1 and 2 (SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2) derive transmissibility from spike protein activation in the receptor binding domain (RBD) and binding to the host cell angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). However, the mechanistic details that describe the large-scale conformational changes associated with spike protein activation or deactivation are still somewhat unknown. Here, we have employed an extensive set of nonequilibrium all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, utilizing a novel protocol, for the SARS-CoV-1 (CoV-1) and SARS-CoV-2 (CoV-2) prefusion spike proteins in order to characterize the conformational pathways associated with the active-to-inactive transition. Our results indicate that both CoV-1 and CoV-2 spike proteins undergo conformational transitions along pathways unique to each protein. We have identified a number of key residues that form various inter-domain saltbridges, suggesting a multi-stage conformational change along the pathways. We have also constructed the free energy profiles along the transition pathways for both CoV-1 and CoV-2 spike proteins. The CoV-2 spike protein must overcome larger free energy barriers to undergo conformational changes towards protein activation or deactivation, when compared to CoV-1.
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10
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Yan ZS, Li XL, Ma YQ, Ding HM. Effect of the Graphene Nanosheet on Functions of the Spike Protein in Open and Closed States: Comparison between SARS-CoV-2 Wild Type and the Omicron Variant. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:13972-13982. [PMID: 36318181 PMCID: PMC9662070 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c02316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2022] [Revised: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by SARS-CoV-2 and its variants has become a global health crisis. Although there were many attempts to use nanomaterials-based devices to fight against SARS-CoV-2, it still remains elusive as to how the nanomaterials interact with SARS-CoV-2 and affect its biofunctions. Here, taking the graphene nanosheet (GN) as the model nanomaterial, we investigate its interaction with the spike protein in both WT and Omicron by molecular simulations. In the closed state, the GN can insert into the region between the receptor binding domain (RBD) and the N-terminal domain (NTD) in both wild type (WT) and Omicron, which keeps the RBD in the down conformation. In the open state, the GN can hamper the binding of up RBD to ACE2 in WT, but it has little impact on up RBD and, even worse, stimulates the down-to-up transition of down RBDs in Omicron. Moreover, the GN can insert in the vicinity of the fusion peptide in both WT and Omicron and prevents the detachment of S1 from the whole spike protein. The present study reveals the effect of the SARS-CoV-2 variant on the nanomaterial-spike protein interaction, which informs prospective efforts to design functional nanomaterials against SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeng-Shuai Yan
- National
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics,
Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Xiao-Lei Li
- National
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics,
Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Yu-Qiang Ma
- National
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics,
Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Hong-Ming Ding
- Center
for Soft Condensed Matter Physics and Interdisciplinary Research,
School of Physical Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China
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11
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Ovchynnykova O, Kapusta K, Sizochenko N, Sukhyy KM, Kolodziejczyk W, Hill GA, Saloni J. Homology Modeling and Molecular Dynamics-Driven Search for Natural Inhibitors That Universally Target Receptor-Binding Domain of Spike Glycoprotein in SARS-CoV-2 Variants. Molecules 2022; 27:7336. [PMID: 36364158 PMCID: PMC9657887 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27217336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 10/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 required immediate actions to control the transmission of the virus and minimize its impact on humanity. An extensive mutation rate of this viral genome contributes to the virus' ability to quickly adapt to environmental changes, impacts transmissibility and antigenicity, and may facilitate immune escape. Therefore, it is of great interest for researchers working in vaccine development and drug design to consider the impact of mutations on virus-drug interactions. Here, we propose a multitarget drug discovery pipeline for identifying potential drug candidates which can efficiently inhibit the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of spike glycoproteins from different variants of SARS-CoV-2. Eight homology models of RBDs for selected variants were created and validated using reference crystal structures. We then investigated interactions between host receptor ACE2 and RBDs from nine variants of SARS-CoV-2. It led us to conclude that efficient multi-variant targeting drugs should be capable of blocking residues Q(R)493 and N487 in RBDs. Using methods of molecular docking, molecular mechanics, and molecular dynamics, we identified three lead compounds (hesperidin, narirutin, and neohesperidin) suitable for multitarget SARS-CoV-2 inhibition. These compounds are flavanone glycosides found in citrus fruits - an active ingredient of Traditional Chinese Medicines. The developed pipeline can be further used to (1) model mutants for which crystal structures are not yet available and (2) scan a more extensive library of compounds against other mutated viral proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olha Ovchynnykova
- Department of Fuel, Polymer, and Polygraphic Materials Technologies, Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology, 49005 Dnipro, Ukraine
| | - Karina Kapusta
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS 39174, USA
| | - Natalia Sizochenko
- The Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
| | - Kostyantyn M. Sukhyy
- Department of Fuel, Polymer, and Polygraphic Materials Technologies, Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology, 49005 Dnipro, Ukraine
| | - Wojciech Kolodziejczyk
- Interdisciplinary Center for Nanotoxicity, Department of Chemistry, Physics and Atmospheric Sciences, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, USA
| | - Glake A. Hill
- Interdisciplinary Center for Nanotoxicity, Department of Chemistry, Physics and Atmospheric Sciences, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, USA
| | - Julia Saloni
- Interdisciplinary Center for Nanotoxicity, Department of Chemistry, Physics and Atmospheric Sciences, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, USA
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12
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Lv N, Cao Z. RBD spatial orientation of the spike protein and its binding to ACE2: insight into the high infectivity of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant from MD simulations. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:24155-24165. [PMID: 36168828 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp03425e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The spike glycoprotein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 envelope plays an important role in its invasion into host cells. The binding of the spike glycoprotein RBD to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor as a critical step in the spread of the virus has been explored intensively since the outbreak of COVID-19, but the high transmissibility of the virus such as the Delta variant is still not fully understood. Here, molecular simulations on the binding interactions of the wild-type spike protein and its four variants (Beta, Kappa, Delta, and Mu) with ACE2 and the antibody were performed, and the present results reveal that the residue mutations will not strengthen the binding affinity of the variant for ACE2, but remarkably influences the spatial orientation of the spike protein. Only the up-right conformational receptor binding domain (RBD) can bind ACE2, which is stabilized by the nearby RBDs in the down state, revealing that the RBD bears dual functional characteristics. The present results provide new insights into plausible mechanisms for high infectivity of the virus variants and their immune escape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nan Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 360015, P. R. China.
| | - Zexing Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 360015, P. R. China.
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13
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Liu X, Zheng L, Qin C, Zhang JZH, Sun Z. Comprehensive evaluation of end-point free energy techniques in carboxylated-pillar[6]arene host-guest binding: I. Standard procedure. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2022; 36:735-752. [PMID: 36136209 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-022-00475-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
Despite the massive application of end-point free energy methods in protein-ligand and protein-protein interactions, computational understandings about their performance in relatively simple and prototypical host-guest systems are limited. In this work, we present a comprehensive benchmark calculation with standard end-point free energy techniques in a recent host-guest dataset containing 13 host-guest pairs involving the carboxylated-pillar[6]arene host. We first assess the charge schemes for solutes by comparing the charge-produced electrostatics with many ab initio references, in order to obtain a preliminary albeit detailed view of the charge quality. Then, we focus on four modelling details of end-point free energy calculations, including the docking procedure for the generation of initial condition, the charge scheme for host and guest molecules, the water model used in explicit-solvent sampling, and the end-point methods for free energy estimation. The binding thermodynamics obtained with different modelling schemes are compared with experimental references, and some practical guidelines on maximizing the performance of end-point methods in practical host-guest systems are summarized. Further, we compare our simulation outcome with predictions in the grand challenge and discuss further developments to improve the prediction quality of end-point free energy methods. Overall, unlike the widely acknowledged applicability in protein-ligand binding, the standard end-point calculations cannot produce useful outcomes in host-guest binding and thus are not recommended unless alterations are performed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Liu
- School of Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai, 201620, China.
| | - Lei Zheng
- NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, 200062, China
| | - Chu Qin
- School of Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai, 201620, China
| | - John Z H Zhang
- NYU-ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, 200062, China.,School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China.,Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.,Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Zhaoxi Sun
- College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
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14
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Pipitò L, Rujan R, Reynolds CA, Deganutti G. Molecular dynamics studies reveal structural and functional features of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Bioessays 2022; 44:e2200060. [PMID: 35843871 PMCID: PMC9350306 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202200060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic the world experience since 2019. The protein responsible for the first steps of cell invasion, the spike protein, has probably received the most attention in light of its central role during infection. Computational approaches are among the tools employed by the scientific community in the enormous effort to study this new affliction. One of these methods, namely molecular dynamics (MD), has been used to characterize the function of the spike protein at the atomic level and unveil its structural features from a dynamic perspective. In this review, we focus on these main findings, including spike protein flexibility, rare S protein conformational changes, cryptic epitopes, the role of glycans, drug repurposing, and the effect of spike protein variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ludovico Pipitò
- Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences (CSELS)Faculty of Health and Life SciencesCoventry UniversityCoventryUK
| | - Roxana‐Maria Rujan
- Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences (CSELS)Faculty of Health and Life SciencesCoventry UniversityCoventryUK
| | - Christopher A. Reynolds
- Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences (CSELS)Faculty of Health and Life SciencesCoventry UniversityCoventryUK
| | - Giuseppe Deganutti
- Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences (CSELS)Faculty of Health and Life SciencesCoventry UniversityCoventryUK
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15
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Liu XH, Cheng T, Liu BY, Chi J, Shu T, Wang T. Structures of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein and applications for novel drug development. Front Pharmacol 2022; 13:955648. [PMID: 36016554 PMCID: PMC9395726 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2022.955648] [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] [Received: 05/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 has raised a health crisis worldwide. The high morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19 and the lack of effective drugs or vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 emphasize the urgent need for standard treatment and prophylaxis of COVID-19. The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the glycosylated spike protein (S protein) is capable of binding to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) and initiating membrane fusion and virus entry. Hence, it is rational to inhibit the RBD activity of the S protein by blocking the RBD interaction with hACE2, which makes the glycosylated S protein a potential target for designing and developing antiviral agents. In this study, the molecular features of the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 are highlighted, such as the structures, functions, and interactions of the S protein and ACE2. Additionally, computational tools developed for the treatment of COVID-19 are provided, for example, algorithms, databases, and relevant programs. Finally, recent advances in the novel development of antivirals against the S protein are summarized, including screening of natural products, drug repurposing and rational design. This study is expected to provide novel insights for the efficient discovery of promising drug candidates against the S protein and contribute to the development of broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus drugs to fight against SARS-CoV-2.
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16
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Dutta S, Panthi B, Chandra A. All-Atom Simulations of Human ACE2-Spike Protein RBD Complexes for SARS-CoV-2 and Some of its Variants: Nature of Interactions and Free Energy Diagrams for Dissociation of the Protein Complexes. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:5375-5389. [PMID: 35833966 PMCID: PMC9328126 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c00833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2022] [Revised: 06/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 is known to interact with the human ACE2 protein via its receptor binding domain (RBD). We have investigated the molecular nature of this interprotein interaction and the associated free energy diagrams for the unbinding of the two proteins for SARS-CoV-2 and some of its known variants through all-atom simulations. The present work involves generation and analysis of 2.5 μs of unbiased and 4.2 μs of biased molecular dynamics trajectories in total for five explicitly solvated RBD-ACE2 systems at full atomic level. First, we have made a comparative analysis of the details of residue-wise specific interactions of the spike protein with ACE2 for SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. It is found that the average numbers of both direct interprotein and water-bridged hydrogen bonds between the RBD and ACE2 are higher for SARS-CoV-2 than SARS-CoV-1. These higher hydrogen bonded interactions are further aided by enhanced nonspecific electrostatic attractions between the two protein surfaces for SARS-CoV-2. The free energy calculations reveal that there is an increase in the free energy barrier by ∼1.5 kcal/mol for the unbinding of RBD from ACE2 for SARS-CoV-2 compared to that for SARS-CoV-1. Subsequently, we considered the RBDs of three variants of SARS-CoV-2, namely N501Y, E484Q/L452R, and N440K. The free energy barrier of protein unbinding for the N501Y variant is found to be ∼4 kcal/mol higher than the wild type SARS-CoV-2 which can be attributed to additional specific interactions involving Tyr501 of RBD and Lys353 and Tyr42 of ACE2 and also enhanced nonspecific electrostatic interaction between the protein surfaces. For the other two mutant variants of E484Q/L452R and N440K, the free energy barrier for protein unbinding increases by ∼2 and ∼1 kcal/mol, respectively, compared with the wild type SARS-CoV-2, which can be attributed to an increase in the number of interprotein hydrogen bonds for the former and also to enhanced positive electrostatic potential on the RBD surfaces for both of the variants. The successive breaking of interprotein hydrogen bonds along the free energy pathway of the unbinding process is also found out for all five systems studied here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saheb Dutta
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh 208016, India
| | - Bhavana Panthi
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh 208016, India
| | - Amalendu Chandra
- Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh 208016, India
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17
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Zhuang Y, Thota N, Quirk S, Hernandez R. Implementation of Telescoping Boxes in Adaptive Steered Molecular Dynamics. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:4649-4659. [PMID: 35830368 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Long-time dynamical processes, such as those involving protein unfolding and ligand interactions, can be accelerated and realized through steered molecular dynamics (SMD). The challenge has been the extraction of information from such simulations that generalize for complex nonequilibrium processes. The use of Jarzynski's equality opened the possibility of determining the free energy along the steered coordinate, but sampling over the nonequilibrium trajectories is slow to converge. Adaptive steered molecular dynamics (ASMD) and other related techniques have been introduced to overcome this challenge through the use of stages. Here, we take advantage of these stages to address the numerical cost that arises from the required use of very large solvent boxes. We introduce telescoping box schemes within adaptive steered molecular dynamics (ASMD) in which we adjust the solvent box between stages and thereby vary (and optimize) the required number of solvent molecules. We have benchmarked the method on a relatively long α-helical peptide, Ala30, with respect to the potential of mean force and hydrogen bonds. We show that the use of telescoping boxes introduces little numerical error while significantly reducing the computational cost.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Zhuang
- Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, United States
| | - Nikhil Thota
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, United States
| | - Stephen Quirk
- Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia 30076-2199, United States
| | - Rigoberto Hernandez
- Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, United States.,Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, United States.,Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, United States
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18
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Li T, Yu L, Sun J, Liu J, He X. Ionization of D571 Is Coupled with SARS-CoV-2 Spike Up/Down Equilibrium Revealing the pH-Dependent Allosteric Mechanism of Receptor-Binding Domains. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:4828-4839. [PMID: 35736566 PMCID: PMC9236204 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c02365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Revised: 06/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
As a type I viral fusion protein, SARS-CoV-2 spike undergoes a pH-dependent switch to mediate the endosomal positioning of the receptor-binding domain to facilitate viral entry into cells and immune evasion. Gaps in our knowledge concerning the conformational transitions and key intramolecular motivations have hampered the development of effective therapeutics against the virus. To clarify the pH-sensitive elements on spike-gating the receptor-binding domain (RBD) opening and understand the details of the RBD opening transition, we performed microsecond-time scale constant pH molecular dynamics simulations in this study. We identified the deeply buried D571 with a clear pKa shift, suggesting a potential pH sensor, and showed the coupling of ionization of D571 with spike RBD-up/down equilibrium. We also computed the free-energy landscape for RBD opening and identified the crucial interactions that influence RBD dynamics. The atomic-level characterization of the pH-dependent spike activation mechanism provided herein offers new insights for a better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 viral entry and infection and hence supports the discovery of novel therapeutics for COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tong Li
- School of Traditional Chinese Pharmacy,
China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009,
China
| | - Lan Yu
- School of Science, China Pharmaceutical
University, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Jingfang Sun
- School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy,
China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009,
China
| | - Jinfeng Liu
- School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy,
China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009,
China
| | - Xiao He
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular
Therapeutics and New Drug Development, Shanghai Frontiers Science Center of Molecule
Intelligent Syntheses, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East
China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
- New York University-East China Normal University
Center for Computational Chemistry, New York University
Shanghai, Shanghai 200062, China
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19
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Chen J, Wei GW. Omicron BA.2 (B.1.1.529.2): High Potential for Becoming the Next Dominant Variant. J Phys Chem Lett 2022; 13:3840-3849. [PMID: 35467344 PMCID: PMC9063109 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c00469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
The Omicron variant has three subvariants: BA.1 (B.1.1.529.1), BA.2 (B.1.1.529.2), and BA.3 (B.1.1.529.3). BA.2 is found to be able to alarmingly reinfect patients originally infected by Omicron BA.1. An important question is whether BA.2 or BA.3 will become a new dominating "variant of concern". Currently, no experimental data has been reported about BA.2 and BA.3. We construct a novel algebraic topology-based deep learning model to systematically evaluate BA.2's and BA.3's infectivity, vaccine breakthrough capability, and antibody resistance. Our comparative analysis of all main variants, namely, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Lambda, Mu, BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3, unveils that BA.2 is about 1.5 and 4.2 times as contagious as BA.1 and Delta, respectively. It is also 30% and 17-fold more capable than BA.1 and Delta, respectively, to escape current vaccines. Therefore, we project that Omicron BA.2 is on a path to becoming the next dominant variant. We forecast that like Omicron BA.1, BA.2 will also seriously compromise most existing monoclonal antibodies. All key predictions have been nearly perfectly confirmed before the official publication of this work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiahui Chen
- Department of Mathematics, Michigan State University, MI 48824, USA
| | - Guo-Wei Wei
- Department of Mathematics, Michigan State University, MI 48824, USA
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, MI 48824, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, MI 48824, USA
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20
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Mechanistic Origin of Different Binding Affinities of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 Spike RBDs to Human ACE2. Cells 2022; 11:cells11081274. [PMID: 35455955 PMCID: PMC9032924 DOI: 10.3390/cells11081274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (RBDCoV2) has a higher binding affinity to the human receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) than the SARS-CoV RBD (RBDCoV). Here, we performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, binding free energy (BFE) calculations, and interface residue contact network (IRCN) analysis to explore the mechanistic origin of different ACE2-binding affinities of the two RBDs. The results demonstrate that, when compared to the RBDCoV2-ACE2 complex, RBDCoV-ACE2 features enhanced dynamicsand inter-protein positional movements and increased conformational entropy and conformational diversity. Although the inter-protein electrostatic attractive interactions are the primary determinant for the high ACE2-binding affinities of both RBDs, the significantly enhanced electrostatic attractive interactions between ACE2 and RBDCoV2 determine the higher ACE2-binding affinity of RBDCoV2 than of RBDCoV. Comprehensive comparative analyses of the residue BFE components and IRCNs between the two complexes reveal that it is the residue changes at the RBD interface that lead to the overall stronger inter-protein electrostatic attractive force in RBDCoV2-ACE2, which not only tightens the interface packing and suppresses the dynamics of RBDCoV2-ACE2, but also enhances the ACE2-binding affinity of RBDCoV2. Since the RBD residue changes involving gain/loss of the positively/negatively charged residues can greatly enhance the binding affinity, special attention should be paid to the SARS-CoV-2 variants carrying such mutations, particularly those near or at the binding interfaces with the potential to form hydrogen bonds and/or salt bridges with ACE2.
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21
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Mishra L, Bandyopadhyay T. Unbinding of hACE2 and inhibitors from the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2022; 41:3245-3264. [PMID: 35293839 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2046641] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The first direful biomolecular event leading to COVID-19 disease is the SARS-CoV-2 virus surface spike (S) protein-mediated interaction with the human transmembrane protein, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). Prevention of this interaction presents an attractive alternative to thwart SARS-CoV-2 replications. The development of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in the convalescent plasma treatment, nanobody, and designer peptides, which recognizes epitopes that overlap with hACE2 binding sites in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of S protein (S/RBD) and thereby blocking the infection has been the center stage of therapeutic research. Here we report atomistic and reliable in silico structure-energetic features of the S/RBD interactions with hACE2 and its two inhibitors (convalescent mAb, B38, and an alpaca nanobody, Ty1). The discovered potential of mean forces exhibits free energy basin and barriers along the interaction pathways, providing sufficient molecular insights to design a B38 mutant and a Ty1-based peptide with higher binding capacity. While the mutated B38 forms a 60-fold deeper free energy minimum, the designer peptide (Ty1-based) constitutes 38 amino acids and is found to form a 100-fold deeper free energy minimum in the first binding basin than their wild-type variants in complex with S/RBD. Our strategy may help to design more efficacious biologics towards therapeutic intervention against the current raging pandemic.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lokpati Mishra
- Radiation Safety Systems Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India
| | - Tusar Bandyopadhyay
- Theoretical Chemistry Section, Chemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India
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22
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Ma B, Zhang Z, Li Y, Lin X, Gu N. Evaluation of Interactions between SARS-CoV-2 RBD and Full-Length ACE2 with Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:936-944. [PMID: 35147419 PMCID: PMC8862743 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c01306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Compared to all-atom models, coarse-grained models enable the investigation of the dynamics of simulation systems on a much larger length scale and a longer time scale, which makes them suitable for studying macromolecular systems. Hence, in this work, we performed multiple μs-scale Martini coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to reveal the interaction details between SARS-CoV-2 RBD and full-length human ACE2. Besides, the key coarse-grained systems were backmapped into the corresponding all-atom system for the display of structural details. Our results indicated that the plier structure in two ends of the binding interface plays a key role in the binding process of SARS-CoV-2 RBD with ACE2. Furthermore, we also found that when there is no B0AT1 in the simulation system, the N-terminus of ACE2 is more likely to approach the cell membrane, which has a strong correlation with the subsequent fusion of the virus with the cell membrane. These binding details of SARS-CoV-2 RBD and the ACE2 protease domain (PD) as well as the membrane orientation thermodynamics can promote the development of therapeutic drugs and preventive vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Baocai Ma
- State
Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials
and Devices, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China
- Collaborative
Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano-Science and Technology, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Biomaterials and Technologies, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China
| | - Zuoheng Zhang
- State
Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials
and Devices, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China
- Collaborative
Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano-Science and Technology, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Biomaterials and Technologies, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China
| | - Yan Li
- State
Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials
and Devices, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China
- Collaborative
Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano-Science and Technology, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Biomaterials and Technologies, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China
| | - Xubo Lin
- Beijing
Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering
Medicine, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, P. R. China
| | - Ning Gu
- State
Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials
and Devices, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, P. R. China
- Collaborative
Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano-Science and Technology, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Biomaterials and Technologies, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China
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23
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Abu-Saleh AAAA, Yadav A, Poirier RA. Accelerating the discovery of the beyond rule of five compounds that have high affinities toward SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2022; 41:2518-2527. [PMID: 35132950 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2022.2036640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The battle against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is the focal point for the global pandemic that has affected millions of lives worldwide. The need for effective and selective therapeutics for the treatment of the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 is critical. Herein, we performed a hierarchical computational approach incorporating molecular docking studies, molecular dynamics simulations, absolute binding energy calculations, and steered molecular dynamics simulations for the discovery of potential compounds with high affinity towards SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD. By leveraging ZINC15 database, a total of 1282 in-clinical and FDA approved drugs were filtered out from nearly 0.5 million protomers of relatively large compounds (MW > 500, and LogP ≤ 5). Our results depict plausible mechanistic aspects related to the blockage of SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD by the top hits discovered. We found that the most promising candidates, namely, ZINC95628821, ZINC95617623, ZINC3979524, and ZINC261494658, strongly bind to the spike RBD and interfere with the human ACE2 receptor. These findings accelerate the rational design of selective inhibitors targeting the spike RBD protein of SARS-CoV-2.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Arpita Yadav
- Department of Chemistry, University Institute of Engineering & Technology, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur, India
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24
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Site Density Functional Theory and Structural Bioinformatics Analysis of the SARS-CoV Spike Protein and hACE2 Complex. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27030799. [PMID: 35164065 PMCID: PMC8839245 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27030799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The entry of the SARS-CoV-2, a causative agent of COVID-19, into human host cells is mediated by the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein, which critically depends on the formation of complexes involving the spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) and the human cellular membrane receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). Using classical site density functional theory (SDFT) and structural bioinformatics methods, we investigate binding and conformational properties of these complexes and study the overlooked role of water-mediated interactions. Analysis of the three-dimensional reference interaction site model (3DRISM) of SDFT indicates that water mediated interactions in the form of additional water bridges strongly increases the binding between SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and hACE2 compared to SARS-CoV-1-hACE2 complex. By analyzing structures of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1, we find that the homotrimer SARS-CoV-2 S receptor-binding domain (RBD) has expanded in size, indicating large conformational change relative to SARS-CoV-1 S protein. Protomer with the up-conformational form of RBD, which binds with hACE2, exhibits stronger intermolecular interactions at the RBD-ACE2 interface, with differential distributions and the inclusion of specific H-bonds in the CoV-2 complex. Further interface analysis has shown that interfacial water promotes and stabilizes the formation of CoV-2/hACE2 complex. This interaction causes a significant structural rigidification of the spike protein, favoring proteolytic processing of the S protein for the fusion of the viral and cellular membrane. Moreover, conformational dynamics simulations of RBD motions in SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1 point to the role in modification of the RBD dynamics and their impact on infectivity.
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25
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Wu L, Zhou L, Mo M, Liu T, Wu C, Gong C, Lu K, Gong L, Zhu W, Xu Z. SARS-CoV-2 Omicron RBD shows weaker binding affinity than the currently dominant Delta variant to human ACE2. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2022; 7:8. [PMID: 34987150 PMCID: PMC8727475 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-021-00863-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 153] [Impact Index Per Article: 76.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Leyun Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Liping Zhou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Mengxia Mo
- College of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073, China
| | - Tingting Liu
- Center for Drug Safety Evaluation and Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Chengkun Wu
- College of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073, China
| | - Chunye Gong
- College of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073, China
| | - Kai Lu
- College of Computer Science and Technology, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, 410073, China
| | - Likun Gong
- Center for Drug Safety Evaluation and Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, 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.
| | - 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.
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26
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Adhikari P, Podgornik R, Jawad B, Ching WY. First-Principles Simulation of Dielectric Function in Biomolecules. MATERIALS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 14:5774. [PMID: 34640170 PMCID: PMC8510404 DOI: 10.3390/ma14195774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The dielectric spectra of complex biomolecules reflect the molecular heterogeneity of the proteins and are particularly important for the calculations of electrostatic (Coulomb) and electrodynamic (van der Waals) interactions in protein physics. The dielectric response of the proteins can be decomposed into different components depending on the size, structure, composition, locality, and environment of the protein in general. We present a new robust simulation method anchored in rigorous ab initio quantum mechanical calculations of explicit atomistic models, without any indeterminate parameters to compute and gain insight into the dielectric spectra of small proteins under different conditions. We implement this methodology to a polypeptide RGD-4C (1FUV) in different environments, and the SD1 domain in the spike protein of SARS-COV-2. Two peaks at 5.2-5.7 eV and 14.4-15.2 eV in the dielectric absorption spectra are observed for 1FUV and SD1 in vacuum as well as in their solvated and salted models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Puja Adhikari
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA; (P.A.); (B.J.)
| | - Rudolf Podgornik
- School of Physical Sciences, Kavli Institute of Theoretical Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100090, China
- Wenzhou Institute, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou 325000, China
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Bahaa Jawad
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA; (P.A.); (B.J.)
| | - Wai-Yim Ching
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA; (P.A.); (B.J.)
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27
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Jawad B, Adhikari P, Podgornik R, Ching WY. Key Interacting Residues between RBD of SARS-CoV-2 and ACE2 Receptor: Combination of Molecular Dynamics Simulation and Density Functional Calculation. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:4425-4441. [PMID: 34428371 PMCID: PMC8409146 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 binds to the ACE2 receptor via its receptor-binding domain (RBD), with the RBD-ACE2 complex presenting an essential molecular target for vaccine development to stall the virus infection proliferation. The computational analyses at molecular, amino acid (AA), and atomic levels have been performed systematically to identify the key interacting AAs in the formation of the RBD-ACE2 complex for SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 with its Alpha and Beta variants. Our study uses the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with the molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) method to predict the binding free energy (BFE) and to determine the actual interacting AAs, as well as two ab initio quantum chemical protocols based on the density functional theory (DFT) implementation. Based on MD results, Q493, Y505, Q498, N501, T500, N487, Y449, F486, K417, Y489, F456, Y495, and L455 have been identified as hotspots in SARS-CoV-2 RBD, while those in ACE2 are K353, K31, D30, D355, H34, D38, Q24, T27, Y83, Y41, and E35. RBD with Alpha and Beta variants has slightly different interacting AAs due to N501Y mutation. Both the electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions are the main driving force to form the AA-AA binding pairs. We confirm that Q493, Q498, N501, F486, K417, and F456 in RBD are the key residues responsible for the tight binding of SARS-CoV-2 with ACE2 compared to SARS-CoV. RBD with the Alpha variant binds with ACE2 stronger than the wild-type RBD or Beta. In the Beta variant, K417N reduces the binding, E484K slightly enhances it, and N501Y significantly increases it as in Alpha. The DFT results reveal that N487, Q493, Y449, T500, G496, G446, and G502 in RBD of SARS2 form pairs via specific hydrogen bonding with Q24, H34, E35, D38, Y41, Q42, and K353 in ACE2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bahaa Jawad
- Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri
64110, United States
| | - Puja Adhikari
- Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri
64110, United States
| | - Rudolf Podgornik
- Wenzhou Institute of the University of
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325000,
China
- School of Physical Sciences and Kavli Institute of
Theoretical Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Beijing 100049, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Physics,
Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
100090, China
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and
Physics, University of Ljubljana, SI-1000 Ljubljana,
Slovenia
| | - Wai-Yim Ching
- Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri
64110, United States
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28
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Wu L, Peng C, Yang Y, Shi Y, Zhou L, Xu Z, Zhu W. Exploring the immune evasion of SARS-CoV-2 variant harboring E484K by molecular dynamics simulations. Brief Bioinform 2021; 23:6374062. [PMID: 34553217 PMCID: PMC8500006 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbab383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2021] [Revised: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have been used worldwide to halt spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants with E484K mutation shows significant resistance to the neutralization of vaccine sera. To better understand the resistant mechanism, we calculated the binding affinities of 26 antibodies to wild-type (WT) spike protein and to the protein harboring E484K mutation, respectively. The results showed that most antibodies (~85%) have weaker binding affinities to the E484K mutated spike protein than to the WT, indicating the high risk of immune evasion of the mutated virus from most of current antibodies. Binding free energy decomposition revealed that the residue E484 forms attraction with most antibodies, while the K484 has repulsion from most antibodies, which should be the main reason of the weaker binding affinities of E484K mutant to most antibodies. Impressively, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) combination was found to have much stronger binding affinity with E484K mutant than WT, which may work well against the mutated virus. Based on binding free energy decomposition, we predicted that the mutation of four more residues on receptor-binding domain (RBD) of spike protein, viz., F490, V483, G485 and S494, may have high risk of immune evasion, which we should pay close attention on during the development of new mAb therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leyun Wu
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.,School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Cheng Peng
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.,School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yanqing Yang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.,School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yulong Shi
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.,School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Liping Zhou
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.,School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Zhijian Xu
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.,School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Weiliang Zhu
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.,School of Pharmacy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
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29
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Wu Y, Qian R, Yang Y, Sheng Y, Li W, Wang W. Activation Pathways and Free Energy Landscapes of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein. ACS OMEGA 2021; 6:23432-23441. [PMID: 34514271 PMCID: PMC8424691 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c03384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses a spike protein (S-protein) to recognize the receptor protein ACE2 of human cells and initiate infection, during which the conformational transition of the S-protein from inactive (down) state to active (up) state is one of the key molecular events determining the infectivity but the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In this work, we investigated the activation pathways and free energy landscape of the S-protein of SARS-CoV-2 and compared with those of the closely related counterpart SARS-CoV using molecular dynamics simulations. Our results revealed a large difference between the activation pathways of the two S-proteins. The transition from inactive to an active state for the S-protein of SARS-CoV-2 is more cooperative, involving simultaneous disruptions of several key interfacial hydrogen bonds, and the transition encounters a much higher free energy barrier. In addition, the conformational equilibrium of the SARS-CoV-2 S-protein is more biased to the inactive state compared to that of the SARS-CoV S-protein, suggesting the transient feature of the active state before binding to the receptor protein of the host cell. The key interactions contributing to the difference of the activation pathways and free energy landscapes were discussed. The results provide insights into the molecular mechanism involved in the initial stage of the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yichao Wu
- Department of Physics, National
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Ruixin Qian
- Department of Physics, National
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Yan Yang
- Department of Physics, National
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Yuebiao Sheng
- Department of Physics, National
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Wenfei Li
- Department of Physics, National
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Physics, National
Laboratory of Solid State Microstructure, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
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30
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The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is vulnerable to moderate electric fields. Nat Commun 2021; 12:5407. [PMID: 34518528 PMCID: PMC8437970 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25478-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Most of the ongoing projects aimed at the development of specific therapies and vaccines against COVID-19 use the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein as the main target. The binding of the spike protein with the ACE2 receptor (ACE2) of the host cell constitutes the first and key step for virus entry. During this process, the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the S protein plays an essential role, since it contains the receptor binding motif (RBM), responsible for the docking to the receptor. So far, mostly biochemical methods are being tested in order to prevent binding of the virus to ACE2. Here we show, with the help of atomistic simulations, that external electric fields of easily achievable and moderate strengths can dramatically destabilise the S protein, inducing long-lasting structural damage. One striking field-induced conformational change occurs at the level of the recognition loop L3 of the RBD where two parallel beta sheets, believed to be responsible for a high affinity to ACE2, undergo a change into an unstructured coil, which exhibits almost no binding possibilities to the ACE2 receptor. We also show that these severe structural changes upon electric-field application also occur in the mutant RBDs corresponding to the variants of concern (VOC) B.1.1.7 (UK), B.1.351 (South Africa) and P.1 (Brazil). Remarkably, while the structural flexibility of S allows the virus to improve its probability of entering the cell, it is also the origin of the surprising vulnerability of S upon application of electric fields of strengths at least two orders of magnitude smaller than those required for damaging most proteins. Our findings suggest the existence of a clean physical method to weaken the SARS-CoV-2 virus without further biochemical processing. Moreover, the effect could be used for infection prevention purposes and also to develop technologies for in-vitro structural manipulation of S. Since the method is largely unspecific, it can be suitable for application to other mutations in S, to other proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and in general to membrane proteins of other virus types. The SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein is essential for viral infectivity and binds to the host receptor ACE2. Here, the authors present MD simulations of the Spike protein and its variants of concern and observe that the Spike protein is destabilised by moderate static electric fields, and undergoes field-induced conformational changes that hinder binding to ACE2.
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31
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Transformations, Lineage Comparisons, and Analysis of Down-to-Up Protomer States of Variants of the SARS-CoV-2 Prefusion Spike Protein, Including the UK Variant B.1.1.7. Microbiol Spectr 2021; 9:e0003021. [PMID: 34346753 PMCID: PMC8562339 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00030-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Monitoring and strategic response to variants in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) represent a considerable challenge in the current pandemic and for future viral outbreaks. Mutations/deletions of the virion’s prefusion Spike protein may have significant impact on vaccines and therapeutics that utilize this key structural protein in their mitigation strategies. In this study, we have demonstrated how dominant energetic landscape mappings (“glue points”) based on ab inito all-atom force fields coupled with phylogenetic sequence alignment information can identify key residue mutations and deletions associated with variants. We also found several examples of excellent homology of stabilizing residue glue points across the lineages of betacoronavirus Spike proteins that we have called “sequence homologous glue points.” SARS-CoV-2 demonstrates the least number of stabilizing glue points associated with interchain interactions among Down-state protomers across lineages. Additionally, we computationally studied variants among the trimeric Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 using all-atom molecular dynamics to ascertain structural and energetic changes among variants. We examined both a theoretically based triple mutant and the UK or B.1.1.7 variant. For the theoretical triple mutant, we demonstrated through alanine substitutions that three key residues could cause the transition of Down-to-Up protomer states, where the transition is characterized by the “arm” length of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) rather than the hinge angle. For the B.1.1.7 variant, we demonstrated the critical importance of mutations D614G and N501Y on the structure and binding, respectively, of the Spike protein. We note that these same two key mutations are also found in the South African B.1.351 variant. IMPORTANCE Viral variants represent a major challenge to monitoring viral outbreaks and formulating strategic health care responses. Variants represent transmitting viruses that have specific mutations and deletions associated with their genome. In the case of SARS-CoV-2 and other related viruses (betacoronaviruses), many of these mutations and deletions are associated with the Spike protein that the virus uses to infect cells. Here, we have analyzed both SARS-CoV-2 variants and related viruses, such as Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), in order to understand not only differences, but also key similarities between them. Understanding similarities can be as important as differences in determining key functional features of a class of viruses, such as the betacoronaviruses. We have used both phylogenetic analysis, which traces genetic similarities and differences, along with independent biophysics analysis, which adds function or behavior, in order to determine possible functional differences and hence possible transmission and infection differences among variants and lineages.
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32
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Li B, Wang L, Ge H, Zhang X, Ren P, Guo Y, Chen W, Li J, Zhu W, Chen W, Zhu L, Bai F. Identification of Potential Binding Sites of Sialic Acids on the RBD Domain of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein. Front Chem 2021; 9:659764. [PMID: 34368076 PMCID: PMC8341434 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.659764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is still an emergent pandemic for humans. The virus infection is achieved by penetrating its spike protein to host cells via binding with ACE2. Moreover, recent studies show that SARS-CoV-2 may have multiple receptors that need to be further revealed. SARS-CoV-2 shares similar sequences of the spike protein with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which can invade host cells by binding to either DPP4 or sialic acids. Sialic acids can be linked to the terminal of glycoproteins and gangliosides are used as one of the receptors of many types of viruses. Therefore, it is very interesting to determine whether sialic acid is a potential receptor of SARS-CoV-2. To address this question, we took N-Acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac), a type of predominant sialic acid found in human cells, as the molecular probe to computationally search the surface of the spike protein to locate the potential binding sites of Neu5Ac. SPR analysis and mass spectrum analysis confirmed the interaction between Neu5Ac and spike protein. This study shows that sialic acids can moderately interact with the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 by binding between the two RBDs of the spike protein, indicating it could be a potential secondary or auxiliary receptor of SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingqian Li
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China.,Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Lin Wang
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Huan Ge
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Xianglei Zhang
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Penxuan Ren
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yu Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology and College of Pharmacy, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Wuyan Chen
- National Center for Protein Science Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Jie Li
- National Center for Protein Science Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei Zhu
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wenzhang Chen
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lili Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Fang Bai
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
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33
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Chen H, Kang Y, Duan M, Hou T. Regulation Mechanism for the Binding between the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and Host Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme II. J Phys Chem Lett 2021; 12:6252-6261. [PMID: 34196550 PMCID: PMC8265532 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c01548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is mainly mediated through the interaction between the spike protein (S-pro) of the virus and the host angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2). The attachment of heparan sulfate (HS) to S-pro is necessary for its binding to ACE2. In this study, the binding process of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of S-pro to ACE2 was explored by enhanced sampling simulations. The free-energy landscape was characterized to elucidate the binding mechanism of S-pro to ACE2 with and without HS fragment DP4. We found that the stability of the T470-F490 loop and the hydrophobic interactions contributed from F486/Y489 in the T470-F490 loop of S-pro are quite crucial for the binding, which is enhanced by the presence of DP4. Our study provides valuable insights for rational drug design to prevent the invasion of SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haiyi Chen
- National Centre for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, State
Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics,
Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, Hubei,
China
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058,
Zhejiang, China
| | - Yu Kang
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058,
Zhejiang, China
| | - Mojie Duan
- National Centre for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, State
Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics,
Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, Hubei,
China
| | - Tingjun Hou
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058,
Zhejiang, China
- State Key Lab of CAD&CG, Zhejiang
University, Hangzhou 310058, Zhejiang, China
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34
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Mao R, Bie L, Xu M, Wang X, Gao J. Antiviral drug design based on the opening mechanism of spike glycoprotein in SARS-CoV-2. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:12549-12558. [PMID: 34008647 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp01045j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) enters the host cell after the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the virus spike (S) glycoprotein binds to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2). This binding requires the RBD to undergo a conformational change from a closed to an open state. In the present study, a key pair of salt bridges formed by the side chains of K537 and E619, residues at the interfaces of SD1 and SD2, respectively, was identified to promote the opening of the RBD. Mutations of K537Q and E619D reduced their side chain lengths and eliminated this pair of salt bridges; as a result, the opening of the RBD was not observed in the MD simulations. Thus, blocking the formation of this pair of salt bridges is a promising approach for treating novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). FDA approved drug molecules were screened by their capabilities of blocking the formation of the key pair of salt bridges, achieved by their positional stabilities in the cavity containing the side chains of K537 and E619 formed in the interface between SD1 and SD2. Simeprevir, imatinib, and naldemedine were identified to possess the desired capability with the most favorable interaction energies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruichao Mao
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
| | - Lihua Bie
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
| | - Maofeng Xu
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
| | - Xiaocong Wang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
| | - Jun Gao
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
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35
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Ma S, Li H, Yang J, Yu K. Molecular simulation studies of the interactions between the human/pangolin/cat/bat ACE2 and the receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Biochimie 2021; 187:1-13. [PMID: 33984400 PMCID: PMC8110333 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2021.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The recent outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has had a profound effect on the world. Similar to that in SARS-CoV, the entry receptor of SARS-CoV-2 is ACE2. The binding of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to ACE2 is the critical to the virus infection. Recently multiple species (human, Chinese chrysanthemum, Malay pangolin and cat) have been reported to be susceptible to the virus infection. However, the binding capacity and the detailed binding mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to ACE2 of these species remains unexplored. Herein free energy calculations with MM-GBSA and Potential of Mean Forces together reveal that the Human-SARS-CoV-2 has a higher stability tendency than Human-SARS-CoV. Meanwhile, we uncover that SARS-CoV-2 has an enhanced ability to bind with the ACE2 in humans, pangolins and cats compared to that in bats. Analysis of key residues with energy decomposition and residue contact maps reveal several important consensus sites in ACE2s among the studied species, and determined the more favorable specified residues among the different types of amino acids. These results provide important implications for understanding SARS-CoV-2 host range which will make it possible to control the spread of the virus and use of animal models, targeted drug screening and vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaojie Ma
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China; Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, PR China; National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, PR China
| | - Hui Li
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, PR China; Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies, And School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Tech University, Shanghai 200031, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
| | - Jun Yang
- Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China; National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, PR China.
| | - Kunqian Yu
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, PR China; Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies, And School of Life Science and Technology, Shanghai Tech University, Shanghai 200031, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
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36
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Peters MH, Bastidas O, Kokron DS, Henze CE. Transformations, Lineage Comparisons, and Analysis of Down to Up Protomer States of Variants of the SARS-CoV-2 Prefusion Spike Protein Including the UK Variant B.1.1.7. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2021. [PMID: 33594365 DOI: 10.1101/2021.02.09.430519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Monitoring and strategic response to variants in SARS-CoV-2 represents a considerable challenge in the current pandemic, as well as potentially future viral outbreaks of similar magnitude. In particular mutations and deletions involving the virion's prefusion Spike protein have significant potential impact on vaccines and therapeutics that utilize this key structural viral protein in their mitigation strategies. In this study, we have demonstrated how dominant energetic landscape mappings ("glue points") coupled with sequence alignment information can potentially identify or flag key residue mutations and deletions associated with variants. Surprisingly, we also found excellent homology of stabilizing residue glue points across the lineage of β coronavirus Spike proteins, and we have termed this as "sequence homologous glue points". In general, these flagged residue mutations and/or deletions are then computationally studied in detail using all-atom biocomputational molecular dynamics over approximately one microsecond in order to ascertain structural and energetic changes in the Spike protein associated variants. Specifically, we examined both a theoretically-based triple mutant and the so-called UK or B.1.1.7 variant. For the theoretical triple mutant, we demonstrated through Alanine mutations, which help "unglue" key residue-residue interactions, that these three key stabilizing residues could cause the transition of Down to Up protomer states, where the Up protomer state allows binding of the prefusion Spike protein to hACE2 host cell receptors, whereas the Down state is believed inaccessible. Thus, we are able to demonstrate the importance of glue point residue identification in the overall stability of the prefusion Spike protein. For the B.1.1.7 variant, we demonstrated the critical importance of D614G and N5017 on the structure and binding, respectively, of the Spike protein. Notably, we had previously identified D614 as a key glue point in the inter-protomer stabilization of the Spike protein prior to the emergence of its mutation. The mutant D614G is a structure breaking Glycine mutation demonstrating a relatively more distal Down state RBD and a more stable conformation in general. In addition, we demonstrate that the mutation N501Y may significantly increase the Spike protein binding to hACE2 cell receptors through its interaction with Y41 of hACE2 forming a potentially strong hydrophobic residue binding pair. We note that these two key mutations, D614G and N501Y, are also found in the so-called South African (SA; B.1.351) variant of SARS-CoV-2. Future studies along these lines are, therefore, aimed at mapping glue points to residue mutations and deletions of associated prefusion Spike protein variants in order to help identify and analyze possible "variants of interest" and optimize efforts aimed at the mitigation of this current and future virions.
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