1
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Yan X, Qu C, Li Q, Zhu L, Tong HH, Liu H, Ouyang Q, Yao X. Multiscale calculations reveal new insights into the reaction mechanism between KRAS G12C and α, β-unsaturated carbonyl of covalent inhibitors. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2024; 23:1408-1417. [PMID: 38616962 PMCID: PMC11015740 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2024.03.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 03/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Utilizing α,β-unsaturated carbonyl group as Michael acceptors to react with thiols represents a successful strategy for developing KRASG12C inhibitors. Despite this, the precise reaction mechanism between KRASG12C and covalent inhibitors remains a subject of debate, primarily due to the absence of an appropriate residue capable of deprotonating the cysteine thiol as a base. To uncover this reaction mechanism, we first discussed the chemical reaction mechanism in solvent conditions via density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Based on this, we then proposed and validated the enzymatic reaction mechanism by employing quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculation. Our QM/MM analysis suggests that, in biological conditions, proton transfer and nucleophilic addition may proceed through a concerted process to form an enolate intermediate, bypassing the need for a base catalyst. This proposed mechanism differs from previous findings. Following the formation of the enolate intermediate, solvent-assisted tautomerization results in the final product. Our calculations indicate that solvent-assisted tautomerization is the rate-limiting step in the catalytic cycle under biological conditions. On the basis of this reaction mechanism, the calculated kinact/ki for two inhibitors is consistent well with the experimental results. Our findings provide new insights into the reaction mechanism between the cysteine of KRASG12C and the covalent inhibitors and may provide valuable information for designing effective covalent inhibitors targeting KRASG12C and other similar targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Yan
- Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University, Macao Special Administrative Region of China
| | - Chuanhua Qu
- College of Pharmacy, National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Targeted and Innovative Therapeutics, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Kinase Modulators as Innovative Medicine, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing 402160, China
| | - Qin Li
- Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University, Macao Special Administrative Region of China
| | - Lei Zhu
- College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Shapingba, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Henry H.Y. Tong
- Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University, Macao Special Administrative Region of China
| | - Huanxiang Liu
- Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University, Macao Special Administrative Region of China
| | - Qin Ouyang
- College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Shapingba, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Xiaojun Yao
- Faculty of Applied Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University, Macao Special Administrative Region of China
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2
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Péczka N, Ranđelović I, Orgován Z, Csorba N, Egyed A, Petri L, Ábrányi-Balogh P, Gadanecz M, Perczel A, Tóvári J, Schlosser G, Takács T, Mihalovits LM, Ferenczy G, Buday L, Keserű GM. Contribution of Noncovalent Recognition and Reactivity to the Optimization of Covalent Inhibitors: A Case Study on KRas G12C. ACS Chem Biol 2024; 19:1743-1756. [PMID: 38991015 PMCID: PMC11334105 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.4c00217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2024] [Revised: 06/23/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
Covalent drugs might bear electrophiles to chemically modify their targets and have the potential to target previously undruggable proteins with high potency. Covalent binding of drug-size molecules includes a noncovalent recognition provided by secondary interactions and a chemical reaction leading to covalent complex formation. Optimization of their covalent mechanism of action should involve both types of interactions. Noncovalent and covalent binding steps can be characterized by an equilibrium dissociation constant (KI) and a reaction rate constant (kinact), respectively, and they are affected by both the warhead and the scaffold of the ligand. The relative contribution of these two steps was investigated on a prototypic drug target KRASG12C, an oncogenic mutant of KRAS. We used a synthetically more accessible nonchiral core derived from ARS-1620 that was equipped with four different warheads and a previously described KRAS-specific basic side chain. Combining these structural changes, we have synthesized novel covalent KRASG12C inhibitors and tested their binding and biological effect on KRASG12C by various biophysical and biochemical assays. These data allowed us to dissect the effect of scaffold and warhead on the noncovalent and covalent binding event. Our results revealed that the atropisomeric core of ARS-1620 is not indispensable for KRASG12C inhibition, the basic side chain has little effect on either binding step, and warheads affect the covalent reactivity but not the noncovalent binding. This type of analysis helps identify structural determinants of efficient covalent inhibition and may find use in the design of covalent agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolett Péczka
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group and National Drug Discovery and Development
Laboratory, HUN-REN Research Centre for
Natural Sciences, Budapest 1117, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Budapest
University of Technology and Economics, Budapest 1111, Hungary
| | - Ivan Ranđelović
- Department
of Experimental Pharmacology and the National Tumor Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Oncology, Budapest 1122, Hungary
| | - Zoltán Orgován
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group and National Drug Discovery and Development
Laboratory, HUN-REN Research Centre for
Natural Sciences, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - Noémi Csorba
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group and National Drug Discovery and Development
Laboratory, HUN-REN Research Centre for
Natural Sciences, Budapest 1117, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Budapest
University of Technology and Economics, Budapest 1111, Hungary
| | - Attila Egyed
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group and National Drug Discovery and Development
Laboratory, HUN-REN Research Centre for
Natural Sciences, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - László Petri
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group and National Drug Discovery and Development
Laboratory, HUN-REN Research Centre for
Natural Sciences, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - Péter Ábrányi-Balogh
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group and National Drug Discovery and Development
Laboratory, HUN-REN Research Centre for
Natural Sciences, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - Márton Gadanecz
- Protein
Modeling Research Group, Laboratory of Structural Chemistry and Biology, ELTE Institute of Chemistry, Budapest 1117, Hungary
- Hevesy
György PhD School of Chemistry, Eötvös
Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány. 1/A, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - András Perczel
- Protein
Modeling Research Group, Laboratory of Structural Chemistry and Biology, ELTE Institute of Chemistry, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - József Tóvári
- Department
of Experimental Pharmacology and the National Tumor Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Oncology, Budapest 1122, Hungary
| | - Gitta Schlosser
- MTA-ELTE
“Lendület”, Ion Mobility
Mass Spectrometry Research Group, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - Tamás Takács
- HUN-REN
Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Signal
Transduction and Functional Genomics Research Group, Budapest 1117, Hungary
- Doctoral
School of Biology, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - Levente M. Mihalovits
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group and National Drug Discovery and Development
Laboratory, HUN-REN Research Centre for
Natural Sciences, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - György
G. Ferenczy
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group and National Drug Discovery and Development
Laboratory, HUN-REN Research Centre for
Natural Sciences, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - László Buday
- HUN-REN
Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Signal
Transduction and Functional Genomics Research Group, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - György M. Keserű
- Medicinal
Chemistry Research Group and National Drug Discovery and Development
Laboratory, HUN-REN Research Centre for
Natural Sciences, Budapest 1117, Hungary
- Department
of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Budapest
University of Technology and Economics, Budapest 1111, Hungary
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3
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Ma S, Patel H, Peeples CA, Shen J. QM/MM Simulations of Afatinib-EGFR Addition: The Role of β-Dimethylaminomethyl Substitution. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:5528-5538. [PMID: 38877999 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Acrylamides are the most commonly used warheads of targeted covalent inhibitors (TCIs) directed at cysteines; however, the reaction mechanisms of acrylamides in proteins remain controversial, particularly for those involving protonated or unreactive cysteines. Using the combined semiempirical quantum mechanics (QM)/molecular mechanics (MM) free energy simulations, we investigated the reaction between afatinib, the first TCI drug for cancer treatment, and Cys797 in the EGFR kinase. Afatinib contains a β-dimethylaminomethyl (β-DMAM) substitution which has been shown to enhance the intrinsic reactivity and potency against EGFR for related inhibitors. Two hypothesized reaction mechanisms were tested. Our data suggest that Cys797 becomes deprotonated in the presence of afatinib, and the reaction proceeds via a classical Michael addition mechanism, with Asp800 stabilizing the ion-pair reactant state β-DMAM+/C797- and the transition state of the nucleophilic attack. Our work elucidates an important structure-activity relationship of acrylamides in proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuhua Ma
- Department of Chemistry, Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics, Towson University, Towson, Maryland 21252, United States
| | - Heeral Patel
- Department of Chemistry, Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics, Towson University, Towson, Maryland 21252, United States
| | - Craig A Peeples
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States
| | - Jana Shen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States
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4
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Ma S, Patel H, Peeples CA, Shen J. QM/MM simulations of EFGR with afatinib reveal the role of the β-dimethylaminomethyl substitution. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.18.580887. [PMID: 38766221 PMCID: PMC11100610 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.18.580887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Acrylamides are the most commonly used warheads of targeted covalent inhibitors (TCIs) directed at cysteines; however, the reaction mechanisms of acrylamides in proteins remain controversial, particularly for those involving protonated or unreactive cysteines. Using the combined semiempirical quantum mechanics (QM)/molecular mechanics (MM) free energy simulations, we investigated the reaction between afatinib, the first TCI drug for cancer treatment, and Cys797 in the EGFR kinase. Afatinib contains a β-dimethylaminomethyl (β-DMAM) substitution which has been shown to enhance the intrinsic reactivity and potency against EGFR for related inhibitors. Two hypothesized reaction mechanisms were tested. Our data suggest that Cys797 becomes deprotonated in the presence of afatinib and the reaction proceeds via a classical Michael addition mechanism, with Asp800 stabilizing the ion-pair reactant state β-DMAM+/C797- and the transition state of the nucleophilic attack. Our work elucidates an important structure-activity relationship of acrylamides in proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuhua Ma
- Department of Chemistry, Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252
| | - Heeral Patel
- Department of Chemistry, Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics, Towson University, Towson, MD 21252
| | - Craig A Peeples
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD 21201
| | - Jana Shen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD 21201
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5
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Danilack AD, Dickson CJ, Soylu C, Fortunato M, Rodde S, Munkler H, Hornak V, Duca JS. Reactivities of acrylamide warheads toward cysteine targets: a QM/ML approach to covalent inhibitor design. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2024; 38:21. [PMID: 38693331 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-024-00560-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
Covalent inhibition offers many advantages over non-covalent inhibition, but covalent warhead reactivity must be carefully balanced to maintain potency while avoiding unwanted side effects. While warhead reactivities are commonly measured with assays, a computational model to predict warhead reactivities could be useful for several aspects of the covalent inhibitor design process. Studies have shown correlations between covalent warhead reactivities and quantum mechanic (QM) properties that describe important aspects of the covalent reaction mechanism. However, the models from these studies are often linear regression equations and can have limitations associated with their usage. Applications of machine learning (ML) models to predict covalent warhead reactivities with QM descriptors are not extensively seen in the literature. This study uses QM descriptors, calculated at different levels of theory, to train ML models to predict reactivities of covalent acrylamide warheads. The QM/ML models are compared with linear regression models built upon the same QM descriptors and with ML models trained on structure-based features like Morgan fingerprints and RDKit descriptors. Experiments show that the QM/ML models outperform the linear regression models and the structure-based ML models, and literature test sets demonstrate the power of the QM/ML models to predict reactivities of unseen acrylamide warhead scaffolds. Ultimately, these QM/ML models are effective, computationally feasible tools that can expedite the design of new covalent inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron D Danilack
- Biomedical Research, Novartis, 181 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
| | - Callum J Dickson
- Biomedical Research, Novartis, 181 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Cihan Soylu
- Biomedical Research, Novartis, 181 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Mike Fortunato
- Biomedical Research, Novartis, 181 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Stephane Rodde
- Biomedical Research, Novartis, Novartis Campus, 4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Hagen Munkler
- Technical Research & Development, Novartis Pharma AG, Novartis Campus, 4056, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Viktor Hornak
- Merck Research Laboratories, 33 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jose S Duca
- Biomedical Research, Novartis, 181 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
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6
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Mihalovits LM, Kollár L, Bajusz D, Knez D, Bozovičar K, Imre T, Ferenczy GG, Gobec S, Keserű GM. Molecular Mechanism of Labelling Functional Cysteines by Heterocyclic Thiones. Chemphyschem 2024; 25:e202300596. [PMID: 37888491 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202300596] [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: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Heterocyclic thiones have recently been identified as reversible covalent warheads, consistent with their mild electrophilic nature. Little is known so far about their mechanism of action in labelling nucleophilic sidechains, especially cysteines. The vast number of tractable cysteines promotes a wide range of target proteins to examine; however, our focus was put on functional cysteines. We chose the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 harboring Cys145 at the active site that is a structurally characterized and clinically validated target of covalent inhibitors. We screened an in-house, cysteine-targeting covalent inhibitor library which resulted in several covalent fragment hits with benzoxazole, benzothiazole and benzimidazole cores. Thione derivatives and Michael acceptors were selected for further investigations with the objective of exploring the mechanism of inhibition of the thiones and using the thoroughly characterized Michael acceptors for benchmarking our studies. Classical and hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) molecular dynamics simulations were carried out that revealed a new mechanism of covalent cysteine labelling by thione derivatives, which was supported by QM and free energy calculations and by a wide range of experimental results. Our study shows that the molecular recognition step plays a crucial role in the overall binding of both sets of molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Levente M Mihalovits
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Levente Kollár
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., 1111, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Dávid Bajusz
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Damijan Knez
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 7, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Krištof Bozovičar
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 7, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Tímea Imre
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
- MS Metabolomics Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - György G Ferenczy
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Stanislav Gobec
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva cesta 7, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - György M Keserű
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, HUN-REN Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar tudósok krt. 2, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., 1111, Budapest, Hungary
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7
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Hasan MN, Ray M, Saha A. Landscape of In Silico Tools for Modeling Covalent Modification of Proteins: A Review on Computational Covalent Drug Discovery. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:9663-9684. [PMID: 37921534 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c04710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Covalent drug discovery has been a challenging research area given the struggle of finding a sweet balance between selectivity and reactivity for these drugs, the lack of which often leads to off-target activities and hence undesirable side effects. However, there has been a resurgence in covalent drug design following the success of several covalent drugs such as boceprevir (2011), ibrutinib (2013), neratinib (2017), dacomitinib (2018), zanubrutinib (2019), and many others. Design of covalent drugs includes many crucial factors, where "evaluation of the binding affinity" and "a detailed mechanistic understanding on covalent inhibition" are at the top of the list. Well-defined experimental techniques are available to elucidate these factors; however, often they are expensive and/or time-consuming and hence not suitable for high throughput screens. Recent developments in in silico methods provide promise in this direction. In this report, we review a set of recent publications that focused on developing and/or implementing novel in silico techniques in "Computational Covalent Drug Discovery (CCDD)". We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches along with what improvements are required to make it a great tool in medicinal chemistry in the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md Nazmul Hasan
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin─Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53211, United States
| | - Manisha Ray
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60660, United States
| | - Arjun Saha
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin─Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53211, United States
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8
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Liu R, Vázquez-Montelongo EA, Ma S, Shen J. Quantum Descriptors for Predicting and Understanding the Structure-Activity Relationships of Michael Acceptor Warheads. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:4912-4923. [PMID: 37463342 PMCID: PMC10837637 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/20/2023]
Abstract
Predictive modeling and understanding of chemical warhead reactivities have the potential to accelerate targeted covalent drug discovery. Recently, the carbanion formation free energies as well as other ground-state electronic properties from density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been proposed as predictors of glutathione reactivities of Michael acceptors; however, no clear consensus exists. By profiling the thiol-Michael reactions of a diverse set of singly- and doubly-activated olefins, including several model warheads related to afatinib, here we reexamined the question of whether low-cost electronic properties can be used as predictors of reaction barriers. The electronic properties related to the carbanion intermediate were found to be strong predictors, e.g., the change in the Cβ charge accompanying carbanion formation. The least expensive reactant-only properties, the electrophilicity index, and the Cβ charge also show strong rank correlations, suggesting their utility as quantum descriptors. A second objective of the work is to clarify the effect of the β-dimethylaminomethyl (DMAM) substitution, which is incorporated in the warheads of several FDA-approved covalent drugs. Our data suggest that the β-DMAM substitution is cationic at neutral pH in solution and promotes acrylamide's intrinsic reactivity by enhancing the charge accumulation at Cα upon carbanion formation. In contrast, the inductive effect of the β-trimethylaminomethyl substitution is diminished due to steric hindrance. Together, these results reconcile the current views of the intrinsic reactivities of acrylamides and contribute to large-scale predictive modeling and an understanding of the structure-activity relationships of Michael acceptors for rational TCI design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruibin Liu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States
| | - Erik A Vázquez-Montelongo
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States
| | - Shuhua Ma
- Department of Chemistry, Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics, Towson University, Towson, Maryland 21252, United States
| | - Jana Shen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States
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9
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Arafet K, Scalvini L, Galvani F, Martí S, Moliner V, Mor M, Lodola A. Mechanistic Modeling of Lys745 Sulfonylation in EGFR C797S Reveals Chemical Determinants for Inhibitor Activity and Discriminates Reversible from Irreversible Agents. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:1301-1312. [PMID: 36762429 PMCID: PMC9976278 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Abstract
Targeted covalent inhibitors hold promise for drug discovery, particularly for kinases. Targeting the catalytic lysine of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has attracted attention as a new strategy to overcome resistance due to the emergence of C797S mutation. Sulfonyl fluoride derivatives able to inhibit EGFRL858R/T790M/C797S by sulfonylation of Lys745 have been reported. However, atomistic details of this process are still poorly understood. Here, we describe the mechanism of inhibition of an innovative class of compounds that covalently engage the catalytic lysine of EGFR, through a sulfur(VI) fluoride exchange (SuFEx) process, with the help of hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) and path collective variables (PCVs) approaches. Our simulations identify the chemical determinants accounting for the irreversible activity of agents targeting Lys745 and provide hints for the further optimization of sulfonyl fluoride agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kemel Arafet
- Dipartimento
di Scienze degli Alimenti e del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I- 43124 Parma, Italy,BioComp
Group, Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM), Universitat Jaume I, 12071 Castelló, Spain
| | - Laura Scalvini
- Dipartimento
di Scienze degli Alimenti e del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I- 43124 Parma, Italy
| | - Francesca Galvani
- Dipartimento
di Scienze degli Alimenti e del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I- 43124 Parma, Italy
| | - Sergio Martí
- BioComp
Group, Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM), Universitat Jaume I, 12071 Castelló, Spain
| | - Vicent Moliner
- BioComp
Group, Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM), Universitat Jaume I, 12071 Castelló, Spain
| | - Marco Mor
- Dipartimento
di Scienze degli Alimenti e del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I- 43124 Parma, Italy,Microbiome
Research Hub, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, I-43124 Parma, Italy
| | - Alessio Lodola
- Dipartimento
di Scienze degli Alimenti e del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 27/A, I- 43124 Parma, Italy,. Phone: +39 0521 905062. Fax: +39 0521 905006
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10
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Ai Y, Yang Z, Yang Z, Wan S, Huang C, Huang C, Li M, Li Z, Zhang J, Zhang T. Discovery and Computational Studies of Potent Covalent Kinase Inhibitors with α-Substituent Electrophiles Targeting Cysteine. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:493-506. [PMID: 36632804 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Both reversible noncovalent inhibitors and irreversible covalent inhibitors targeting tyrosine kinases have their disadvantages. The reversible covalent inhibitors with electrophilic group cyanoacrylamide as warheads reacting with cysteine residues could solve the dilemmas. However, there are still several unresolved issues regarding the electrophilic groups. In this manuscript, a series of EGFR inhibitors with double electron-withdrawing substituents introduced into the Cα position on the olefin bond were designed and synthesized. The binding structures and characteristics of inhibitors with the kinase in both the first noncovalent binding phase and the second covalent binding step were explored and combined with molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. Then, the reverse β-elimination reactions of the thiol-Michael adducts were investigated by applying density functional theory calculations. In addition, the effects of different electrophilic substituents of Cα on the binding between the inhibitors and kinase were elucidated. The results suggested that the electrophilicity and size of the electron-withdrawing groups play an important role in the specific interactions during the reaction. The compounds with the electron-withdrawing groups that had medium electrostatic and steric complementarity to the kinase active site could cooperatively stabilize the complexes and showed relatively good potent activities in the kinase assay experiment. The mechanical and structural information in this study could enhance our understanding of the functioning of the electron-withdrawing groups in the covalent inhibitors. The results might help to design efficient cysteine targeting inhibitors in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yangcheng Ai
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou510515, PR China
| | - Zichao Yang
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou510515, PR China
| | - Zilong Yang
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou510515, PR China
| | - Shanhe Wan
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou510515, PR China
| | - Chunhui Huang
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou510515, PR China
| | - Chuan Huang
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou510515, PR China
| | - Mingxia Li
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou510515, PR China
| | - Zhonghuang Li
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou510515, PR China
| | - Jiajie Zhang
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou510515, PR China
| | - Tingting Zhang
- NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Drug Metabolism & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou510515, PR China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Design and Evaluation, Guangzhou510006, PR China
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11
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Asadi M, Xie WJ, Warshel A. Exploring the Role of Chemical Reactions in the Selectivity of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors. J Am Chem Soc 2022; 144:16638-16646. [PMID: 36044733 PMCID: PMC10387326 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c07307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
A variety of diseases are associated with tyrosine kinase enzymes that activate many proteins via signal transduction cascades. The similar ATP-binding pockets of these tyrosine kinases make it extremely difficult to design selective covalent inhibitors. The present study explores the contribution of the chemical reaction steps to the selectivity of the commercialized inhibitor acalabrutinib over the Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) and the interleukin-2-inducible T-cell kinase (ITK). Ab initio and empirical valence bond (EVB) simulations of the two kinases indicate that the most favorable reaction path involves a water-assisted mechanism of the 2-butynamide reactive group of acalabrutinib. BTK reacts with acalabrutinib with a substantially lower barrier than ITK, according to our calculated free-energy profile and kinetic simulations. Such a difference is due to the microenvironment of the active site, as further supported by a sequence-based analysis of specificity determinants for several commercialized inhibitors. Our study involves a new approach of simulating directly the IC50 and inactivation efficiency keff, instead of using the standard formulas. This new strategy is particularly important in studies of covalent inhibitors with a very exothermic bonding step. Overall, our results demonstrate the importance of understanding the chemical reaction steps in designing selective covalent inhibitors for tyrosine kinases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mojgan Asadi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California90089-1062, United States
| | - Wen Jun Xie
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California90089-1062, United States
| | - Arieh Warshel
- Department of Chemistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California90089-1062, United States
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12
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Todsaporn D, Mahalapbutr P, Poo-Arporn RP, Choowongkomon K, Rungrotmongkol T. Structural dynamics and kinase inhibitory activity of three generations of tyrosine kinase inhibitors against wild-type, L858R/T790M, and L858R/T790M/C797S forms of EGFR. Comput Biol Med 2022; 147:105787. [PMID: 35803080 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2022.105787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2022] [Revised: 05/25/2022] [Accepted: 06/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), including L858R/T790M double and L858R/T790M/C797S triple mutations, are major causes of acquired resistance towards EGFR targeted drugs. In this work, a combination of comprehensive molecular modeling and in vitro kinase inhibition assay was used to unravel the mutational effects of EGFR on the susceptibility of three generations of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (erlotinib, gefitinib, afatinib, dacomitinib, and osimertinib) in comparison with the wild-type EGFR. The binding affinity of all studied inhibitors towards the double and triple EGFR mutations was in good agreement with the experimental data, ranked in the order of osimertinib > afatinib > dacomitinib > erlotinib > gefitinib. Three hot-spot residues at the hinge region (M790, M793, and C797) were involved in the binding of osimertinib and afatinib, enhancing their inhibitory activity towards mutated EGFRs. Both double and triple EGFR mutations causing erlotinib and gefitinib resistance are mainly caused by the low number of H-bond occupations, the low number of surrounding atoms, and the high number of water molecules accessible to the enzyme active site. According to principal component analysis, the molecular complexation of osimertinib against the two mutated EGFRs was in a closed conformation, whereas that against wild-type EGFR was in an open conformation, resulting in drug resistance. This work paves the way for further design of the novel EGFR inhibitors to overcome drug resistance mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duangjai Todsaporn
- Center of Excellence in Biocatalyst and Sustainable Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
| | - Panupong Mahalapbutr
- Department of Biochemistry, and Center for Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand.
| | - Rungtiva P Poo-Arporn
- Biological Engineering Program, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, Thailand
| | - Kiattawee Choowongkomon
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand
| | - Thanyada Rungrotmongkol
- Center of Excellence in Biocatalyst and Sustainable Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand; Program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Graduate School, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand.
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13
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Liu R, Verma N, Henderson JA, Zhan S, Shen J. Profiling MAP kinase cysteines for targeted covalent inhibitor design. RSC Med Chem 2022; 13:54-63. [PMID: 35224496 PMCID: PMC8792824 DOI: 10.1039/d1md00277e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) are important therapeutic targets, and yet no inhibitors have advanced to the market. Here we applied the GPU-accelerated continuous constant pH molecular dynamics (CpHMD) to calculate the pK a's and profile the cysteine reactivities of all 14 MAPKs for assisting the targeted covalent inhibitor design. The simulations not only recapitulated but also rationalized the reactive cysteines in the front pocket of JNK1/2/3 and the extended front pocket of p38α. Interestingly, the DFG - 1 cysteine in the DFG-in conformation of ERK1/ERK2 was found somewhat reactive or unreactive; however, simulations of MKK7 showed that switching to the DFG-out conformation makes the DFG - 1 cysteine reactive, suggesting the advantage of type II covalent inhibitors. Additionally, the simulations prospectively predicted several druggable cysteine and lysine sites, including the αH head cysteine in JNK1/3 and DFG + 6 cysteine in JNK2, corroborating the chemical proteomic screening data. Given the low cost and the ability to offer physics-based rationales, we envision CpHMD simulations to complement the chemo-proteomic platform for systematic profiling cysteine reactivities for targeted covalent drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruibin Liu
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Baltimore MD USA
| | - Neha Verma
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Baltimore MD USA
| | | | - Shaoqi Zhan
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Baltimore MD USA
| | - Jana Shen
- University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Baltimore MD USA
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14
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Ferlenghi F, Scalvini L, Vacondio F, Castelli R, Bozza N, Marseglia G, Rivara S, Lodola A, La Monica S, Minari R, Petronini PG, Alfieri R, Tiseo M, Mor M. A sulfonyl fluoride derivative inhibits EGFR L858R/T790M/C797S by covalent modification of the catalytic lysine. Eur J Med Chem 2021; 225:113786. [PMID: 34464874 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Revised: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/15/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The emergence of the C797S mutation in EGFR is a frequent mechanism of resistance to osimertinib in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In the present work, we report the design, synthesis and biochemical characterization of UPR1444 (compound 11), a new sulfonyl fluoride derivative which potently and irreversibly inhibits EGFRL858R/T790M/C797S through the formation of a sulfonamide bond with the catalytic residue Lys745. Enzymatic assays show that compound 11 displayed an inhibitory activity on EGFRWT comparable to that of osimertinib, and it resulted more selective than the sulfonyl fluoride probe XO44, recently reported to inhibit a significant part of the kinome. Neither compound 11 nor XO44 inhibited EGFRdel19/T790M/C797S triple mutant. When tested in Ba/F3 cells expressing EGFRL858R/T790M/C797S, compound 11 resulted significantly more potent than osimertinib at inhibiting both EGFR autophosphorylation and proliferation, even if the inhibition of EGFR autophosphorylation by compound 11 in Ba/F3 cells was not long lasting.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Laura Scalvini
- Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | | | | | - Nicole Bozza
- Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | | | - Silvia Rivara
- Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Alessio Lodola
- Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
| | - Silvia La Monica
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Roberta Minari
- Medical Oncology, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | | | - Roberta Alfieri
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Marcello Tiseo
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy; Medical Oncology, University Hospital of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Marco Mor
- Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
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15
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Abstract
Covalent drugs offer higher efficacy and longer duration of action than their noncovalent counterparts. Significant advances in computational methods for modeling covalent drugs are poised to shift the paradigm of small molecule therapeutics within the next decade. This viewpoint discusses the advantages of a two-state model for ranking reversible and irreversible covalent ligands and of more complex models for dissecting reaction mechanisms. The relation between these models highlights the complexity and diversity of covalent drug binding and provides opportunities for mechanism-based rational design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Lyna Luo
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California 91709, United States
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16
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Awoonor-Williams E, Rowley CN. Modeling the Binding and Conformational Energetics of a Targeted Covalent Inhibitor to Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:5234-5242. [PMID: 34590480 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Targeted covalent inhibitors (TCIs) bind to their targets in both covalent and noncovalent modes, providing exceptionally high affinity and selectivity. These inhibitors have been effectively employed as inhibitors of protein kinases, with Taunton and coworkers (Nat. Chem. Biol. 2015, 11, 525-531) reporting a notable example of a TCI with a cyanoacrylamide warhead that forms a covalent thioether linkage to an active-site cysteine (Cys481) of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK). The specific mechanism of the binding and the relative importance of the covalent and noncovalent interactions is difficult to determine experimentally, and established simulation methods for calculating the absolute binding affinity of an inhibitor cannot describe the covalent bond-forming steps. Here, an integrated approach using alchemical free-energy perturbation and QM/MM molecular dynamics methods was employed to model the complete Gibbs energy profile for the covalent inhibition of BTK by a cyanoacrylamide TCI. These calculations provide a rigorous and complete absolute Gibbs energy profile of the covalent modification binding process. Following a classic thiol-Michael addition mechanism, the target cysteine is deprotonated to form a nucleophilic thiolate, which then undergoes a facile conjugate addition to the electrophilic functional group to form a bond with the noncovalently bound ligand. This model predicts that the formation of the covalent linkage is highly exergonic relative to the noncovalent binding alone. Nevertheless, noncovalent interactions between the ligand and individual amino acid residues in the binding pocket of the enzyme are also essential for ligand binding, particularly van der Waals dispersion forces, which have a larger contribution to the binding energy than the covalent component in absolute terms. This model also shows that the mechanism of covalent modification of a protein occurs through a complex series of steps and that entropy, conformational flexibility, noncovalent interactions, and the formation of covalent linkage are all significant factors in the ultimate binding affinity of a covalent drug to its target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ernest Awoonor-Williams
- Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland A1B 3X9, Canada
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17
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Liu R, Zhan S, Che Y, Shen J. Reactivities of the Front Pocket N-Terminal Cap Cysteines in Human Kinases. J Med Chem 2021; 65:1525-1535. [PMID: 34647463 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c01186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The front pocket (FP) N-terminal cap (Ncap) cysteine is the most popular site of covalent modification in kinases. A long-standing hypothesis associates the Ncap position with cysteine hyper-reactivity; however, traditional computational predictions suggest that the FP Ncap cysteines are predominantly unreactive. Here we applied the state-of-the-art continuous constant pH molecular dynamics (CpHMD) to test the Ncap hypothesis. Simulations found that the Ncap cysteines of BTK/BMX/TEC/ITK/TXK, JAK3, and MKK7 are reactive to varying degrees; however, those of BLK and EGFR/ERBB2/ERBB4 possessing a Ncap+3 aspartate are unreactive. Analysis suggested that hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions drive the reactivity, and their absence renders the Ncap cysteine unreactive. To further test the Ncap hypothesis, we examined the FP Ncap+2 cysteines in JNK1/JNK2/JNK3 and CASK. Our work offers a systematic understanding of the cysteine structure-reactivity relationship and illustrates the use of CpHMD to differentiate cysteines toward the design of targeted covalent inhibitors with reduced chemical reactivities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruibin Liu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States
| | - Shaoqi Zhan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States
| | - Ye Che
- Discovery Sciences, Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, Groton, Connecticut 06340, United States
| | - Jana Shen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States
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18
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Toviwek B, Gleeson D, Gleeson MP. QM/MM and molecular dynamics investigation of the mechanism of covalent inhibition of TAK1 kinase. Org Biomol Chem 2021; 19:1412-1425. [PMID: 33501482 DOI: 10.1039/d0ob02273j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
TAK1 is a serine/threonine kinase which is involved in the moderation of cell survival and death via the TNFα signalling pathway. It is also implicated in a range of cancer and anti-inflammatory diseases. Drug discovery efforts on this target have focused on both traditional reversible ATP-binding site inhibitors and increasingly popular irreversible covalent binding inhibitors. Irreversible inhibitors can offer benefits in terms of potency, selectivity and PK/PD meaning they are increasingly pursued where the strategy exists. TAK1 kinase differs from the better-known kinase EGFR in that the reactive cysteine nucleophile targeted by electrophilic inhibitors is located towards the back of the ATP binding site, not at its mouth. While a wealth of structural and computational effort has been spent exploring EGFR, only limited studies on TAK1 have been reported. In this work we report the first QM/MM study on TAK1 aiming to better understand aspects of covalent adduct formation. Our goal is to identify the general base in the catalytic reaction, whether the process proceeds via a stepwise or concerted pathway, and how the highly flexible G-loop and A-loop affect the catalytic cysteine located nearby.
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Affiliation(s)
- Borvornwat Toviwek
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand
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19
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Voice AT, Tresadern G, Twidale RM, van Vlijmen H, Mulholland AJ. Mechanism of covalent binding of ibrutinib to Bruton's tyrosine kinase revealed by QM/MM calculations. Chem Sci 2021; 12:5511-5516. [PMID: 33995994 PMCID: PMC8097726 DOI: 10.1039/d0sc06122k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Ibrutinib is the first covalent inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) to be used in the treatment of B-cell cancers. Understanding the mechanism of covalent inhibition will aid in the design of safer and more selective covalent inhibitors that target BTK. The mechanism of covalent inhibition in BTK has been uncertain because there is no appropriate residue nearby that can act as a base to deprotonate the cysteine thiol prior to covalent bond formation. We investigate several mechanisms of covalent modification of C481 in BTK by ibrutinib using combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) molecular dynamics reaction simulations. The lowest energy pathway involves direct proton transfer from C481 to the acrylamide warhead in ibrutinib, followed by covalent bond formation to form an enol intermediate. There is a subsequent rate-limiting keto-enol tautomerisation step (ΔG ‡ = 10.5 kcal mol-1) to reach the inactivated BTK/ibrutinib complex. Our results represent the first mechanistic study of BTK inactivation by ibrutinib to consider multiple mechanistic pathways. These findings should aid in the design of covalent drugs that target BTK and other similar targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angus T Voice
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol Cantock's Close Bristol BS8 1TS UK
| | - Gary Tresadern
- Computational Chemistry, Janssen Research & Development, Janssen Pharmaceutica N. V. Turnhoutseweg 30 B-2340 Beerse Belgium
| | - Rebecca M Twidale
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol Cantock's Close Bristol BS8 1TS UK
| | - Herman van Vlijmen
- Computational Chemistry, Janssen Research & Development, Janssen Pharmaceutica N. V. Turnhoutseweg 30 B-2340 Beerse Belgium
| | - Adrian J Mulholland
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol Cantock's Close Bristol BS8 1TS UK
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20
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Chen D, Zhang L, Liu Y, Song J, Guo J, Wang L, Xia Q, Zheng X, Cai Y, Hong C. Insight into the impact of EGFR L792Y/F/H mutations on sensitivity to osimertinib: an in silico study. NEW J CHEM 2021. [DOI: 10.1039/d0nj05570k] [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
EGFR L792Y/F/H mutation makes it difficult for Osimertinib to recognize ATP pockets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daoxing Chen
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Wenzhou Medical University
- Wenzhou
- China
| | - Liting Zhang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Wenzhou Medical University
- Wenzhou
- China
| | - Yanan Liu
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Wenzhou Medical University
- Wenzhou
- China
| | - Jiali Song
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Wenzhou Medical University
- Wenzhou
- China
| | - Jingwen Guo
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Wenzhou Medical University
- Wenzhou
- China
| | - Longxin Wang
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Wenzhou Medical University
- Wenzhou
- China
| | - Qinqin Xia
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Wenzhou Medical University
- Wenzhou
- China
| | - Xiaohui Zheng
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Wenzhou Medical University
- Wenzhou
- China
| | - Yuepiao Cai
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Wenzhou Medical University
- Wenzhou
- China
| | - Chenglv Hong
- Department of Cardiology
- The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University
- Wenzhou
- China
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21
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Mihalovits LM, Ferenczy GG, Keserű GM. Affinity and Selectivity Assessment of Covalent Inhibitors by Free Energy Calculations. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:6579-6594. [PMID: 33295760 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Covalent inhibitors have been gaining increased attention in drug discovery due to their beneficial properties such as long residence time, high biochemical efficiency, and specificity. Optimization of covalent inhibitors is a complex task that involves parallel monitoring of the noncovalent recognition elements and the covalent reactivity of the molecules to avoid potential idiosyncratic side effects. This challenge calls for special design protocols, including a variety of computational chemistry methods. Covalent inhibition proceeds through multiple steps, and calculating free energy changes of the subsequent binding events along the overall binding process would help us to better control the design of drug candidates. Inspired by the recent success of free energy calculations on reversible binders, we developed a complex protocol to compute free energies related to the noncovalent and covalent binding steps with thermodynamic integration and hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) potential of mean force (PMF) calculations, respectively. In optimization settings, we examined two therapeutically relevant proteins complexed with congeneric sets of irreversible cysteine targeting covalent inhibitors. In the selectivity paradigm, we studied the irreversible binding of covalent inhibitors to phylogenetically close targets by a mutational approach. The results of the calculations are in good agreement with the experimental free energy values derived from the inhibition and kinetic constants (Ki and kinact) of the enzyme-inhibitor binding. The proposed method might be a powerful tool to predict the potency, selectivity, and binding mechanism of irreversible covalent inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Levente M Mihalovits
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - György G Ferenczy
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
| | - György M Keserű
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Group, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, Budapest 1117, Hungary
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22
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Hassanzadeh P. Towards the quantum-enabled technologies for development of drugs or delivery systems. J Control Release 2020; 324:260-279. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.04.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2019] [Revised: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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23
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Yang Z, Yang H, Ai Y, Zhang L, Li Z, Wan S, Xu X, Zhang H, Wu S, Zhang J, Zhang T. Computational studies of potent covalent inhibitors on wild type or T790M/L858R mutant epidermal growth factor receptor. Eur J Pharm Sci 2020; 152:105463. [PMID: 32668314 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejps.2020.105463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2020] [Revised: 07/03/2020] [Accepted: 07/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In this paper, we designed and synthesized two analog compounds M1 and T1 that have a Michael acceptor warhead. Although only slightly diversity existed in the structures of M1 and T1, their inhibitory activities against wild type epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFRWT) and T790M/L858R mutant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFRT790M/L858R) were significant different. Thus, multiple computational approaches were applied to investigate the interactions between the compounds with EGFRWT and EGFRT790M/L858R in order to explore the effect of different compounds. The molecular docking and MD simulations were performed to study the intermolecular interactions between compounds and EGFR. The binding free energy revealed that M1-EGFRWT and M1-EGFRT790M/L858R complexes have stronger binding affinity compared with the corresponding T1-EGFRWT and T1-EGFRT790M/L858R complexes, respectively. And the binding free energy decompositions for each residue analysis indicated that the van der Waals interactions are the major contributor to enhance the compounds to bind with EGFR. In addition, covalent binding complexes of M1-EGFRWT and M1-EGFRT790M/L858R were constructed and studied. Moreover, quantum mechanics method was applied to investigate the reaction mechanism of covalent binding of the compound and EGFR. The results will provide the details of structural and energetic information to develop potent covalent EGFR inhibitors in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zichao Yang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China
| | - Haikui Yang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China
| | - Yangcheng Ai
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China
| | - Lishun Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China
| | - Zhonghuang Li
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China
| | - Shanhe Wan
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China
| | - Xuan Xu
- The Liwan Hospital of The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China
| | - Huiwu Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China
| | - Shaoyu Wu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China.
| | - Jiajie Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China.
| | - Tingting Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, PR China.
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24
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Lence E, Maneiro M, Sanz‐Gaitero M, Raaij MJ, Thompson P, Hawkins AR, González‐Bello C. Self‐Immolation of a Bacterial Dehydratase Enzyme by its Epoxide Product. Chemistry 2020; 26:8035-8044. [DOI: 10.1002/chem.202000759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emilio Lence
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e, Materiais Moleculares (CiQUS)Departamento de Química OrgánicaUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Jenaro de la Fuente s/n 15782 Santiago de Compostela Spain
| | - María Maneiro
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e, Materiais Moleculares (CiQUS)Departamento de Química OrgánicaUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Jenaro de la Fuente s/n 15782 Santiago de Compostela Spain
| | - Marta Sanz‐Gaitero
- Departamento de Estructura de MacromoléculasCentro Nacional de Biotecnología (CSIC) Campus Cantoblanco 28049 Madrid Spain
| | - Mark J. Raaij
- Departamento de Estructura de MacromoléculasCentro Nacional de Biotecnología (CSIC) Campus Cantoblanco 28049 Madrid Spain
| | - Paul Thompson
- Newcastle University Biosciences InstituteThe Medical SchoolNewcastle University Framlington Place Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH UK
| | - Alastair R. Hawkins
- Newcastle University Biosciences InstituteThe Medical SchoolNewcastle University Framlington Place Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH UK
| | - Concepción González‐Bello
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Química Biolóxica e, Materiais Moleculares (CiQUS)Departamento de Química OrgánicaUniversidade de Santiago de Compostela Jenaro de la Fuente s/n 15782 Santiago de Compostela Spain
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25
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Lodola A, Callegari D, Scalvini L, Rivara S, Mor M. Design and SAR Analysis of Covalent Inhibitors Driven by Hybrid QM/MM Simulations. Methods Mol Biol 2020; 2114:307-337. [PMID: 32016901 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0282-9_19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) hybrid technique is emerging as a reliable computational method to investigate and characterize chemical reactions occurring in enzymes. From a drug discovery perspective, a thorough understanding of enzyme catalysis appears pivotal to assist the design of inhibitors able to covalently bind one of the residues belonging to the enzyme catalytic machinery. Thanks to the current advances in computer power, and the availability of more efficient algorithms for QM-based simulations, the use of QM/MM methodology is becoming a viable option in the field of covalent inhibitor design. In the present review, we summarized our experience in the field of QM/MM simulations applied to drug design problems which involved the optimization of agents working on two well-known drug targets, namely fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). In this context, QM/MM simulations gave valuable information in terms of geometry (i.e., of transition states and metastable intermediates) and reaction energetics that allowed to correctly predict inhibitor binding orientation and substituent effect on enzyme inhibition. What is more, enzyme reaction modelling with QM/MM provided insights that were translated into the synthesis of new covalent inhibitor featured by a unique combination of intrinsic reactivity, on-target activity, and selectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Lodola
- Drug Design and Discovery Group, Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
| | - Donatella Callegari
- Drug Design and Discovery Group, Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Laura Scalvini
- Drug Design and Discovery Group, Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Silvia Rivara
- Drug Design and Discovery Group, Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Marco Mor
- Drug Design and Discovery Group, Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
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26
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Abstract
Quantum mechanics (QM) methods provide a fine description of receptor-ligand interactions and of chemical reactions. Their use in drug design and drug discovery is increasing, especially for complex systems including metal ions in the binding sites, for the design of highly selective inhibitors, for the optimization of bi-specific compounds, to understand enzymatic reactions, and for the study of covalent ligands and prodrugs. They are also used for generating molecular descriptors for predictive QSAR/QSPR models and for the parameterization of force fields. Thanks to the continuous increase of computational power offered by GPUs and to the development of sophisticated algorithms, QM methods are becoming part of the standard tools used in computer-aided drug design (CADD). We present the most used QM methods and software packages, and we discuss recent representative applications in drug design and drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kotev
- Global Research Informatics/Cheminformatics and Drug Design, Evotec (France) SAS, Toulouse, France
| | - Laurie Sarrat
- Global Research Informatics/Cheminformatics and Drug Design, Evotec (France) SAS, Toulouse, France
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27
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Lin SY, Chang Hsu Y, Peng YH, Ke YY, Lin WH, Sun HY, Shiao HY, Kuo FM, Chen PY, Lien TW, Chen CH, Chu CY, Wang SY, Yeh KC, Chen CP, Hsu TA, Wu SY, Yeh TK, Chen CT, Hsieh HP. Discovery of a Furanopyrimidine-Based Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitor (DBPR112) as a Clinical Candidate for the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. J Med Chem 2019; 62:10108-10123. [PMID: 31560541 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b00722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted therapy in non-small cell lung cancer represents a breakthrough in the field of precision medicine. Previously, we have identified a lead compound, furanopyrimidine 2, which contains a (S)-2-phenylglycinol structure as a key fragment to inhibit EGFR. However, compound 2 showed high clearance and poor oral bioavailability in its pharmacokinetics studies. In this work, we optimized compound 2 by scaffold hopping and exploiting the potent inhibitory activity of various warhead groups to obtain a clinical candidate, 78 (DBPR112), which not only displayed a potent inhibitory activity against EGFRL858R/T790M double mutations but also exhibited tenfold potency better than the third-generation inhibitor, osimertinib, against EGFR and HER2 exon 20 insertion mutations. Overall, pharmacokinetic improvement through lead-to-candidate optimization yielded fourfold oral AUC better that afatinib along with F = 41.5%, an encouraging safety profile, and significant antitumor efficacy in in vivo xenograft models. DBPR112 is currently undergoing phase 1 clinical trial in Taiwan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu-Yu Lin
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Yung Chang Hsu
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Yi-Hui Peng
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Yi-Yu Ke
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Wen-Hsing Lin
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Hsu-Yi Sun
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Hui-Yi Shiao
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Fu-Ming Kuo
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Pei-Yi Chen
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Tzu-Wen Lien
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Chun-Hwa Chen
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Chang-Ying Chu
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Sing-Yi Wang
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Kai-Chia Yeh
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Ching-Ping Chen
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Tsu-An Hsu
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Su-Ying Wu
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Teng-Kuang Yeh
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Chiung-Tong Chen
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC
| | - Hsing-Pang Hsieh
- Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research , National Health Research Institutes , 35 Keyan Road , Zhunan, Miaoli County 35053 , Taiwan , ROC.,Department of Chemistry , National Tsing Hua University , Hsinchu 30013 , Taiwan , ROC
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28
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Voice A, Tresadern G, van Vlijmen H, Mulholland A. Limitations of Ligand-Only Approaches for Predicting the Reactivity of Covalent Inhibitors. J Chem Inf Model 2019; 59:4220-4227. [PMID: 31498988 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Covalent inhibition has undergone a resurgence and is an important modern-day drug design and chemical biology approach. To avoid off-target interactions and to fine-tune reactivity, the ability to accurately predict reactivity is vitally important for the design and development of safer and more effective covalent drugs. Several ligand-only metrics have been proposed that promise quick and simple ways of determining covalent reactivity. In particular, we examine proton affinity and reaction energies calculated with the density functional B3LYP-D3/6-311+G**//B3LYP-D3/6-31G* method to assess the reactivity of a series of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds that form covalent adducts with cysteine. We demonstrate that while these metrics correlate well with experiment for a diverse range of small reactive molecules these approaches fail for predicting the reactivity of drug-like compounds. We conclude that ligand-only metrics such as proton affinity and reaction energies do not capture determinants of reactivity in situ and fail to account for important factors such as conformation, solvation, and intermolecular interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angus Voice
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry , University of Bristol , Bristol BS8 1TS , United Kingdom
| | - Gary Tresadern
- Computational Chemistry, Janssen Research & Development , Janssen Pharmaceutica N. V. , Turnhoutseweg 30 , B-2340 Beerse , Belgium
| | - Herman van Vlijmen
- Computational Chemistry, Janssen Research & Development , Janssen Pharmaceutica N. V. , Turnhoutseweg 30 , B-2340 Beerse , Belgium
| | - Adrian Mulholland
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry , University of Bristol , Bristol BS8 1TS , United Kingdom
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29
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Akher FB, Farrokhzadeh A, Ravenscroft N, Kuttel MM. A Mechanistic Study of a Potent and Selective Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitor against the L858R/T790M Resistance Mutation. Biochemistry 2019; 58:4246-4259. [PMID: 31589411 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.9b00710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Covalent targeting is a promising strategy for increasing the potency and selectivity of potential drug candidates. This therapeutic approach was recently reported for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), wherein a covalent binder, 20g [N-(3-{7-[2-methoxy-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)phenylamino]-3,4-dihydro-3-isopropyl-2,4-dioxopyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidin-1(2H)-yl}phenyl)acrylamide], demonstrated significant selectivity and inhibitory activity toward the EGFR L858R/T790M double mutant (EGFRDM) relative to the EGFR wild-type form (EGFRWT). The enhanced therapeutic potency of 20g against EGFRDM is 263 times greater than that against EGFRWT, which necessitates a rational explanation for the underlying selective and inhibitory mechanisms. In this work, we investigate the differential binding modes of 20g with EGFRWT and EGFRDM using molecular dynamics simulations coupled with free energy calculations and further identify key residues involved in the selective targeting, binding, and inhibitory mechanisms mediated by 20g. We find that systematic orientational and conformational changes in the α-loop, p-loop, active loop, and αC-helix are responsible for the disparate binding mechanisms and inhibitory prowess of 20g with respect to EGFRWT and EGFRDM. The calculated binding free energies show good correlation with the experimental biological activity. The total binding free energy difference between EGFRWT-20g and EGFRDM-20g is -11.47 kcal/mol, implying that 20g binds more strongly to EGFRDM. This enhanced binding affinity of 20g for EGFRDM is a result of a large increase in the van der Waals and electrostatic interactions with three critical residues (Met790, Gln791, and Met793) that are chiefly responsible for the high-affinity interactions mediated by 20g with EGFRDM relative to EGFRWT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farideh Badichi Akher
- Department of Computer Science , University of Cape Town , Cape Town 7701 , South Africa.,Department of Chemistry , University of Cape Town , Cape Town 7701 , South Africa
| | - Abdolkarim Farrokhzadeh
- School of Chemistry and Physics , University of KwaZulu-Natal , Private Bag X01 , Pietermaritzburg 3209 , South Africa
| | - Neil Ravenscroft
- Department of Chemistry , University of Cape Town , Cape Town 7701 , South Africa
| | - Michelle M Kuttel
- Department of Computer Science , University of Cape Town , Cape Town 7701 , South Africa
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30
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Awoonor-Williams E, Isley WC, Dale SG, Johnson ER, Yu H, Becke AD, Roux B, Rowley CN. Quantum Chemical Methods for Modeling Covalent Modification of Biological Thiols. J Comput Chem 2019; 41:427-438. [PMID: 31512279 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Revised: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 08/16/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Targeted covalent inhibitor drugs require computational methods that go beyond simple molecular-mechanical force fields in order to model the chemical reactions that occur when they bind to their targets. Here, several semiempirical and density-functional theory (DFT) methods are assessed for their ability to describe the potential energy surface and reaction energies of the covalent modification of a thiol by an electrophile. Functionals such as PBE and B3LYP fail to predict a stable enolate intermediate. This is largely due to delocalization error, which spuriously stabilizes the prereaction complex, in which excess electron density is transferred from the thiolate to the electrophile. Functionals with a high-exact exchange component, range-separated DFT functionals, and variationally optimized exact exchange (i.e., the LC-B05minV functional) correct this issue to various degrees. The large gradient behavior of the exchange enhancement factor is also found to significantly affect the results, leading to the improved performance of PBE0. While ωB97X-D and M06-2X were reasonably accurate, no method provided quantitative accuracy for all three electrophiles, making this a very strenuous test of functional performance. Additionally, one drawback of M06-2X was that molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using this functional were only stable if a fine integration grid was used. The low-cost semiempirical methods, PM3, AM1, and PM7, provide a qualitatively correct description of the reaction mechanism, although the energetics is not quantitatively reliable. As a proof of concept, the potential of mean force for the addition of methylthiolate to methylvinyl ketone was calculated using quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical MD in an explicit polarizable aqueous solvent. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ernest Awoonor-Williams
- Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - William C Isley
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Stephen G Dale
- Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Erin R Johnson
- Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Haibo Yu
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Axel D Becke
- Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Benoît Roux
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Christopher N Rowley
- Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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31
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Thakur A, Hevel JM, Acevedo O. Examining Product Specificity in Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 7 (PRMT7) Using Quantum and Molecular Mechanical Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2019; 59:2913-2923. [PMID: 31033288 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Protein arginine methyltransferase 7 (PRMT7) catalyzes the formation of monomethylarginine (MMA) but is incapable of performing a dimethylation. Given that PRMT7 performs vital functions in mammalian cells and has been implicated in a variety of diseases, including breast cancer and age-related obesity, elucidating the origin of its strict monomethylation activity is of considerable interest. Three active site residues, Glu172, Phe71, and Gln329, have been reported as particularly important for product specificity and enzymatic activity. To better understand their roles, mixed quantum and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) calculations coupled to molecular dynamics and free energy perturbation theory were carried out for the WT, F71I, and Q329S trypanosomal PRMT7 (TbPRMT7) enzymes bound with S-adenosyl- L-methionine (AdoMet) and an arginine substrate in an unmethylated or methylated form. The Q329S mutation, which experimentally abolished enzymatic activity, was appropriately computed to give an outsized Δ G‡ of 30.1 kcal/mol for MMA formation compared to 16.9 kcal/mol for WT. The F71I mutation, which has been experimentally shown to convert the enzyme from a type III PRMT into a mixed type I/II capable of forming dimethylated arginine products, yielded a reasonable Δ G‡ of 21.9 kcal/mol for the second turnover compared to 28.8 kcal/mol in the WT enzyme. Similar active site orientations for both WT and F71I TbPRMT7 allowed Glu172 and Gln329 to better orient the substrate for SN2 methylation, enhanced the nucleophilicity of the attacking guanidino group by reducing positive charge, and facilitated the binding of the subsequent methylated products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhishek Thakur
- Department of Chemistry , University of Miami , Coral Gables , Florida 33146 , United States
| | - Joan M Hevel
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry , Utah State University , Logan , Utah 84322 , United States
| | - Orlando Acevedo
- Department of Chemistry , University of Miami , Coral Gables , Florida 33146 , United States
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32
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Castelli R, Bozza N, Cavazzoni A, Bonelli M, Vacondio F, Ferlenghi F, Callegari D, Silva C, Rivara S, Lodola A, Digiacomo G, Fumarola C, Alfieri R, Petronini PG, Mor M. Balancing reactivity and antitumor activity: heteroarylthioacetamide derivatives as potent and time-dependent inhibitors of EGFR. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 162:507-524. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2018.11.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Revised: 11/08/2018] [Accepted: 11/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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33
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Singh PK, Silakari O. Molecular dynamics guided development of indole based dual inhibitors of EGFR (T790M) and c-MET. Bioorg Chem 2018; 79:163-170. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2018.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2018] [Revised: 04/04/2018] [Accepted: 04/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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34
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Awoonor-Williams E, Rowley CN. How Reactive are Druggable Cysteines in Protein Kinases? J Chem Inf Model 2018; 58:1935-1946. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.8b00454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ernest Awoonor-Williams
- Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X9, Canada
| | - Christopher N. Rowley
- Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL A1B 3X9, Canada
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35
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Callegari D, Ranaghan KE, Woods CJ, Minari R, Tiseo M, Mor M, Mulholland AJ, Lodola A. L718Q mutant EGFR escapes covalent inhibition by stabilizing a non-reactive conformation of the lung cancer drug osimertinib. Chem Sci 2018; 9:2740-2749. [PMID: 29732058 PMCID: PMC5911825 DOI: 10.1039/c7sc04761d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2017] [Accepted: 02/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Impact of L718Q mutation on the inhibitory activity of osimertinib on EGFR revealed by free-energy simulations.
Osimertinib is a third-generation inhibitor approved for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. It overcomes resistance to first-generation inhibitors by incorporating an acrylamide group which alkylates Cys797 of EGFR T790M. The mutation of a residue in the P-loop (L718Q) was shown to cause resistance to osimertinib, but the molecular mechanism of this process is unknown. Here, we investigated the inhibitory process for EGFR T790M (susceptible to osimertinib) and EGFR T790M/L718Q (resistant to osimertinib), by modelling the chemical step (i.e., alkylation of Cys797) using QM/MM simulations and the recognition step by MD simulations coupled with free-energy calculations. The calculations indicate that L718Q has a negligible impact on both the activation energy for Cys797 alkylation and the free-energy of binding for the formation of the non-covalent complex. The results show that Gln718 affects the conformational space of the EGFR–osimertinib complex, stabilizing a conformation of acrylamide which prevents reaction with Cys797.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Callegari
- Department of Food and Drug , University of Parma , Parma , Italy .
| | - K E Ranaghan
- School of Chemistry , University of Bristol , Bristol , UK
| | - C J Woods
- School of Chemistry , University of Bristol , Bristol , UK
| | - R Minari
- Medical Oncology Unit , University Hospital of Parma , Parma , Italy
| | - M Tiseo
- Medical Oncology Unit , University Hospital of Parma , Parma , Italy
| | - M Mor
- Department of Food and Drug , University of Parma , Parma , Italy .
| | - A J Mulholland
- School of Chemistry , University of Bristol , Bristol , UK
| | - A Lodola
- Department of Food and Drug , University of Parma , Parma , Italy .
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36
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Ainsley J, Lodola A, Mulholland AJ, Christov CZ, Karabencheva-Christova TG. Combined Quantum Mechanics and Molecular Mechanics Studies of Enzymatic Reaction Mechanisms. ADVANCES IN PROTEIN CHEMISTRY AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2018; 113:1-32. [PMID: 30149903 DOI: 10.1016/bs.apcsb.2018.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods have become a valuable tool in computational biochemistry and received versatile applications for studying the reaction mechanisms of enzymes. The approach combines the calculations of the electronic structure of the active site by QM, with modeling of the protein environment using MM force field, which allows the long-range electrostatics and steric effects on the enzyme reactivity to be accounted for. In this review, we review some key theoretical and computational aspects of the method and we also present some applications to particular enzymatic reactions such as tryptophan-7-halogenase, cyclooxygenase-1, and the epidermal growth factor receptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jon Ainsley
- Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | | | - Adrian J Mulholland
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Christo Z Christov
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, United States.
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37
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Reaction profiling of a set of acrylamide-based human tissue transglutaminase inhibitors. J Mol Graph Model 2018; 79:157-165. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2017.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2017] [Revised: 10/13/2017] [Accepted: 10/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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38
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Karabencheva-Christova TG, Torras J, Mulholland AJ, Lodola A, Christov CZ. Mechanistic Insights into the Reaction of Chlorination of Tryptophan Catalyzed by Tryptophan 7-Halogenase. Sci Rep 2017; 7:17395. [PMID: 29234124 PMCID: PMC5727139 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17789-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Tryptophan 7-halogenase catalyzes chlorination of free tryptophan to 7-chlorotryptophan, which is the first step in the antibiotic pyrrolnitrin biosynthesis. Many biologically and pharmaceutically active natural products contain chlorine and thus, an understanding of the mechanism of its introduction into organic molecules is important. Whilst enzyme-catalyzed chlorination is accomplished with ease, it remains a difficult task for the chemists. Therefore, utilizing enzymes in the synthesis of chlorinated organic compounds is important, and providing atomistic mechanistic insights about the reaction mechanism of tryptophan 7-halogenase is vital and timely. In this work, we examined a mechanism for the reaction of tryptophan chlorination, performed by tryptophan 7-halogenase, by calculating potential energy and free energy surfaces using two different Combined Quantum Mechanical/Molecular Mechanical (QM/MM) methods both employing Density Functional Theory (DFT) for the QM region. Both computational strategies agree on the nature of the rate-limiting step and provided close results for the reaction barriers of the two reaction steps. The calculations for both the potential energy and the free energy profiles showed very similar geometric features and hydrogen bonding interactions for the characterized stationary points.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatyana G Karabencheva-Christova
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, 49931, MI, USA.
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK.
| | - Juan Torras
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Escola d'Enginyeria de Barcelona Est (EEBE), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, C. Eduard Maristany 10-14, 08019, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Adrian J Mulholland
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK
| | - Alessio Lodola
- Pharmacy Department, Università di Parma, V. le P.G Usberti 27/A, Campus Universitario, 431124, Parma, Italy
| | - Christo Z Christov
- Department of Chemistry, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, 49931, MI, USA
- Centre for Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock's Close, Bristol, BS8 1TS, UK
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39
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Tarozzi A, Marchetti C, Nicolini B, D'Amico M, Ticchi N, Pruccoli L, Tumiatti V, Simoni E, Lodola A, Mor M, Milelli A, Minarini A. Combined inhibition of the EGFR/AKT pathways by a novel conjugate of quinazoline with isothiocyanate. Eur J Med Chem 2016; 117:283-91. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2016.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2015] [Revised: 03/10/2016] [Accepted: 04/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Smith JM, Rowley CN. Automated computational screening of the thiol reactivity of substituted alkenes. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2015; 29:725-35. [PMID: 26159564 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-015-9857-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2015] [Accepted: 07/02/2015] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Electrophilic olefins can react with the S-H moiety of cysteine side chains. The formation of a covalent adduct through this mechanism can result in the inhibition of an enzyme. The reactivity of an olefin towards cysteine depends on its functional groups. In this study, 325 reactions of thiol-Michael-type additions to olefins were modeled using density functional theory. All combinations of ethenes with hydrogen, methyl ester, amide, and cyano substituents were included. An automated workflow was developed to perform the construction, conformation search, minimization, and calculation of molecular properties for the reactant, carbanion intermediate, and thioether products for a model reaction of the addition of methanethiol to the electrophile. Known cysteine-reactive electrophiles present in the database were predicted to react exergonically with methanethiol through a carbanion with a stability in the 30-40 kcal mol(-1) range. 13 other compounds in our database that are also present in the PubChem database have similar properties. Natural bond orbital parameters were computed and regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between properties of the olefin electronic structure and the product and intermediate stability. The stability of the intermediates is very sensitive to electronic effects on the carbon where the anionic charge is centered. The stability of the products is more sensitive to steric factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer M Smith
- Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, A1B 3X7, Canada
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