First-principles determination of molecular conformations of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate in gas phase and aqueous solution

Structural assignment of 6-oxy purine derivatives through computational modeling, synthesis, X-ray diffraction, and spectroscopic analysis

6-Oxy purine derivatives have been considered as potential therapeutic agents in various drug discovery efforts reported in the literature. However, the structural assignment of this important class of compounds has been controversial concerning the specific position of a hydrogen atom in the structure. To theoretically determine the most favorable type of tautomeric form of 6-oxy purine derivatives, we have carried out first-principles electronic structure calculations on the possible tautomeric forms (A, B, and C) and their relative stability of four representative 6-oxy purine derivatives (compounds 1-4). The computational results in both the gas phase and aqueous solution clearly reveal that the most favorable type of tautomeric form of these compounds is A, in which a hydrogen atom bonds with the N1 atom on the purine ring. To examine the computational results, one of the 6-oxy purine derivatives (i.e., compound 4) has been synthesized and its structure has been characterized by X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic analysis. All of the obtained computational and experimental data are consistent with the conclusion that the 6-oxy purine derivative exists in tautomer A. The conclusive structural assignment reported here is expected to be valuable for future computational studies on 6-oxy purine derivative binding with proteins and for computational drug design involving this type of compounds.

Understanding the mechanism of drug resistance due to a codon deletion in protoporphyrinogen oxidase through computational modeling

Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO; EC 1.3.3.4) is the last common enzyme for the enzymatic transformation of protoporphyrinogen-IX to protoporphyrin-IX, which is the key common intermediate leading to heme and chlorophyll. Hence, PPO has been identified as one of the most importance action targets for the treatment of some important diseases including cancer and variegated porphyria (VP). In the agricultural field, PPO inhibitors have been used as herbicides for many years. Recently, a unique drug resistance was found to be associated with a nonactive site residue (Gly210) deletion rather than substitution in A. tuberculatus PPO. In the present study, extensive computational simulations, including homology modeling, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and molecular mechanics-Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) calculations, have been carried out to uncover the detailed molecular mechanism of drug resistance associated with Gly210 deletion. Although Gly210 in the wild-type A. tuberculatus PPO has no direct interaction with the inhibitors, all the computational models and energetic results indicated that Gly210 deletion has great effects on the hydrogen-bonding network and the conformational change of the binding pocket. An interchain hydrogen bond between Gly210 with Ser424, playing an important role in stabilizing the local conformation of the wild-type enzyme, disappeared after Gly210 deletion. As a result, the mutant-type PPO has a lower affinity than the wild-type enzyme, which accounts for the molecular mechanism of drug resistance. The structural and mechanistic insights obtained from the present study provide a new starting point for future rational design of novel PPO inhibitors to overcome drug resistance associated with Gly210 deletion.