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Dong J, Wang S, Cui W, Sun X, Guo H, Yan H, Vogel H, Wang Z, Yuan S. Machine Learning Deciphered Molecular Mechanistics with Accurate Kinetic and Thermodynamic Prediction. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:4499-4513. [PMID: 38394691 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c01412] [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: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
Time-lagged independent component analysis (tICA) and the Markov state model (MSM) have been extensively employed for extracting conformational dynamics and kinetic community networks from unbiased trajectory ensembles. However, these techniques may not be the optimal choice for elucidating transition mechanisms within low-dimensional representations, especially for intricate biosystems. Unraveling the association mechanism in such complex systems always necessitates permutations of several essential independent components or collective variables, a process that is inherently obscure and may require empirical knowledge for selection. To address these challenges, we have implemented an integrated unsupervised dimension reduction model: uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) with hierarchy density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (HDBSCAN). This approach effectively generates low-dimensional configurational embeddings. The hierarchical application of this architecture, in conjunction with MSM, reveals global kinetic connectivity while identifying local conformational states. Consequently, our methodology establishes a multiscale mechanistic elucidation framework. Leveraging the benefits of the uniform sample distribution and a denoising approach, our model demonstrates robustness in preserving global and local data structures compared to traditional dimension reduction methods in the field of MD analysis area. The interpretability of hyperparameter selection and compatibility with downstream tasks are cross-validated across various simulation data sets, utilizing both computational evaluation metrics and experimental kinetic observables. Furthermore, the predicted Mcl1-BH3 association kinetics (0.76 s-1) is in close agreement with surface plasmon resonance experiments (0.12 s-1), affirming the plausibility of the identified pathway composed of representative conformations. We anticipate that the devised workflow will serve as a foundational framework for studying recognition patterns in complex biological systems. Its contributions extend to the exploration of protein functional dynamics and rational drug design, offering a potent avenue for advancing research in these domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junlin Dong
- Research Center for Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Shiyu Wang
- Research Center for Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- AlphaMol Science Ltd, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Wenqiang Cui
- Research Center for Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Xiaolin Sun
- Research Center for Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Haojie Guo
- Research Center for Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Hailu Yan
- School of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, U.K
| | - Horst Vogel
- Research Center for Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Zhi Wang
- Artificial Intelligence Department, Zhejiang Financial College, Hangzhou 310018, China
| | - Shuguang Yuan
- Research Center for Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
- AlphaMol Science Ltd, Shenzhen 518055, China
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2
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Kimanius D, Schwab J. Confronting heterogeneity in cryogenic electron microscopy data: Innovative strategies and future perspectives with data-driven methods. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2024; 86:102815. [PMID: 38657561 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2024.102815] [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: 01/16/2024] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
The surge in the influx of data from cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) experiments has intensified the demand for robust algorithms capable of autonomously managing structurally heterogeneous datasets. This presents a wealth of exciting opportunities from a data science viewpoint, inspiring the development of numerous innovative, application-specific methods, many of which leverage contemporary data-driven techniques. However, addressing the challenges posed by heterogeneous datasets remains a paramount yet unresolved issue in the field. Here, we explore the subtleties of this challenge and the array of strategies devised to confront it. We pinpoint the shortcomings of existing methodologies and deliberate on prospective avenues for improvement. Specifically, our discussion focuses on strategies to mitigate model overfitting and manage data noise, as well as the effects of constraints, priors, and invariances on the optimization process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dari Kimanius
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK; CZ Imaging Institute, 3400 Bridge Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065, USA.
| | - Johannes Schwab
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK
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3
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Zhang W, Liu Y, Jang H, Nussinov R. CDK2 and CDK4: Cell Cycle Functions Evolve Distinct, Catalysis-Competent Conformations, Offering Drug Targets. JACS AU 2024; 4:1911-1927. [PMID: 38818077 PMCID: PMC11134382 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.4c00138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2024] [Revised: 04/08/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), particularly CDK4 and CDK2, are crucial for cell cycle progression from the Gap 1 (G1) to the Synthesis (S) phase by phosphorylating targets such as the Retinoblastoma Protein (Rb). CDK4, paired with cyclin-D, operates in the long G1 phase, while CDK2 with cyclin-E, manages the brief G1-to-S transition, enabling DNA replication. Aberrant CDK signaling leads to uncontrolled cell proliferation, which is a hallmark of cancer. Exactly how they accomplish their catalytic phosphorylation actions with distinct efficiencies poses the fundamental, albeit overlooked question. Here we combined available experimental data and modeling of the active complexes to establish their conformational functional landscapes to explain how the two cyclin/CDK complexes differentially populate their catalytically competent states for cell cycle progression. Our premise is that CDK catalytic efficiencies could be more important for cell cycle progression than the cyclin-CDK biochemical binding specificity and that efficiency is likely the prime determinant of cell cycle progression. We observe that CDK4 is more dynamic than CDK2 in the ATP binding site, the regulatory spine, and the interaction with its cyclin partner. The N-terminus of cyclin-D acts as an allosteric regulator of the activation loop and the ATP-binding site in CDK4. Integrated with a suite of experimental data, we suggest that the CDK4 complex is less capable of remaining in the active catalytically competent conformation, and may have a lower catalytic efficiency than CDK2, befitting their cell cycle time scales, and point to critical residues and motifs that drive their differences. Our mechanistic landscape may apply broadly to kinases, and we propose two drug design strategies: (i) allosteric Inhibition by conformational stabilization for targeting allosteric CDK4 regulation by cyclin-D, and (ii) dynamic entropy-optimized targeting which leverages the dynamic, entropic aspects of CDK4 to optimize drug binding efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wengang Zhang
- Cancer
Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United States
| | - Yonglan Liu
- Cancer
Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United States
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Computational
Structural Biology Section, Frederick National
Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United States
| | - Ruth Nussinov
- Computational
Structural Biology Section, Frederick National
Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United States
- Department
of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
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4
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Eslami H, Rokhzadi K, Basiri M, Esmaeili-Mahani S, Mahmoodi Z, Haji-Allahverdipoor K. Direct Interaction of Minocycline to p47phox Contributes to its Attenuation of TNF-α-Mediated Neuronal PC12 Cell Death: Experimental and Simulation Validation. Cell Biochem Biophys 2024:10.1007/s12013-024-01279-9. [PMID: 38739323 DOI: 10.1007/s12013-024-01279-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
Kaempferol illustrates an example of attempting to discover new treatments for neurodegeneration by investigating the potential efficacy of natural products. Despite the identification of several molecular targets for this bio-active compound, the precise underlying pathways are not well elucidated yet. Recently, it has been shown through pulldown assay that kaemferol directly interacts with p47phox, the organizer subunit of NADPH oxidase-2 (NOX2) complex. Hence, in this study, we used homology modelling, computational docking, mutation analysis, molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations to determine how kaempferol interacts with p47phox. Firstly, 3D structure of p47phox was generated using x-ray structures of its domains. Then, it was docked with kaempferol, and finally 100-ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed and the global properties like root-mean square deviation (RMSD) and root-mean square fluctuations (RMSF) were calculated. Literature survey and computational analysis of key interacting amino acid residues of p47phox provided insights into a possible binding site for kaempferol, approximately around Trp193 and Cys196 located within the N-terminal SH3 domain of p47phox. Moreover, free energy calculations indicated that in silico substitution of Trp193 and Cys196 with arginine and alanine, respectively, results in less favorable interaction corroborating their importance in binding with kaempferol. Taken together, these findings suggest that kaempferol directly attaches to N-SH3 domain p47 phox, with a subsequent diminution of p47phox protein-protein interaction and possibly attenuation of NOX2 complex assembly, which reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. These observations will be beneficial for researchers exploring neuroprotection and for the development of p47phox inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Habib Eslami
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Molecular Medicine Research Center, Hormozgan Health Institute, Hormozgan University of Medicinal Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran
| | - Koosha Rokhzadi
- Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
| | - Mohsen Basiri
- Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Saeed Esmaeili-Mahani
- Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Zahra Mahmoodi
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
| | - Kaveh Haji-Allahverdipoor
- Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
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Wang J, Miao Y. Ligand Gaussian accelerated Molecular Dynamics 3 (LiGaMD3): Improved Calculations of Binding Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Both Small Molecules and Flexible Peptides. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.06.592668. [PMID: 38766067 PMCID: PMC11100592 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.06.592668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Binding thermodynamics and kinetics play critical roles in drug design. However, it has proven challenging to efficiently predict ligand binding thermodynamics and kinetics of small molecules and flexible peptides using conventional Molecular Dynamics (cMD), due to limited simulation timescales. Based on our previously developed Ligand Gaussian accelerated Molecular Dynamics (LiGaMD) method, we present a new approach, termed "LiGaMD3", in which we introduce triple boosts into three individual energy terms that play important roles in small-molecule/peptide dissociation, rebinding and system conformational changes to improve the sampling efficiency of small-molecule/peptide interactions with target proteins. To validate the performance of LiGaMD3, MDM2 bound by a small molecule (Nutlin 3) and two highly flexible peptides (PMI and P53) were chosen as model systems. LiGaMD3 could efficiently capture repetitive small-molecule/peptide dissociation and binding events within 2 microsecond simulations. The predicted binding kinetic constant rates and free energies from LiGaMD3 agreed with available experimental values and previous simulation results. Therefore, LiGaMD3 provides a more general and efficient approach to capture dissociation and binding of both small-molecule ligand and flexible peptides, allowing for accurate prediction of their binding thermodynamics and kinetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinan Wang
- Computational Medicine Program and Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA 27599
| | - Yinglong Miao
- Computational Medicine Program and Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA 27599
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6
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Truong DT, Ho K, Pham DQH, Chwastyk M, Nguyen-Minh T, Nguyen MT. Treatment of flexibility of protein backbone in simulations of protein-ligand interactions using steered molecular dynamics. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10475. [PMID: 38714683 PMCID: PMC11076533 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59899-3] [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: 02/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/10/2024] Open
Abstract
To ensure that an external force can break the interaction between a protein and a ligand, the steered molecular dynamics simulation requires a harmonic restrained potential applied to the protein backbone. A usual practice is that all or a certain number of protein's heavy atoms or Cα atoms are fixed, being restrained by a small force. This present study reveals that while fixing both either all heavy atoms and or all Cα atoms is not a good approach, while fixing a too small number of few atoms sometimes cannot prevent the protein from rotating under the influence of the bulk water layer, and the pulled molecule may smack into the wall of the active site. We found that restraining the Cα atoms under certain conditions is more relevant. Thus, we would propose an alternative solution in which only the Cα atoms of the protein at a distance larger than 1.2 nm from the ligand are restrained. A more flexible, but not too flexible, protein will be expected to lead to a more natural release of the ligand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duc Toan Truong
- Laboratory for Chemical Computation and Modeling, Institute for Computational Science and Artificial Intelligence, Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh City, 70000, Vietnam
- Faculty of Applied Technology, School of Technology, Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh City, 70000, Vietnam
| | - Kiet Ho
- Institute for Computational Science and Technology (ICST), Quang Trung Software City, Ho Chi Minh City, 70000, Vietnam
| | | | - Mateusz Chwastyk
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Thai Nguyen-Minh
- University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, 70000, Vietnam
| | - Minh Tho Nguyen
- Laboratory for Chemical Computation and Modeling, Institute for Computational Science and Artificial Intelligence, Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh City, 70000, Vietnam.
- Faculty of Applied Technology, School of Technology, Van Lang University, Ho Chi Minh City, 70000, Vietnam.
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7
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Hamadalnil Y, Altayb HN. In silico molecular study of hepatitis B virus X protein as a therapeutic target. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024; 42:4002-4015. [PMID: 37254310 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2217920] [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: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The Hepatitis B virus is a leading cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. HBx viral protein is considered a contributor to pathogenesis and hepatocarcinogenesis. This study aimed to screen the effect of some antiviral compounds to target HBx protein for inhibition of its function. Here, molecular docking, molcular dynsmic simulation, MM/GBSA and T-SNE methods were applied to study the complex stability and to cluster the conformations that generated in the simulation. Among the 179 compounds screened in this study, three antiviral agents (SC75741, Punicalagin, and Ledipasvir) exhibited the lowest docking energy and best interaction. Among these compounds, SC75741 was identified as a potent inhibitor of HBx that showed the best and most stable interaction during molecular dynamic simulation, and blocking a region near to HBx helix resides (aa 88-100) that is associated with cell invasion. The analysis of relative binding free energy through MM/GBSA for molecular dynamic simulation results revealed binding energy -9.9 kcal/mol for SC75741, -11 kcal/mol for Punicalagin, and -10.1 kcal/mol for Ledipasvir. These results elucidate the possible use of these compounds in the research for targeting HBx.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yassir Hamadalnil
- Faculty of Medicine, Nile University, Khartoum, Sudan
- Ibra Hospital, Ministry of Health, Ibra, Sultanate of Oman
| | - Hisham N Altayb
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
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8
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Xu C, Zhang X, Zhao L, Verkhivker GM, Bai F. Accurate Characterization of Binding Kinetics and Allosteric Mechanisms for the HSP90 Chaperone Inhibitors Using AI-Augmented Integrative Biophysical Studies. JACS AU 2024; 4:1632-1645. [PMID: 38665669 PMCID: PMC11040708 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.4c00123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2024] [Revised: 03/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
The binding kinetics of drugs to their targets are gradually being recognized as a crucial indicator of the efficacy of drugs in vivo, leading to the development of various computational methods for predicting the binding kinetics in recent years. However, compared with the prediction of binding affinity, the underlying structure and dynamic determinants of binding kinetics are more complicated. Efficient and accurate methods for predicting binding kinetics are still lacking. In this study, quantitative structure-kinetics relationship (QSKR) models were developed using 132 inhibitors targeting the ATP binding domain of heat shock protein 90α (HSP90α) to predict the dissociation rate constant (koff), enabling a direct assessment of the drug-target residence time. These models demonstrated good predictive performance, where hydrophobic and hydrogen bond interactions significantly influence the koff prediction. In subsequent applications, our models were used to assist in the discovery of new inhibitors for the N-terminal domain of HSP90α (N-HSP90α), demonstrating predictive capabilities on an experimental validation set with a new scaffold. In X-ray crystallography experiments, the loop-middle conformation of apo N-HSP90α was observed for the first time (previously, the loop-middle conformation had only been observed in holo-N-HSP90α structures). Interestingly, we observed different conformations of apo N-HSP90α simultaneously in an asymmetric unit, which was also observed in a holo-N-HSP90α structure, suggesting an equilibrium of conformations between different states in solution, which could be one of the determinants affecting the binding kinetics of the ligand. Different ligands can undergo conformational selection or alter the equilibrium of conformations, inducing conformational rearrangements and resulting in different effects on binding kinetics. We then used molecular dynamics simulations to describe conformational changes of apo N-HSP90α in different conformational states. In summary, the study of the binding kinetics and molecular mechanisms of N-HSP90α provides valuable information for the development of more targeted therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Xu
- Shanghai
Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science
and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Xianglei Zhang
- Shanghai
Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science
and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Lianghao Zhao
- Shanghai
Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science
and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Gennady M. Verkhivker
- Keck
Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational
and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, United States
- Department
of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chapman University School of Pharmacy, Irvine, California 92618, United States
| | - Fang Bai
- Shanghai
Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies and School of Life Science
and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
- School
of Information Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech
University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
- Shanghai
Clinical Research and Trial Center, Shanghai 201210, China
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Dairo G, Ward MN, Soendergaard M, Determan JJ. Bioactive compounds from Morchella esculenta as potential inhibitors of RNA-binding protein La in ovarian cancer: a molecular modeling and quantum mechanics approach. In Silico Pharmacol 2024; 12:32. [PMID: 38650742 PMCID: PMC11032304 DOI: 10.1007/s40203-024-00202-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
La protein is significantly expressed in various malignant tumors, including ovarian cancer (OC), which is related to the poor response to platinum-based chemotherapy. Thus, inhibiting La protein could control the expression of the potential downstream genes involved in promoting proliferation and chemotherapy resistance to OC, which could serve as a therapeutic intervention. Through a molecular docking approach, 12 compounds from Morchella esculenta were screened against the crystal structure of La protein and four hit compounds were identified, including beta-carotene, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, gamma-tocopherol, and alpha-tocopherol, with a binding affinity of - 10.7, - 8.1, - 7.9, and - 7.6 kcal/mol, respectively, higher than pyridine-2-carboxylate (control), with a binding affinity of - 5.2 kcal/mol. To explore the interaction of the hit compounds with the target receptor, they were selected for a molecular dynamic simulation and post-simulation analysis for 100 ns. The result showed promising reliability of the ligands due to a stable interaction with the La protein crystal structure. Furthermore, the drug-likeness and physicochemical chemical properties of the compounds were investigated using ADMET study and density functional theory analysis, respectively, and the result shows that the hit compounds could serve as a promising starting for the development of novel LA protein inhibitors for OC therapeutics. Finally, this study compared HOMO and LUMO values from global hybrids with long-range corrected DFAs, and the result from the two followed the same qualitative pattern while calculating HOMO values; however, MO62X/cc-pVTZ could better predict LUMO values when considering a global hybrid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gbenga Dairo
- Department of Biological Sciences, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL USA
| | - Matthew N. Ward
- Department of Chemistry, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL USA
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN USA
| | | | - John J. Determan
- Department of Chemistry, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL USA
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Prasad R, Kadam A, Padippurackal VV, Pulikuttymadom Balasubramanian A, Kumar Chandrakumaran N, Suresh Rangari K, Dnyaneshwar Khangar P, Ajith H, Natarajan K, Chandramohanadas R, Nelson-Sathi S. Discovery of small molecule entry inhibitors targeting the linoleic acid binding pocket of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024:1-15. [PMID: 38520147 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2024.2327537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
Spike glycoprotein has a significant role in the entry of SARS-CoV-2 to host cells, which makes it a potential drug target. Continued accumulation of non-synonymous mutations in the receptor binding domain of spike protein poses great challenges in identifying antiviral drugs targeting this protein. This study aims to identify potential entry inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 using virtual screening and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations from three distinct chemical libraries including Pandemic Response Box, Drugbank and DrugCentral, comprising 6971 small molecules. The molecules were screened against a binding pocket identified in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) region of the spike protein which is known as the linoleic acid binding pocket, a highly conserved motif among several SARS-CoV-2 variants. Through virtual screening and binding free energy calculations, we identified four top-scoring compounds, MMV1579787 ([2-Oxo-2-[2-(3-phenoxyphenyl)ethylamino]ethyl]phosphonic acid), Tretinoin, MMV1633963 ((2E,4E)-5-[3-(3,5-dichlorophenoxy)phenyl]penta-2,4-dienoic acid) and Polydatin, which were previously reported to have antibacterial, antifungal or antiviral properties. These molecules showed stable binding on MD simulations over 100 ns and maintained stable interactions with TYR365, PHE338, PHE342, PHE377, TYR369, PHE374 and LEU368 of the spike protein RBD that are found to be conserved among SARS-CoV-2 variants. Our findings were further validated with free energy landscape, principal component analysis and dynamic cross-correlation analysis. Our in silico analysis of binding mode and MD simulation analyses suggest that the identified compounds may impede viral entrance by interacting with the linoleic acid binding site of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 regardless of its variants, and they thus demand for further in vitro and in vivo research.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roshny Prasad
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
| | - Anil Kadam
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
| | | | | | | | - Kartik Suresh Rangari
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
| | | | - Harikrishnan Ajith
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
| | - Kathiresan Natarajan
- Trans-disciplinary Biology, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
| | | | - Shijulal Nelson-Sathi
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
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11
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Jia S, Tao T, Xie Y, Yu L, Kang X, Zhang Y, Tang W, Gong J. Chirality Supramolecular Systems: Helical Assemblies, Structure Designs, and Functions. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024; 20:e2307874. [PMID: 37890278 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202307874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 10/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
Chirality, as one of the most striking characteristics, exists at various scales in nature. Originating from the interactions of host and guest molecules, supramolecular chirality possesses huge potential in the design of functional materials. Here, an overview of the recent progress in structure designs and functions of chiral supramolecular materials is present. First, three design routes of the chiral supramolecular structure are summarized. Compared with the template-induced and chemical synthesis strategies that depend on accurate molecular identification, the twisted-assembly technique creates chiral materials through the ordered stacking of the nanowire or films. Next, chirality inversion and amplification are reviewed to explain the chirality transfer from the molecular level to the macroscopic scale, where the available external stimuli on the chirality inversion are also given. Lastly, owing to the optical activity and the characteristics of the layer-by-layer stacking structure, the supramolecular chirality materials display various excellent performances, including smart response, shape-memorization, superior mechanical performance, and applications in biomedical fields. To sum up, this work provides a systematic review of the helical assemblies, structure design, and applications of supramolecular chirality systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengzhe Jia
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Tiantian Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Yujiang Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Liuyang Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Xiang Kang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Yuan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Weiwei Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry Science and Engineering, Tianjin, 300072, China
| | - Junbo Gong
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry Science and Engineering, Tianjin, 300072, China
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12
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Srivastava AK, Srivastava S, Kumar V, Ghosh S, Yadav S, Malik R, Roy P, Prasad R. Identification and mechanistic exploration of structural and conformational dynamics of NF-kB inhibitors: rationale insights from in silico and in vitro studies. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2024; 42:1485-1505. [PMID: 37054525 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2200490] [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: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
Increased expression of target genes that code for proinflammatory chemical mediators results from a series of intracellular cascades triggered by activation of dysregulated NF-κB signaling pathway. Dysfunctional NF-kB signaling amplifies and perpetuates autoimmune responses in inflammatory diseases, including psoriasis. This study aimed to identify therapeutically relevant NF-kB inhibitors and elucidate the mechanistic aspects behind NF-kB inhibition. After virtual screening and molecular docking, five hit NF-kB inhibitors opted, and their therapeutic efficacy was examined using cell-based assays in TNF-α stimulated human keratinocyte cells. To investigate the conformational changes of target protein and inhibitor-protein interaction mechanisms, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, binding free energy calculations together with principal component (PC) analysis, dynamics cross-correlation matrix analysis (DCCM), free energy landscape (FEL) analysis and quantum mechanical calculations were carried out. Among identified NF-kB inhibitors, myricetin and hesperidin significantly scavenged intracellular ROS and inhibited NF-kB activation. Analysis of the MD simulation trajectories of ligand-protein complexes revealed that myricetin and hesperidin formed energetically stabilized complexes with the target protein and were able to lock NF-kB in a closed conformation. Myricetin and hesperidin binding to the target protein significantly impacted conformational changes and internal dynamics of amino acid residues in protein domains. Tyr57, Glu60, Lys144 and Asp239 residues majorly contributed to locking the NF-kB in a closed conformation. The combinatorial approach employing in silico tools integrated with cell-based approaches substantiated the binding mechanism and NF-kB active site inhibition by the lead molecule myricetin, which can be explored as a viable antipsoriatic drug candidate associated with dysregulated NF-kB.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amit Kumar Srivastava
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Shubham Srivastava
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India
| | - Viney Kumar
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Souvik Ghosh
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Siddharth Yadav
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, Punjab, India
| | - Ruchi Malik
- Department of Pharmacy, School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India
| | - Partha Roy
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Ramasare Prasad
- Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India
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13
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Beyerle ER, Tiwary P. Thermodynamically Optimized Machine-Learned Reaction Coordinates for Hydrophobic Ligand Dissociation. J Phys Chem B 2024; 128:755-767. [PMID: 38205806 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c08304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Ligand unbinding is mediated by its free energy change, which has intertwined contributions from both energy and entropy. It is important, but not easy, to quantify their individual contributions to the free energy profile. We model hydrophobic ligand unbinding for two systems, a methane particle and a C60 fullerene, both unbinding from hydrophobic pockets in all-atom water. Using a modified deep learning framework, we learn a thermodynamically optimized reaction coordinate to describe the hydrophobic ligand dissociation for both systems. Interpretation of these reaction coordinates reveals the roles of entropic and enthalpic forces as the ligand and pocket sizes change. In both cases, we observe that the free-energy barrier to unbinding is dominated by entropy considerations. Furthermore, the process of methane unbinding is driven by methane solvation, while fullerene unbinding is driven first by pocket wetting and then fullerene wetting. For both solutes, the direct importance of the distance from the binding pocket to the learned reaction coordinate is present, but low. Our framework and subsequent feature important analysis thus give useful thermodynamic insight into hydrophobic ligand dissociation problems that are otherwise difficult to glean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric R Beyerle
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Pratyush Tiwary
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
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14
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Gutiérrez-Flores J, H Huerta E, Cuevas G, Garza J, Vargas R. Revealing the Role of Noncovalent Interactions on the Conformation of the Methyl Group in Tricyclic Orthoamide. J Org Chem 2024; 89:257-268. [PMID: 38100710 PMCID: PMC10921461 DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.3c02016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Tricyclic orthoamides are valuable molecules with wide-ranging applications, including organic synthesis and molecular recognition. Their structural properties make them intriguing, particularly the eclipsed all-trans conformer, which is typically less stable than the alternated conformation and is a rare phenomenon in organic chemistry. However, it gains stability in crystalline and hydrated settings, challenging the existing theoretical explanations. This study investigates which factors make eclipsed conformers more stable using experimentally reported anhydrous (ATO) and hydrated (HTO) crystal structures. Employing the quantum theory of atoms in molecules, noncovalent interaction index, and pairwise energy decomposition analysis, we delve into the noncovalent interaction environment surrounding the molecule of interest. In ATO, dispersive interactions dominate, whereas in HTO, both dispersive and electrostatic contributions are observed due to the presence of water molecules. Anchored to the lone pairs of the nitrogen atom in the orthoamide tricycle, water molecules prompt the methyl group's eclipsing through intermolecular and intramolecular interactions. This work resolves the long-standing conflict behind why tricyclic orthoamide has an eclipsed conformation by establishing the stabilization factors. These insights have implications for crystal engineering and design, enhancing our understanding of structural behavior in both crystalline and hydrated environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge Gutiérrez-Flores
- Departamento
de Química, División de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, Iztapalapa, C.P. 09340 Ciudad
de México, México
| | - Eduardo H Huerta
- Insituto
de Química, Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Alcaldía Coyoacán C.P. 04510 Ciudad
de México, México
| | - Gabriel Cuevas
- Insituto
de Química, Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Alcaldía Coyoacán C.P. 04510 Ciudad
de México, México
| | - Jorge Garza
- Departamento
de Química, División de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, Iztapalapa, C.P. 09340 Ciudad
de México, México
| | - Rubicelia Vargas
- Departamento
de Química, División de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa, San Rafael Atlixco 186, Col. Vicentina, Iztapalapa, C.P. 09340 Ciudad
de México, México
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15
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Ota C, Konishi T, Tanaka SI, Takano K. Induced Circular Dichroism Analysis of Thermally Induced Conformational Changes on Protein Binding Sites Under a Crowding Environment. Chemphyschem 2024; 25:e202300593. [PMID: 37845184 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202300593] [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: 08/20/2023] [Revised: 10/15/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
Protein-ligand interactions in crowded cellular environments play a crucial role in biological functions. The crowded environment can perturb the overall protein structure and local conformation, thereby influencing the binding pathway of protein-ligand reactions within the cellular milieu. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the local conformation is crucial for elucidating the intricacies of protein-ligand interactions in crowded cellular environments. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of induced circular dichroism (ICD) using 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (ANS) for local conformational analysis at the binding site in a crowding environment. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) concentration-dependent measurements were performed to assess the feasibility of ANS-ICD for analyzing protein interior binding sites. The results showed distinct changes in the ANS-ICD spectra of BSA solutions, indicating their potential for analyzing the internal conformation of proteins. Moreover, temperature-dependent measurements were performed in dilute and crowding environments, revealing distinct denaturation pathways of BSA binding sites. Principal component analysis of ANS-ICD spectral changes revealed lower temperature pre-denaturation in the crowded solution than that in the diluted solution, suggesting destabilization of binding sites owing to self-crowding repulsive interactions. The established ANS-ICD method can provide valuable conformational insights into protein-ligand interactions in crowded cellular environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chikashi Ota
- College of Life Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan
| | - Tomoya Konishi
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Kyoto Prefectural University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8522, Japan
| | - Shun-Ichi Tanaka
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Kyoto Prefectural University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8522, Japan
| | - Kazufumi Takano
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Kyoto Prefectural University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8522, Japan
- Kazufumi Takano - Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, Kyoto Prefectural University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8522, Japan
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16
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Li N, Ge Q, Guo Q, Tao Y. Identification and functional validation of FZD8-specific antibodies. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 254:127846. [PMID: 37926311 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.127846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
The Wnt pathway is an evolutionarily conserved pathway involved in stem cell homeostasis and tissue regeneration. Aberrant signaling in the Wnt pathway is highly associated with cancer. Developing antibodies to block overactivation of Frizzled receptors (FZDs), the main receptors in the Wnt pathway, is one of the viable options for treating cancer. However, obtaining isoform-specific antibodies is often challenging due to the high degree of homology among the ten FZDs. In this study, by using a synthetic library, we identified an antibody named pF8_AC3 that preferentially binds to FZD8. Guided by the structure of the complex of pF8_AC3 and FZD8, a second-generation targeted library was further constructed, and finally, the FZD8-specific antibody sF8_AG6 was obtained. Cell-based assays showed that these antibodies could selectively block FZD8-mediated signaling activation. Taken together, these antibodies have the potential to be developed into therapeutic drugs in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Na Li
- MOE Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, Center for Advanced Interdisciplinary Science and Biomedicine of IHM, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China; Biomedical Sciences and Health Laboratory of Anhui Province, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Qiangqiang Ge
- MOE Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, Center for Advanced Interdisciplinary Science and Biomedicine of IHM, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China; Biomedical Sciences and Health Laboratory of Anhui Province, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Qiong Guo
- MOE Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, Center for Advanced Interdisciplinary Science and Biomedicine of IHM, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China; Biomedical Sciences and Health Laboratory of Anhui Province, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
| | - Yuyong Tao
- MOE Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, Center for Advanced Interdisciplinary Science and Biomedicine of IHM, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China; Biomedical Sciences and Health Laboratory of Anhui Province, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
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17
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Ojha AA, Votapka LW, Amaro RE. QMrebind: incorporating quantum mechanical force field reparameterization at the ligand binding site for improved drug-target kinetics through milestoning simulations. Chem Sci 2023; 14:13159-13175. [PMID: 38023523 PMCID: PMC10664576 DOI: 10.1039/d3sc04195f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the interaction of ligands with biomolecules is an integral component of drug discovery and development. Challenges for computing thermodynamic and kinetic quantities for pharmaceutically relevant receptor-ligand complexes include the size and flexibility of the ligands, large-scale conformational rearrangements of the receptor, accurate force field parameters, simulation efficiency, and sufficient sampling associated with rare events. Our recently developed multiscale milestoning simulation approach, SEEKR2 (Simulation Enabled Estimation of Kinetic Rates v.2), has demonstrated success in predicting unbinding (koff) kinetics by employing molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in regions closer to the binding site. The MD region is further subdivided into smaller Voronoi tessellations to improve the simulation efficiency and parallelization. To date, all MD simulations are run using general molecular mechanics (MM) force fields. The accuracy of calculations can be further improved by incorporating quantum mechanical (QM) methods into generating system-specific force fields through reparameterizing ligand partial charges in the bound state. The force field reparameterization process modifies the potential energy landscape of the bimolecular complex, enabling a more accurate representation of the intermolecular interactions and polarization effects at the bound state. We present QMrebind (Quantum Mechanical force field reparameterization at the receptor-ligand binding site), an ORCA-based software that facilitates reparameterizing the potential energy function within the phase space representing the bound state in a receptor-ligand complex. With SEEKR2 koff estimates and experimentally determined kinetic rates, we compare and interpret the receptor-ligand unbinding kinetics obtained using the newly reparameterized force fields for model host-guest systems and HSP90-inhibitor complexes. This method provides an opportunity to achieve higher accuracy in predicting receptor-ligand koff rate constants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anupam Anand Ojha
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego La Jolla California 92093 USA
| | - Lane William Votapka
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego La Jolla California 92093 USA
| | - Rommie Elizabeth Amaro
- Department of Molecular Biology, University of California San Diego La Jolla California 92093 USA
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18
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Mustali J, Yasuda I, Hirano Y, Yasuoka K, Gautieri A, Arai N. Unsupervised deep learning for molecular dynamics simulations: a novel analysis of protein-ligand interactions in SARS-CoV-2 M pro. RSC Adv 2023; 13:34249-34261. [PMID: 38019981 PMCID: PMC10663885 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra06375e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, which are central to drug discovery, offer detailed insights into protein-ligand interactions. However, analyzing large MD datasets remains a challenge. Current machine-learning solutions are predominantly supervised and have data labelling and standardisation issues. In this study, we adopted an unsupervised deep-learning framework, previously benchmarked for rigid proteins, to study the more flexible SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). We ran MD simulations of Mpro with various ligands and refined the data by focusing on binding-site residues and time frames in stable protein conformations. The optimal descriptor chosen was the distance between the residues and the center of the binding pocket. Using this approach, a local dynamic ensemble was generated and fed into our neural network to compute Wasserstein distances across system pairs, revealing ligand-induced conformational differences in Mpro. Dimensionality reduction yielded an embedding map that correlated ligand-induced dynamics and binding affinity. Notably, the high-affinity compounds showed pronounced effects on the protein's conformations. We also identified the key residues that contributed to these differences. Our findings emphasize the potential of combining unsupervised deep learning with MD simulations to extract valuable information and accelerate drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Mustali
- Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano Italy
| | - Ikki Yasuda
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Keio University Japan
| | | | - Kenji Yasuoka
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Keio University Japan
| | - Alfonso Gautieri
- Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano Italy
| | - Noriyoshi Arai
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Keio University Japan
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19
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Maji A, Soutar CP, Zhang J, Lewandowska A, Uno BE, Yan S, Shelke Y, Murhade G, Nimerovsky E, Borcik CG, Arango AS, Lange JD, Marin-Toledo JP, Lyu Y, Bailey KL, Roady PJ, Holler JT, Khandelwal A, SantaMaria AM, Sanchez H, Juvvadi PR, Johns G, Hageman MJ, Krise J, Gebremariam T, Youssef EG, Bartizal K, Marr KA, Steinbach WJ, Ibrahim AS, Patterson TF, Wiederhold NP, Andes DR, Pogorelov TV, Schwieters CD, Fan TM, Rienstra CM, Burke MD. Tuning sterol extraction kinetics yields a renal-sparing polyene antifungal. Nature 2023; 623:1079-1085. [PMID: 37938782 PMCID: PMC10883201 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06710-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Decades of previous efforts to develop renal-sparing polyene antifungals were misguided by the classic membrane permeabilization model1. Recently, the clinically vital but also highly renal-toxic small-molecule natural product amphotericin B was instead found to kill fungi primarily by forming extramembraneous sponge-like aggregates that extract ergosterol from lipid bilayers2-6. Here we show that rapid and selective extraction of fungal ergosterol can yield potent and renal-sparing polyene antifungals. Cholesterol extraction was found to drive the toxicity of amphotericin B to human renal cells. Our examination of high-resolution structures of amphotericin B sponges in sterol-free and sterol-bound states guided us to a promising structural derivative that does not bind cholesterol and is thus renal sparing. This derivative was also less potent because it extracts ergosterol more slowly. Selective acceleration of ergosterol extraction with a second structural modification yielded a new polyene, AM-2-19, that is renal sparing in mice and primary human renal cells, potent against hundreds of pathogenic fungal strains, resistance evasive following serial passage in vitro and highly efficacious in animal models of invasive fungal infections. Thus, rational tuning of the dynamics of interactions between small molecules may lead to better treatments for fungal infections that still kill millions of people annually7,8 and potentially other resistance-evasive antimicrobials, including those that have recently been shown to operate through supramolecular structures that target specific lipids9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arun Maji
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Molecule Maker Lab, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Corinne P Soutar
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Jiabao Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Agnieszka Lewandowska
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Brice E Uno
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Su Yan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Yogesh Shelke
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Ganesh Murhade
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Evgeny Nimerovsky
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department for NMR-Based Structural Biology, Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Collin G Borcik
- Molecule Maker Lab, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Andres S Arango
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Justin D Lange
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | | | - Yinghuan Lyu
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department of Pathology, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Keith L Bailey
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Patrick J Roady
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Jordan T Holler
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Anuj Khandelwal
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Anna M SantaMaria
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Hiram Sanchez
- Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Disease, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Praveen R Juvvadi
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA
| | | | - Michael J Hageman
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Joanna Krise
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | | | - Eman G Youssef
- Division of Infectious Diseases, The Lundquist Institute, Torrance, CA, USA
| | | | | | - William J Steinbach
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA
- Arkansas Children's Research Institute, Little Rock, AR, USA
| | - Ashraf S Ibrahim
- Division of Infectious Diseases, The Lundquist Institute, Torrance, CA, USA
- David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Thomas F Patterson
- Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Nathan P Wiederhold
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - David R Andes
- Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Disease, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Taras V Pogorelov
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- School of Chemical Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Charles D Schwieters
- Computational Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance Core, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Timothy M Fan
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Cancer Center at Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Chad M Rienstra
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
- National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
- Morgridge Institute for Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
| | - Martin D Burke
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
- Cancer Center at Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
- Carle-Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA.
- Molecule Maker Lab Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
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20
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Hu YX, Fei JW, Bie LH, Gao J. Simulation of the ligand-leaving process of the human heat shock protein. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:28465-28472. [PMID: 37846475 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp03372d] [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: 10/18/2023]
Abstract
The human heat shock protein plays a critical role in various diseases and is an important target for pharmacological modulation. Simulation of conformational changes and free energy profiles of the human heat shock protein derived by the ligand-leaving process is a challenging issue. In this work, steered molecular dynamics simulation was adopted to simulate the ligand-leaving process. Two composite systems of heat shock protein NHSP90 and small molecules 6FJ and 6G7 are selected as research objects. The free energy during the leaving of ligand small molecules is calculated using conventional molecular dynamics simulation, steered molecular dynamics simulation (SMD), and the umbrella sampling method. We found that the a slower pulling velocity (0.001 nm ns-1) will result in 2.19 kcal mol-1, and the umbrella sampling method gives a value of 3.26 kcal mol-1 for the free energy difference for the two systems, which reasonably agrees with experimental results. A faster-pulling velocity (0.01 nm ns-1) leads to a large overestimation of free energy. At the same time, the conformational analysis indicated that the faster pulling velocity may lead to the conformational change of NHSP90, which was proved to be false by the slower pulling velocity and the umbrella sampling method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Xiao Hu
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jun-Wen Fei
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, People's Republic of China.
| | - Li-Hua Bie
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jun Gao
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, People's Republic of China.
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21
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Papageorgiou AC, Pospisilova M, Cibulka J, Ashraf R, Waudby CA, Kadeřávek P, Maroz V, Kubicek K, Prokop Z, Krejci L, Tripsianes K. Recognition and coacervation of G-quadruplexes by a multifunctional disordered region in RECQ4 helicase. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6751. [PMID: 37875529 PMCID: PMC10598209 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42503-z] [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: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Biomolecular polyelectrolyte complexes can be formed between oppositely charged intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of proteins or between IDRs and nucleic acids. Highly charged IDRs are abundant in the nucleus, yet few have been functionally characterized. Here, we show that a positively charged IDR within the human ATP-dependent DNA helicase Q4 (RECQ4) forms coacervates with G-quadruplexes (G4s). We describe a three-step model of charge-driven coacervation by integrating equilibrium and kinetic binding data in a global numerical model. The oppositely charged IDR and G4 molecules form a complex in the solution that follows a rapid nucleation-growth mechanism leading to a dynamic equilibrium between dilute and condensed phases. We also discover a physical interaction with Replication Protein A (RPA) and demonstrate that the IDR can switch between the two extremes of the structural continuum of complexes. The structural, kinetic, and thermodynamic profile of its interactions revealed a dynamic disordered complex with nucleic acids and a static ordered complex with RPA protein. The two mutually exclusive binding modes suggest a regulatory role for the IDR in RECQ4 function by enabling molecular handoffs. Our study extends the functional repertoire of IDRs and demonstrates a role of polyelectrolyte complexes involved in G4 binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna C Papageorgiou
- CEITEC-Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Michaela Pospisilova
- National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jakub Cibulka
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Raghib Ashraf
- National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Christopher A Waudby
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- School of Pharmacy, University College London, London, WC1N 1AX, UK
| | - Pavel Kadeřávek
- CEITEC-Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Volha Maroz
- National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Karel Kubicek
- CEITEC-Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Zbynek Prokop
- Loschmidt Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- International Clinical Research Center, St Anne's University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Lumir Krejci
- National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
- International Clinical Research Center, St Anne's University Hospital, Brno, Czech Republic.
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22
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Guo Z, Wang L, Rao D, Liu W, Xue M, Fu Q, Lu M, Su L, Chen S, Wang B, Wu J. Conformational Switch of the 250s Loop Enables the Efficient Transglycosylation in GH Family 77. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:6118-6128. [PMID: 37768640 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
Amylomaltases (AMs) play important roles in glycogen and maltose metabolism. However, the molecular mechanism is elusive. Here, we investigated the conformational dynamics of the 250s loop and catalytic mechanism of Thermus aquaticus TaAM using path-metadynamics and QM/MM MD simulations. The results demonstrate that the transition of the 250s loop from an open to closed conformation promotes polysaccharide sliding, leading to the ideal positioning of the acid/base. Furthermore, the conformational dynamics can also modulate the selectivity of hydrolysis and transglycosylation. The closed conformation of the 250s loop enables the tight packing of the active site for transglycosylation, reducing the energy penalty and efficiently preventing the penetration of water into the active site. Conversely, the partially closed conformation for hydrolysis results in a loosely packed active site, destabilizing the transition state. These computational findings guide mutation experiments and enable the identification of mutants with an improved disproportionation/hydrolysis ratio. The present mechanism is in line with experimental data, highlighting the critical role of conformational dynamics in regulating the catalytic reactivity of GHs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyong Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, Hubei Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, People's Republic of China
| | - Lei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Deming Rao
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Life Science and Technology, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan 430023, People's Republic of China
| | - Weiqiong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Miaomiao Xue
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Qisheng Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Mengwei Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Lingqia Su
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Sheng Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Binju Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China
| | - Jing Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
- International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, People's Republic of China
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23
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Hellemann E, Durrant JD. Worth the Weight: Sub-Pocket EXplorer (SubPEx), a Weighted Ensemble Method to Enhance Binding-Pocket Conformational Sampling. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:5677-5689. [PMID: 37585617 PMCID: PMC10500992 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00478] [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: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023]
Abstract
Structure-based virtual screening (VS) is an effective method for identifying potential small-molecule ligands, but traditional VS approaches consider only a single binding-pocket conformation. Consequently, they struggle to identify ligands that bind to alternate conformations. Ensemble docking helps address this issue by incorporating multiple conformations into the docking process, but it depends on methods that can thoroughly explore pocket flexibility. We here introduce Sub-Pocket EXplorer (SubPEx), an approach that uses weighted ensemble (WE) path sampling to accelerate binding-pocket sampling. As proof of principle, we apply SubPEx to three proteins relevant to drug discovery: heat shock protein 90, influenza neuraminidase, and yeast hexokinase 2. SubPEx is available free of charge without registration under the terms of the open-source MIT license: http://durrantlab.com/subpex/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erich Hellemann
- Department of Biological
Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Jacob D. Durrant
- Department of Biological
Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
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24
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Murvai N, Gellen G, Micsonai A, Schlosser G, Kardos J. Cross-Linked α-Synuclein as Inhibitor of Amyloid Formation. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:13403. [PMID: 37686208 PMCID: PMC10487470 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241713403] [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: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The aggregation and amyloid formation of α-synuclein is associated with Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies. In its native, monomeric form α-synuclein is an intrinsically disordered protein represented by highly dynamic conformational ensembles. Inhibition of α-synuclein aggregation using small molecules, peptides, or proteins has been at the center of interest in recent years. Our aim was to explore the effects of cross-linking on the structure and aggregation/amyloid formation properties of α-synuclein. Comparative analysis of available high-resolution amyloid structures and representative structural models and MD trajectory of monomeric α-synuclein revealed that potential cross-links in the monomeric protein are mostly incompatible with the amyloid forms and thus might inhibit fibrillation. Monomeric α-synuclein has been intramolecularly chemically cross-linked under various conditions using different cross-linkers. We determined the location of cross-links and their frequency using mass spectrometry and found that most of them cannot be realized in the amyloid structures. The inhibitory potential of cross-linked proteins has been experimentally investigated using various methods, including thioflavin-T fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy. We found that conformational constraints applied by cross-linking fully blocked α-synuclein amyloid formation. Moreover, DTSSP-cross-linked molecules exhibited an inhibitory effect on the aggregation of unmodified α-synuclein as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikoletta Murvai
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- ELTE—Functional Nucleic Acid Motifs Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Gabriella Gellen
- MTA-ELTE Lendület Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Research Group, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Molecular Cell and Immune Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
- Department of Biophysics and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - András Micsonai
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- ELTE—Functional Nucleic Acid Motifs Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- ELTE NAP Neuroimmunology Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Gitta Schlosser
- MTA-ELTE Lendület Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Research Group, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
| | - József Kardos
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
- ELTE NAP Neuroimmunology Research Group, Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
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25
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Patwardhan CA, Kommalapati VK, Llbiyi T, Singh D, Alfa E, Horuzsko A, Korkaya H, Panda S, Reilly CA, Popik V, Chadli A. Capsaicin binds the N-terminus of Hsp90, induces lysosomal degradation of Hsp70, and enhances the anti-tumor effects of 17-AAG (Tanespimycin). Sci Rep 2023; 13:13790. [PMID: 37612326 PMCID: PMC10447550 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40933-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) and its co-chaperones promote cancer, and targeting Hsp90 holds promise for cancer treatment. Most of the efforts to harness this potential have focused on targeting the Hsp90 N-terminus ATP binding site. Although newer-generation inhibitors have shown improved efficacy in aggressive cancers, induction of the cellular heat shock response (HSR) by these inhibitors is thought to limit their clinical efficacy. Therefore, Hsp90 inhibitors with novel mechanisms of action and that do not trigger the HSR would be advantageous. Here, we investigated the mechanism by which capsaicin inhibits Hsp90. Through mutagenesis, chemical modifications, and proteomic studies, we show that capsaicin binds to the N-terminus of Hsp90 and inhibits its ATPase activity. Consequently, capsaicin and its analogs inhibit Hsp90 ATPase-dependent progesterone receptor reconstitution in vitro. Capsaicin did not induce the HSR, instead, it promoted the degradation of Hsp70 through the lysosome-autophagy pathway. Remarkably, capsaicin did not induce degradation of the constitutively expressed cognate Hsc70, indicating selectivity for Hsp70. Combined treatments of capsaicin and the Hsp90 inhibitor 17-AAG improved the anti-tumor efficacy of 17-AAG in cell culture and tridimensional tumor spheroid growth assays using breast and prostate cancer models. Consistent with this, in silico docking studies revealed that capsaicin binding to the ATP binding site of Hsp90 was distinct from classical N-terminus Hsp90 inhibitors, indicating a novel mechanism of action. Collectively, these findings support the use of capsaicin as a chemical scaffold to develop novel Hsp90 N-terminus inhibitors as well as its ability to be a potential cancer co-therapeutic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chaitanya A Patwardhan
- Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University (Formerly Medical College of Georgia), 1410 Laney Walker Blvd, CN-3313, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
| | - Vamsi Krishna Kommalapati
- Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University (Formerly Medical College of Georgia), 1410 Laney Walker Blvd, CN-3313, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
| | - Taoufik Llbiyi
- Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University (Formerly Medical College of Georgia), 1410 Laney Walker Blvd, CN-3313, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
| | - Digvijay Singh
- Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University (Formerly Medical College of Georgia), 1410 Laney Walker Blvd, CN-3313, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
| | - Eyad Alfa
- Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University (Formerly Medical College of Georgia), 1410 Laney Walker Blvd, CN-3313, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
| | - Anatolij Horuzsko
- Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University (Formerly Medical College of Georgia), 1410 Laney Walker Blvd, CN-3313, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
| | - Hasan Korkaya
- Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University (Formerly Medical College of Georgia), 1410 Laney Walker Blvd, CN-3313, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
| | - Siva Panda
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA
| | - Christopher A Reilly
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Center for Human Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
| | - Vladimir Popik
- Department of Chemistry, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Ahmed Chadli
- Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University (Formerly Medical College of Georgia), 1410 Laney Walker Blvd, CN-3313, Augusta, GA, 30912, USA.
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26
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Viviani LG, Kokh DB, Wade RC, T-do Amaral A. Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Human Ecto-5'-Nucleotidase (h-ecto-5'-NT, CD73): Insights into Protein Flexibility and Binding Site Dynamics. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:4691-4707. [PMID: 37532679 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01068] [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: 08/04/2023]
Abstract
Human ecto-5'-nucleotidase (h-ecto-5'-NT, CD73) is a homodimeric Zn2+-binding metallophosphoesterase that hydrolyzes adenosine 5'-monophosphate (5'-AMP) to adenosine and phosphate. h-Ecto-5'-NT is a key enzyme in purinergic signaling pathways and has been recognized as a promising biological target for several diseases, including cancer and inflammatory, infectious, and autoimmune diseases. Despite its importance as a biological target, little is known about h-ecto-5'-NT dynamics, which poses a considerable challenge to the design of inhibitors of this target enzyme. Here, to explore h-ecto-5'-NT flexibility, all-atom unbiased molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed. Remarkable differences in the dynamics of the open (catalytically inactive) and closed (catalytically active) conformations of the apo-h-ecto-5'-NT were observed during the simulations, and the nucleotide analogue inhibitor AMPCP was shown to stabilize the protein structure in the closed conformation. Our results suggest that the large and complex domain motion that enables the h-ecto-5'-NT open/closed conformational switch is slow, and therefore, it could not be completely captured within the time scale of our simulations. Nonetheless, we were able to explore the faster dynamics of the h-ecto-5'-NT substrate binding site, which is mainly located at the C-terminal domain and well conserved among the protein's open and closed conformations. Using the TRAPP ("Transient Pockets in Proteins") approach, we identified transient subpockets close to the substrate binding site. Finally, conformational states of the substrate binding site with higher druggability scores than the crystal structure were identified. In summary, our study provides valuable insights into h-ecto-5'-NT structural flexibility, which can guide the structure-based design of novel h-ecto-5'-NT inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas G Viviani
- Department of Fundamental Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000 São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000 São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Daria B Kokh
- Molecular and Cellular Modeling Group, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), 69118 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rebecca C Wade
- Molecular and Cellular Modeling Group, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), 69118 Heidelberg, Germany
- Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie der Universität Heidelberg, DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR), Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Antonia T-do Amaral
- Department of Fundamental Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000 São Paulo, Brazil
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27
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Yang F, Wang Y, Yan D, Liu Z, Wei B, Chen J, He W. Binding Mechanism of Inhibitors to Heat Shock Protein 90 Investigated by Multiple Independent Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Prediction of Binding Free Energy. Molecules 2023; 28:4792. [PMID: 37375347 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28124792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The heat shock protein (HSP90) has been an import target of drug design in the treatment of human disease. An exploration of the conformational changes in HSP90 can provide useful information for the development of efficient inhibitors targeting HSP90. In this work, multiple independent all-atom molecular dynamics (AAMD) simulations followed by calculations of the molecular mechanics generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) were performed to explore the binding mechanism of three inhibitors (W8Y, W8V, and W8S) to HSP90. The dynamics analyses verified that the presence of inhibitors impacts the structural flexibility, correlated movements, and dynamics behavior of HSP90. The results of the MM-GBSA calculations suggest that the selection of GB models and empirical parameters has important influences on the predicted results and verify that van der Waals interactions are the main forces that determine inhibitor-HSP90 binding. The contributions of separate residues to the inhibitor-HSP90 binding process indicate that hydrogen-bonding interactions (HBIs) and hydrophobic interactions play important roles in HSP90-inhibitor identifications. Moreover, residues L34, N37, D40, A41, D79, I82, G83, M84, F124, and T171 are recognized as hot spots of inhibitor-HSP90 binding and provide significant target sites of for the design of drugs related to HSP90. This study aims to contribute to the development of efficient inhibitors that target HSP90 by providing an energy-based and theoretical foundation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fen Yang
- School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan 250357, China
| | - Yiwen Wang
- School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan 250357, China
- School of Aeronautics, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan 250357, China
| | - Dongliang Yan
- School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan 250357, China
- School of Science, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan 250357, China
| | - Zhongtao Liu
- School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan 250357, China
| | - Benzheng Wei
- Center for Medical Artificial Intelligence, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qingdao 266112, China
| | - Jianzhong Chen
- School of Science, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan 250357, China
| | - Weikai He
- School of Aeronautics, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan 250357, China
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28
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Azad I, Khan T, Ahmad N, Khan AR, Akhter Y. Updates on drug designing approach through computational strategies: a review. Future Sci OA 2023; 9:FSO862. [PMID: 37180609 PMCID: PMC10167725 DOI: 10.2144/fsoa-2022-0085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The drug discovery and development (DDD) process in pursuit of novel drug candidates is a challenging procedure requiring lots of time and resources. Therefore, computer-aided drug design (CADD) methodologies are used extensively to promote proficiency in drug development in a systematic and time-effective manner. The point in reference is SARS-CoV-2 which has emerged as a global pandemic. In the absence of any confirmed drug moiety to treat the infection, the science fraternity adopted hit and trial methods to come up with a lead drug compound. This article is an overview of the virtual methodologies, which assist in finding novel hits and help in the progression of drug development in a short period with a specific medicinal solution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iqbal Azad
- Department of Chemistry, Integral University, Dasauli, P.O. Bas-ha, Kursi Road, Lucknow, 226026, UP, India
| | - Tahmeena Khan
- Department of Chemistry, Integral University, Dasauli, P.O. Bas-ha, Kursi Road, Lucknow, 226026, UP, India
| | - Naseem Ahmad
- Department of Chemistry, Integral University, Dasauli, P.O. Bas-ha, Kursi Road, Lucknow, 226026, UP, India
| | - Abdul Rahman Khan
- Department of Chemistry, Integral University, Dasauli, P.O. Bas-ha, Kursi Road, Lucknow, 226026, UP, India
| | - Yusuf Akhter
- Department of Biotechnology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Vidya Vihar, Raebareli Road, Lucknow, UP, 2260025, India
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29
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Zhou F, Yin S, Xiao Y, Lin Z, Fu W, Zhang YJ. Structure-Kinetic Relationship for Drug Design Revealed by a PLS Model with Retrosynthesis-Based Pre-Trained Molecular Representation and Molecular Dynamics Simulation. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:18312-18322. [PMID: 37251166 PMCID: PMC10210189 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c02294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Drug design based on kinetic properties is growing in application. Here, we applied retrosynthesis-based pre-trained molecular representation (RPM) in machine learning (ML) to train 501 inhibitors of 55 proteins and successfully predicted the dissociation rate constant (koff) values of 38 inhibitors from an independent dataset for the N-terminal domain of heat shock protein 90α (N-HSP90). Our RPM molecular representation outperforms other pre-trained molecular representations such as GEM, MPG, and general molecular descriptors from RDKit. Furthermore, we optimized the accelerated molecular dynamics to calculate the relative retention time (RT) for the 128 inhibitors of N-HSP90 and obtained the protein-ligand interaction fingerprints (IFPs) on their dissociation pathways and their influencing weights on the koff value. We observed a high correlation among the simulated, predicted, and experimental -log(koff) values. Combining ML, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, and IFPs derived from accelerated MD helps design a drug for specific kinetic properties and selectivity profiles to the target of interest. To further validate our koff predictive ML model, we tested our model on two new N-HSP90 inhibitors, which have experimental koff values and are not in our ML training dataset. The predicted koff values are consistent with experimental data, and the mechanism of their kinetic properties can be explained by IFPs, which shed light on the nature of their selectivity against N-HSP90 protein. We believe that the ML model described here is transferable to predict koff of other proteins and will enhance the kinetics-based drug design endeavor.
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Hellemann E, Durrant JD. Worth the weight: Sub-Pocket EXplorer (SubPEx), a weighted-ensemble method to enhance binding-pocket conformational sampling. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.05.03.539330. [PMID: 37251500 PMCID: PMC10214482 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.03.539330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Structure-based virtual screening (VS) is an effective method for identifying potential small-molecule ligands, but traditional VS approaches consider only a single binding-pocket conformation. Consequently, they struggle to identify ligands that bind to alternate conformations. Ensemble docking helps address this issue by incorporating multiple conformations into the docking process, but it depends on methods that can thoroughly explore pocket flexibility. We here introduce Sub-Pocket EXplorer (SubPEx), an approach that uses weighted ensemble (WE) path sampling to accelerate binding-pocket sampling. As proof of principle, we apply SubPEx to three proteins relevant to drug discovery: heat shock protein 90, influenza neuraminidase, and yeast hexokinase 2. SubPEx is available free of charge without registration under the terms of the open-source MIT license: http://durrantlab.com/subpex/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erich Hellemann
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15260, United States
| | - Jacob D. Durrant
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15260, United States
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31
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Carbone D, De Franco M, Pecoraro C, Bassani D, Pavan M, Cascioferro S, Parrino B, Cirrincione G, Dall'Acqua S, Sut S, Moro S, Gandin V, Diana P. Structural Manipulations of Marine Natural Products Inspire a New Library of 3-Amino-1,2,4-Triazine PDK Inhibitors Endowed with Antitumor Activity in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Mar Drugs 2023; 21:md21050288. [PMID: 37233482 DOI: 10.3390/md21050288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the main aggressive types of cancer, characterized by late prognosis and drug resistance. Among the main factors sustaining PDAC progression, the alteration of cell metabolism has emerged to have a key role in PDAC cell proliferation, invasion, and resistance to standard chemotherapeutic agents. Taking into account all these factors and the urgency in evaluating novel options to treat PDAC, in the present work we reported the synthesis of a new series of indolyl-7-azaindolyl triazine compounds inspired by marine bis-indolyl alkaloids. We first assessed the ability of the new triazine compounds to inhibit the enzymatic activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases (PDKs). The results showed that most of derivatives totally inhibit PDK1 and PDK4. Molecular docking analysis was executed to predict the possible binding mode of these derivatives using ligand-based homology modeling technique. Evaluation of the capability of new triazines to inhibit the cell growth in 2D and 3D KRAS-wild-type (BxPC-3) and KRAS-mutant (PSN-1) PDAC cell line, was carried out. The results showed the capacity of the new derivatives to reduce cell growth with a major selectivity against KRAS-mutant PDAC PSN-1 on both cell models. These data demonstrated that the new triazine derivatives target PDK1 enzymatic activity and exhibit cytotoxic effects on 2D and 3D PDAC cell models, thus encouraging further structure manipulation for analogs development against PDAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Carbone
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele De Franco
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Camilla Pecoraro
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Davide Bassani
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stella Cascioferro
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Barbara Parrino
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Girolamo Cirrincione
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Stefano Dall'Acqua
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefania Sut
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Valentina Gandin
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35128 Padova, Italy
| | - Patrizia Diana
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
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32
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Wolf S. Predicting Protein-Ligand Binding and Unbinding Kinetics with Biased MD Simulations and Coarse-Graining of Dynamics: Current State and Challenges. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:2902-2910. [PMID: 37133392 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The prediction of drug-target binding and unbinding kinetics that occur on time scales between milliseconds and several hours is a prime challenge for biased molecular dynamics simulation approaches. This Perspective gives a concise summary of the theory and the current state-of-the-art of such predictions via biased simulations, of insights into the molecular mechanisms defining binding and unbinding kinetics as well as of the extraordinary challenges predictions of ligand kinetics pose in comparison to binding free energy predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steffen Wolf
- Biomolecular Dynamics, Institute of Physics, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
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33
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Dehury B, Mishra S, Pati S. Structural insights into SARS-CoV-2 main protease conformational plasticity. J Cell Biochem 2023. [PMID: 37099673 DOI: 10.1002/jcb.30409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023]
Abstract
The spread of different severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants underscores the need for insights into the structural properties of its structural and non-structural proteins. The highly conserved homo-dimeric chymotrypsin-like protease (3CL MPRO ), belonging to the class of cysteine hydrolases, plays an indispensable role in processing viral polyproteins that are involved in viral replication and transcription. Studies have successfully demonstrated the role of MPRO as an attractive drug target for designing antiviral treatments because of its importance in the viral life cycle. Herein, we report the structural dynamics of six experimentally solved structures of MPRO (i.e., 6LU7, 6M03, 6WQF, 6Y2E, 6Y84, and 7BUY including both ligand-free and ligand-bound states) at different resolutions. We have employed a structure-based balanced forcefield, CHARMM36m through state-of-the-art all-atoms molecular dynamics simulations at µ-seconds scale at room temperature (303K) and pH 7.0 to explore their structure-function relationship. The helical domain-III responsible for dimerization mostly contributes to the altered conformational states and destabilization of MPRO . A keen observation of the high degree of flexibility in the P5 binding pocket adjoining domain II-III highlights the reason for observation of conformational heterogeneity among the structural ensembles of MPRO . We also observe a differential dynamics of the catalytic pocket residues His41, Cys145, and Asp187, which may lead to catalytic impairment of the monomeric proteases. Among the highly populated conformational states of the six systems, 6LU7 and 7M03 forms the most stable and compact MPRO conformation with intact catalytic site and structural integrity. Altogether, our findings from this extensive study provides a benchmark to identify physiologically relevant structures of such promising drug targets for structure-based drug design and discovery of potent drug-like compounds having clinical potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Budheswar Dehury
- Division of Bioinformatics, ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
| | - Sarbani Mishra
- Division of Bioinformatics, ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
| | - Sanghamitra Pati
- Division of Bioinformatics, ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
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Wolf S, Post M, Stock G. Path separation of dissipation-corrected targeted molecular dynamics simulations of protein-ligand unbinding. J Chem Phys 2023; 158:124106. [PMID: 37003731 DOI: 10.1063/5.0138761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Protein-ligand (un)binding simulations are a recent focus of biased molecular dynamics simulations. Such binding and unbinding can occur via different pathways in and out of a binding site. Here, we present a theoretical framework on how to compute kinetics along separate paths and on how to combine the path-specific rates into global binding and unbinding rates for comparison with experimental results. Using dissipation-corrected targeted molecular dynamics in combination with temperature-boosted Langevin equation simulations [S. Wolf et al., Nat. Commun. 11, 2918 (2020)] applied to a two-dimensional model and the trypsin-benzamidine complex as test systems, we assess the robustness of the procedure and discuss the aspects of its practical applicability to predict multisecond kinetics of complex biomolecular systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steffen Wolf
- Biomolecular Dynamics, Institute of Physics, Albert Ludwigs University, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Post
- Biomolecular Dynamics, Institute of Physics, Albert Ludwigs University, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Gerhard Stock
- Biomolecular Dynamics, Institute of Physics, Albert Ludwigs University, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
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35
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Meller A, Bhakat S, Solieva S, Bowman GR. Accelerating Cryptic Pocket Discovery Using AlphaFold. J Chem Theory Comput 2023. [PMID: 36948209 PMCID: PMC10373493 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c01189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/24/2023]
Abstract
Cryptic pockets, or pockets absent in ligand-free, experimentally determined structures, hold great potential as drug targets. However, cryptic pocket openings are often beyond the reach of conventional biomolecular simulations because certain cryptic pocket openings involve slow motions. Here, we investigate whether AlphaFold can be used to accelerate cryptic pocket discovery either by generating structures with open pockets directly or generating structures with partially open pockets that can be used as starting points for simulations. We use AlphaFold to generate ensembles for 10 known cryptic pocket examples, including five that were deposited after AlphaFold's training data were extracted from the PDB. We find that in 6 out of 10 cases AlphaFold samples the open state. For plasmepsin II, an aspartic protease from the causative agent of malaria, AlphaFold only captures a partial pocket opening. As a result, we ran simulations from an ensemble of AlphaFold-generated structures and show that this strategy samples cryptic pocket opening, even though an equivalent amount of simulations launched from a ligand-free experimental structure fails to do so. Markov state models (MSMs) constructed from the AlphaFold-seeded simulations quickly yield a free energy landscape of cryptic pocket opening that is in good agreement with the same landscape generated with well-tempered metadynamics. Taken together, our results demonstrate that AlphaFold has a useful role to play in cryptic pocket discovery but that many cryptic pockets may remain difficult to sample using AlphaFold alone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Artur Meller
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University in St. Louis, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Washington University in St. Louis, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
| | - Soumendranath Bhakat
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University in St. Louis, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Shahlo Solieva
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Gregory R Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University in St. Louis, 660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
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36
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Biswas S, Bagchi A. Analysis of the structural dynamics of the mutations in the kinase domain of PINK1 protein associated with Parkinson's disease. Gene 2023; 857:147183. [PMID: 36623675 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2023.147183] [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: 11/11/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a very common neurodegenerative disorder and is considered to be one of the most severe disorders worldwide. Mutations in some PD causing genes are responsible for the early onset of the disease. Pathogenic variants in parkin, PINK1 and DJ1 genes can cause early-onset of PD. Many PINK1 gene mutations have been reported, but not all variants are pathogenic. The gene product of PINK1, also known as PINK1 protein, has 581 amino acid residues in it. Several different mutations are present throughout the kinase domain of PINK1 protein. In this work, we used in silico approaches to analyze the different types of mutations that are distributed in the kinase domain of the PINK1 protein. Based on our results, we categorized the mutations as high, moderate and low pathogenic variants. Furthermore, we performed molecular dynamics simulations of the pathogenic PINK1 variants to decipher their possible impacts on the structure and made a comparison with the wild type PINK1. In conclusion, we suggested the possible mechanistic roles of the pathogenic variants of PINK1 kinase domain that can affect its function. These pathogenic variants are the causative agents of early onset of PD called autosomal recessive Parkinson disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sima Biswas
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Kalyani, Kalyani - 741235, Nadia, West Bengal, India
| | - Angshuman Bagchi
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Kalyani, Kalyani - 741235, Nadia, West Bengal, India.
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37
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Pecoraro C, De Franco M, Carbone D, Bassani D, Pavan M, Cascioferro S, Parrino B, Cirrincione G, Dall'Acqua S, Moro S, Gandin V, Diana P. 1,2,4-Amino-triazine derivatives as pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase inhibitors: Synthesis and pharmacological evaluation. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 249:115134. [PMID: 36709650 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 01/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Among the different hallmarks of cancer, deregulation of cellular metabolism turned out to be an essential mechanism in promoting cancer resistance and progression. The pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases (PDKs) are well known as key regulators in cells metabolic process and their activity was found to be overexpressed in different metabolic alerted types of cancer, including the high aggressive pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). To date few PDK inhibitors have been reported, and the different molecules developed are characterized by structural chemical diversity. In an attempt to find novel classes of potential PDK inhibitors, the molecular hybridization approach, which combine two or more active scaffolds in a single structure, was employed. Herein we report the synthesis and the pharmacological evaluation of the novel hybrid molecules, characterized by the fusion of three different pharmacophoric sub-units such as 1,2,4-amino triazines, 7-azaindoles and indoles, in a single structure. The synthesized derivatives demonstrated a promising ability in hampering the enzymatic activity of PDK1 and 4, further confirmed by docking studies. Interestingly, these derivatives retained a strong antiproliferative activity against pancreatic cancer cells either in 2D and 3D models. Mechanistic studies in highly aggressive PDAC cells confirmed their ability to hamper PDK axis and to induce cancer cell death by apoptosis. Moreover, in vivo translational studies in a murine syngeneic solid tumor model confirmed the ability of the most representative compounds to target the PDK system and highlight the ability to reduce the tumor growth without inducing substantial body weight changes in the treated mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Pecoraro
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, via Archirafi 32, 90123, Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele De Franco
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via F. Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Daniela Carbone
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, via Archirafi 32, 90123, Palermo, Italy
| | - Davide Bassani
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), University of Padova, via F. Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Matteo Pavan
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), University of Padova, via F. Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Stella Cascioferro
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, via Archirafi 32, 90123, Palermo, Italy
| | - Barbara Parrino
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, via Archirafi 32, 90123, Palermo, Italy
| | - Girolamo Cirrincione
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, via Archirafi 32, 90123, Palermo, Italy
| | - Stefano Dall'Acqua
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via F. Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), University of Padova, via F. Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Valentina Gandin
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via F. Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy.
| | - Patrizia Diana
- Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, via Archirafi 32, 90123, Palermo, Italy.
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38
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Ligand Gaussian Accelerated Molecular Dynamics 2 (LiGaMD2): Improved Calculations of Ligand Binding Thermodynamics and Kinetics with Closed Protein Pocket. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:733-745. [PMID: 36706316 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c01194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Ligand binding thermodynamics and kinetics are critical parameters for drug design. However, it has proven challenging to efficiently predict ligand binding thermodynamics and kinetics from molecular simulations due to limited simulation timescales. Protein dynamics, especially in the ligand binding pocket, often plays an important role in ligand binding. Based on our previously developed Ligand Gaussian accelerated molecular dynamics (LiGaMD), here we present LiGaMD2 in which a selective boost potential was applied to both the ligand and protein residues in the binding pocket to improve sampling of ligand binding and dissociation. To validate the performance of LiGaMD2, the T4 lysozyme (T4L) mutants with open and closed pockets bound by different ligands were chosen as model systems. LiGaMD2 could efficiently capture repetitive ligand dissociation and binding within microsecond simulations of all T4L systems. The obtained ligand binding kinetic rates and free energies agreed well with available experimental values and previous modeling results. Therefore, LiGaMD2 provides an improved approach to sample opening of closed protein pockets for ligand dissociation and binding, thereby allowing for efficient calculations of ligand binding thermodynamics and kinetics.
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39
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Carbone D, De Franco M, Pecoraro C, Bassani D, Pavan M, Cascioferro S, Parrino B, Cirrincione G, Dall’Acqua S, Moro S, Gandin V, Diana P. Discovery of the 3-Amino-1,2,4-triazine-Based Library as Selective PDK1 Inhibitors with Therapeutic Potential in Highly Aggressive Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24043679. [PMID: 36835086 PMCID: PMC9959349 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24043679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinases (PDKs) are serine/threonine kinases, that are directly involved in altered cancer cell metabolism, resulting in cancer aggressiveness and resistance. Dichloroacetic acid (DCA) is the first PDK inhibitor that has entered phase II clinical; however, several side effects associated with weak anticancer activity and excessive drug dose (100 mg/kg) have led to its limitation in clinical application. Building upon a molecular hybridization approach, a small library of 3-amino-1,2,4-triazine derivatives has been designed, synthesized, and characterized for their PDK inhibitory activity using in silico, in vitro, and in vivo assays. Biochemical screenings showed that all synthesized compounds are potent and subtype-selective inhibitors of PDK. Accordingly, molecular modeling studies revealed that a lot of ligands can be properly placed inside the ATP-binding site of PDK1. Interestingly, 2D and 3D cell studies revealed their ability to induce cancer cell death at low micromolar doses, being extremely effective against human pancreatic KRAS mutated cancer cells. Cellular mechanistic studies confirm their ability to hamper the PDK/PDH axis, thus leading to metabolic/redox cellular impairment, and to ultimately trigger apoptotic cancer cell death. Remarkably, preliminary in vivo studies performed on a highly aggressive and metastatic Kras-mutant solid tumor model confirm the ability of the most representative compound 5i to target the PDH/PDK axis in vivo and highlighted its equal efficacy and better tolerability profile with respect to those elicited by the reference FDA approved drugs, cisplatin and gemcitabine. Collectively, the data highlights the promising anticancer potential of these novel PDK-targeting derivatives toward obtaining clinical candidates for combatting highly aggressive KRAS-mutant pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Carbone
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Michele De Franco
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via F. Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Camilla Pecoraro
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Davide Bassani
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via F. Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via F. Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stella Cascioferro
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Barbara Parrino
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Girolamo Cirrincione
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
| | - Stefano Dall’Acqua
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via F. Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via F. Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Valentina Gandin
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via F. Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Correspondence: (V.G.); (P.D.)
| | - Patrizia Diana
- Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
- Correspondence: (V.G.); (P.D.)
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40
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Kumar A, Singh P, Kumar R, Yadav P, Jaiswal A, Kumar Tewari A. An Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Conformational Stability of Triazinone Fleximers: Quantitative Analysis for Intermolecular Interactions. ChemistrySelect 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/slct.202203862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Akhilesh Kumar
- Department of Chemistry (Center of Advanced Studies) Institute of Science Banaras Hindu University Varanasi 221005
| | - Praveen Singh
- Department of Chemistry Dayanand Vedic College Orai Jaluan 285001
| | - Ranjeet Kumar
- Department of Chemistry C. M. P. Degree College Prayagraj 211002 India
| | - Priyanka Yadav
- Department of Chemistry (Center of Advanced Studies) Institute of Science Banaras Hindu University Varanasi 221005
| | - Amit Jaiswal
- Department of Chemistry C. M. P. Degree College Prayagraj 211002 India
| | - Ashish Kumar Tewari
- Department of Chemistry (Center of Advanced Studies) Institute of Science Banaras Hindu University Varanasi 221005
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41
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Ali S, Ali U, Qamar A, Zafar I, Yaqoob M, Ain QU, Rashid S, Sharma R, Nafidi HA, Bin Jardan YA, Bourhia M. Predicting the effects of rare genetic variants on oncogenic signaling pathways: A computational analysis of HRAS protein function. Front Chem 2023; 11:1173624. [PMID: 37153521 PMCID: PMC10160440 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2023.1173624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The HRAS gene plays a crucial role in regulating essential cellular processes for life, and this gene's misregulation is linked to the development of various types of cancers. Nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) within the coding region of HRAS can cause detrimental mutations that disrupt wild-type protein function. In the current investigation, we have employed in-silico methodologies to anticipate the consequences of infrequent genetic variations on the functional properties of the HRAS protein. We have discovered a total of 50 nsSNPs, of which 23 were located in the exon region of the HRAS gene and denoting that they were expected to cause harm or be deleterious. Out of these 23, 10 nsSNPs ([G60V], [G60D], [R123P], [D38H], [I46T], [G115R], [R123G], [P11OL], [A59L], and [G13R]) were identified as having the most delterious effect based on results of SIFT analysis and PolyPhen2 scores ranging from 0.53 to 69. The DDG values -3.21 kcal/mol to 0.87 kcal/mol represent the free energy change associated with protein stability upon mutation. Interestingly, we identified that the three mutations (Y4C, T58I, and Y12E) were found to improve the structural stability of the protein. We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the structural and dynamic effects of HRAS mutations. Our results showed that the stable model of HRAS had a significantly lower energy value of -18756 kj/mol compared to the initial model of -108915 kj/mol. The RMSD value for the wild-type complex was 4.40 Å, and the binding energies for the G60V, G60D, and D38H mutants were -107.09 kcal/mol, -109.42 kcal/mol, and -107.18 kcal/mol, respectively as compared to wild-type HRAS protein had -105.85 kcal/mol. The result of our investigation presents convincing corroboration for the potential functional significance of nsSNPs in augmenting HRAS expression and adding to the activation of malignant oncogenic signalling pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sadaqat Ali
- Medical Department, DHQ Hospital Bhawalnagr, Punjab, Pakistan
| | | | - Adeem Qamar
- Department of Pathology, Sahiwal Medical College Sahiwal, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Imran Zafar
- Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Virtual University of Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Yaqoob
- Department of Life Sciences, ARID University-Barani Institute of Sciences Burewala Campus, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Qurat ul Ain
- Department of Chemistry, Government College Women University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Summya Rashid
- Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Virtual University of Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan
| | - Rohit Sharma
- Department of Rasa Shastra and Bhaishajya Kalpana, Faculty of Ayurveda, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
- *Correspondence: Mohammed Bourhia, ; Rohit Sharma,
| | - Hiba-Allah Nafidi
- Department of Food Science, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Laval University, Quebec City, QC, Canada
| | - Yousef A. Bin Jardan
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed Bourhia
- Laboratory of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, Morocco
- *Correspondence: Mohammed Bourhia, ; Rohit Sharma,
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Mollica L, Giachin G. Recognition Mechanisms between a Nanobody and Disordered Epitopes of the Human Prion Protein: An Integrative Molecular Dynamics Study. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 63:531-545. [PMID: 36580661 PMCID: PMC9875307 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Immunotherapy using antibodies to target the aggregation of flexible proteins holds promise for therapeutic interventions in neurodegenerative diseases caused by protein misfolding. Prions or PrPSc, the causal agents of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), represent a model target for immunotherapies as TSE are prototypical protein misfolding diseases. The X-ray crystal structure of the wild-type (WT) human prion protein (HuPrP) bound to a camelid antibody fragment, denoted as Nanobody 484 (Nb484), has been previously solved. Nb484 was found to inhibit prion aggregation in vitro through a unique mechanism of structural stabilization of two disordered epitopes, that is, the palindromic motif (residues 113-120) and the β2-α2 loop region (residues 164-185). The study of the structural basis for antibody recognition of flexible proteins requires appropriate sampling techniques for the identification of conformational states occurring in disordered epitopes. To elucidate the Nb484-HuPrP recognition mechanisms, here we applied molecular dynamics (MD) simulations complemented with available NMR and X-ray crystallography data collected on the WT HuPrP to describe the conformational spaces occurring on HuPrP prior to Nb484 binding. We observe the experimentally determined binding competent conformations within the ensembles of pre-existing conformational states in solution before binding. We also described the Nb484 recognition mechanisms in two HuPrP carrying a polymorphism (E219K) and a TSE-causing mutation (V210I). Our hybrid approaches allow the identification of dynamic conformational landscapes existing on HuPrP and highly characterized by molecular disorder to identify physiologically relevant and druggable transitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Mollica
- Department
of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Segrate, 20090 Milan, Italy,
| | - Gabriele Giachin
- Department
of Chemical Sciences (DiSC), University
of Padua, 35131 Padova, Italy,
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43
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Rezvani S, Ebadi A, Razzaghi-Asl N. In silico identification of potential Hsp90 inhibitors via ensemble docking, DFT and molecular dynamics simulations. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2022; 40:10665-10676. [PMID: 34286666 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2021.1947383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) has emerged as one of the most exciting targets for anticancer drug development and Hsp90 inhibitors are potentially useful chemotherapeutic agents in cancer. Within the current study, Hsp90 inhibitors that entered different phases of clinical trials were subjected to Zinc15 structure query to find similar compounds (≥ 78%). Obtained small molecules (1-29) with defined similarity cut-off were docked into ensemble of Hsp90-α NTDs. Docked complexes were ranked on the basis of binding modes and Gibbs free energies as Hsp90 binders (cut-off point; ΔGb ≤ -12 kcal/mol). Top-ranked compounds were subjected to energy decomposition analysis per residue of binding pocket via density functional theory (DFT) calculations in B3LYP level of theory. Subsequent MD simulations of the top-ranked complexes were performed for 100 ns to explore the stable binding modes during a reasonable period in explicit water. Results of molecular docking and intermolecular binding analysis indicated that H-bond, hydrophobic and salt bridge interactions were determinant forces in complex formation. Compounds 19 and 20 were well accommodated in binding pocket of Hsp90 via relatively varied conformations. It was revealed that Asn51 and Phe138 were key residues that interacted stably to 19 and 20. Although primary mechanism of action for proposed molecules are unknown and yet to be explored, results of the present study revealed key structural features for future structure-guided optimization toward potent inhibitors of Hsp90-α NTD. HighlightsHsp90 inhibitors that entered different phases of clinical trials were subjected to Zinc15 based structure query to afford potential enzyme inhibitors 19 and 20.Quantum chemical calculations confirmed docking results and verified pivotal role of a conserved residues (Asn51, Leu103, Phe138 and Tyr139) in making effective hydrogen bonds.MD simulations of top-ranked docked derivatives revealed the achievement of stable binding modes with less conformational variation of 20 than 19 in the active site of Hsp90-α NTD.H-bond, hydrophobic contacts and salt bridge interactions were determinant forces in binding interactions of in silico hits.Resorcinol and isoxazole were important structural motifs of in silico hits in binding to the active site of Hsp90-α NTD.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saba Rezvani
- Research Committee, School of Pharmacy, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran
| | - Ahmad Ebadi
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Medicinal Plants and Natural Products Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
| | - Nima Razzaghi-Asl
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran
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Giri RP, Mukhopadhyay MK, Sanyal MK, Bose D, Chakrabarti A, Quan P, Bu W, Lin B. Structural Flexibility of Proteins Dramatically Alters Membrane Stability─A Novel Aspect of Lipid-Protein Interaction. J Phys Chem Lett 2022; 13:11430-11437. [PMID: 36468973 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c02971] [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: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Protein isoforms are structural variants with changes in the overall flexibility predominantly at the tertiary level. For membrane associated proteins, such structural flexibility or rigidity affects membrane stability by playing modulatory roles in lipid-protein interaction. Herein, we investigate the protein chain flexibility mediated changes in the mechanistic behavior of phospholipid model membranes in the presence of two well-known isoforms, erythroid (ER) and nonerythroid (NER) spectrin. We show dramatic alterations of membrane elasticity and stability induced by spectrin in the Langmuir monolayers of phosphatidylocholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) by a combination of isobaric relaxation, surface pressure-area isotherm, X-ray scattering, and microscopy measurements. The NER spectrin drives all monolayers to possess an approximately equal stability, and that required 25-fold increase and 5-fold decrease of stability in PC and PE monolayers, respectively. The untilting transition of the PC membrane in the presence of NER spectrin observed in X-ray measurements can explain better membrane packing and stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajendra P Giri
- Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, A CI of Homi Bhabha National Institute, Kolkata, 700064, West Bengal, India
- Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics, Kiel University, 24118Kiel, Germany
| | - Mrinmay K Mukhopadhyay
- Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, A CI of Homi Bhabha National Institute, Kolkata, 700064, West Bengal, India
| | - Milan K Sanyal
- Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, A CI of Homi Bhabha National Institute, Kolkata, 700064, West Bengal, India
| | - Dipayan Bose
- Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, A CI of Homi Bhabha National Institute, Kolkata, 700064, West Bengal, India
| | - Abhijit Chakrabarti
- Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, A CI of Homi Bhabha National Institute, Kolkata, 700064, West Bengal, India
- School of Biological Sciences, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational & Research Institute, Narendrapur, Kolkata700103, India
| | - Peiyu Quan
- NSF's ChemMatCARS, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois60637, United States
| | - Wei Bu
- NSF's ChemMatCARS, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois60637, United States
| | - Binhua Lin
- NSF's ChemMatCARS, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois60637, United States
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45
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Díaz N, Suárez D. Toward Reliable and Insightful Entropy Calculations on Flexible Molecules. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:7166-7178. [PMID: 36426866 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The absolute entropy of a flexible molecule can be approximated by the sum of a rigid-rotor-harmonic-oscillator (RRHO) entropy and a Gibbs-Shannon entropy associated to the Boltzmann distribution for the occupation of the conformational energy levels. Herein, we show that such partitioning, which has received renewed interest, leads to accurate entropies of single molecules of increasing size provided that the conformational part is estimated by means of a set of discretization and expansion techniques that are able to capture the significant correlation effects among the torsional motions. To ensure a reliable entropy estimation, we rely on extensive sampling as that produced by classical molecular dynamics simulations on the microsecond time scale, which is currently affordable for small- and medium-sized molecules. According to test calculations, the gas-phase entropy of simple organic molecules is predicted with a mean unsigned error of 0.9 cal/(mol K) when the RRHO entropies are computed at the B3LYP-D3/cc-pVTZ level. Remarkably, the same protocol gives small errors [<1 cal/(mol K)] for the extremely flexible linear alkane molecules (CnH2n+2, n = 14, 16, and 18). Similarly, we obtain well-converged entropies for a more challenging test of drug molecules, which exhibit more pronounced correlation effects. We also perform equivalent entropy calculations on a 76 amino acid protein, ubiquitin, by taking advantage of the cutoff-dependent formulation of an expansion technique (correlation-consistent multibody local approximation, CC-MLA), which incorporates genuine correlation effects among the neighboring dihedral angles. Moreover, we show that insightful descriptors of the coupled torsional motions can be obtained with the CC-MLA approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Díaz
- Departamento de Química Física y Analítica, Universidad de Oviedo, Avda. Julián Clavería 8, Oviedo33006, SPAIN
| | - Dimas Suárez
- Departamento de Química Física y Analítica, Universidad de Oviedo, Avda. Julián Clavería 8, Oviedo33006, SPAIN
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46
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Zhang H, Kim S, Im W. Practical Guidance for Consensus Scoring and Force Field Selection in Protein-Ligand Binding Free Energy Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:6084-6093. [PMID: 36399655 PMCID: PMC9772090 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The advances in ligand binding affinity prediction have been fostered by system generation tools and improved force fields (FFs). CHARMM-GUI Free Energy Calculator provides input and postprocessing scripts for AMBER-TI free energy calculations with various FFs. In this study, we used 12 different FF combinations (ff14SB and ff19SB for protein, GAFF2.2 and OpenFF for ligand, and TIP3P, TIP4PEW, and OPC for water) to calculate relative binding free energies (ΔΔGbind) for 80 alchemical transformations (among the JACS benchmark set) with different numbers of λ windows (12 or 21) and simulation times (1, 5, or 10 ns). Our results show that 12 λ windows and 5 ns simulation time for each window are sufficient to obtain reliable ΔΔGbind with 4 independent runs for the current benchmark set. While there is no statistically noticeable performance difference among 12 different FF combinations compared to the experimental values, a combination of ff14SB + GAFF2.2 + TIP3P FFs appears to be best with a mean unsigned error of 0.87 [0.69, 1.07] kcal/mol, a root-mean-square error of 1.22 [0.94, 1.50] kcal/mol, a Pearson's correlation of 0.64 [0.52, 0.76], a Spearman's correlation of 0.73 [0.58, 0.83], and a Kendell's correlation of 0.54 [0.42, 0.64]. This large-scale ΔΔGbind calculation study provides useful information about ΔΔGbind prediction with different AMBER FF combinations and presents valuable suggestions for FF selection in AMBER-TI ΔΔGbind calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Zhang
- Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Bioengineering, and Computer Science and Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, USA
| | - Seonghoon Kim
- School of Computational Sciences, Korea Institute for Advanced Study, Seoul 02455, Republic of Korea
| | - Wonpil Im
- Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Bioengineering, and Computer Science and Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, USA,Corresponding Author:
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47
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Chen J, Zeng Q, Wang W, Sun H, Hu G. Decoding the Identification Mechanism of an SAM-III Riboswitch on Ligands through Multiple Independent Gaussian-Accelerated Molecular Dynamics Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:6118-6132. [PMID: 36440874 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
S-Adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM)-responsive riboswitches play a central role in the regulation of bacterial gene expression at the level of transcription attenuation or translation inhibition. In this study, multiple independent Gaussian-accelerated molecular dynamics simulations were performed to decipher the identification mechanisms of SAM-III (SMK) on ligands SAM, SAH, and EEM. The results reveal that ligand binding highly affects the structural flexibility, internal dynamics, and conformational changes of SAM-III. The dynamic analysis shows that helices P3 and P4 as well as two junctions J23 and J24 of SAM-III are highly susceptible to ligand binding. Analyses of free energy landscapes suggest that ligand binding induces different free energy profiles of SAM-III, which leads to the difference in identification sites of SAM-III on ligands. The information on ligand-nucleotide interactions not only uncovers that the π-π, cation-π, and hydrogen bonding interactions drive identification of SAM-III on the three ligands but also reveals that different electrostatic properties of SAM, SAH, and EEM alter the active sites of SAM-III. Meanwhile, the results also verify that the adenine group of SAM, SAH, and EEM is well recognized by conserved nucleotides G7, A29, U37, A38, and G48. We expect that this study can provide useful information for understanding the applications of SAM-III in chemical, synthetic RNA biology, and biomedical fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianzhong Chen
- School of Science, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan250357, China
| | - Qingkai Zeng
- School of Science, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan250357, China
| | - Wei Wang
- School of Science, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan250357, China
| | - Haibo Sun
- School of Science, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan250357, China
| | - Guodong Hu
- Shandong Key Laboratory of Biophysics, Institute of Biophysics, Dezhou University, Dezhou253023, China
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48
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Bekker GJ, Kamiya N. Advancing the field of computational drug design using multicanonical molecular dynamics-based dynamic docking. Biophys Rev 2022; 14:1349-1358. [PMID: 36659995 PMCID: PMC9842809 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-022-01010-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Multicanonical molecular dynamics (McMD)-based dynamic docking is a powerful tool to not only predict the native binding configuration between two flexible molecules, but it can also be used to accurately simulate the binding/unbinding pathway. Furthermore, it can also predict alternative binding sites, including allosteric ones, by employing an exhaustive sampling approach. Since McMD-based dynamic docking accurately samples binding/unbinding events, it can thus be used to determine the molecular mechanism of binding between two molecules. We developed the McMD-based dynamic docking methodology based on the powerful, but woefully underutilized McMD algorithm, combined with a toolset to perform the docking and to analyze the results. Here, we showcase three of our recent works, where we have applied McMD-based dynamic docking to advance the field of computational drug design. In the first case, we applied our method to perform an exhaustive search between Hsp90 and one of its inhibitors to successfully predict the native binding configuration in its binding site, as we refined our analysis methods. For our second case, we performed an exhaustive search of two medium-sized ligands and Bcl-xL, which has a cryptic binding site that differs greatly between the apo and holo structures. Finally, we performed a dynamic docking simulation between a membrane-embedded GPCR molecule and a high affinity ligand that binds deep within its receptor's pocket. These advanced simulations showcase the power that the McMD-based dynamic docking method has, and provide a glimpse of the potential our methodology has to unravel and solve the medical and biophysical issues in the modern world. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12551-022-01010-z.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gert-Jan Bekker
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 Japan
| | - Narutoshi Kamiya
- Graduate School of Information Science, University of Hyogo, 7-1-28 Minatojima Minami-machi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047 Japan
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49
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Maltarollo VG, Shevchenko E, Lima IDDM, Cino EA, Ferreira GM, Poso A, Kronenberger T. Do Go Chasing Waterfalls: Enoyl Reductase (FabI) in Complex with Inhibitors Stabilizes the Tetrameric Structure and Opens Water Channels. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:5746-5761. [PMID: 36343333 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The enzyme enoyl-ACP reductase (FabI) is the limiting step of the membrane's fatty acid biosynthesis in bacteria and a druggable target for novel antibacterial agents. The FabI active form is a homotetramer, which displays the highest affinity to inhibitors. Herein, molecular dynamics studies were carried out using the structure of FabI in complex with known inhibitors to investigate their effects on tetramerization. Our results suggest that multimerization is essential for the integrity of the catalytic site and that inhibitor binding enables the multimerization by stabilizing the substrate binding loop (SBL, L:195-200) coupled with changes in the H4/5 (QR interface). We also observed that AFN-1252 (naphtpyridinone derivative) promotes unique conformational changes affecting monomer-monomer interfaces. These changes are induced by AFN-1252 interaction with key residues in the binding sites (Ala95, Tyr146, and Tyr156). In addition, the analysis of water trajectories indicated that AFN-1252 complexes allow more water molecules to enter the binding site than triclosan and MUT056399 complexes. FabI-AFN-1252 simulations show accumulation of water molecules near the Tyr146/147 pocket, which can become a hotspot to the design of novel FabI inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinicius Gonçalves Maltarollo
- Departamento de Produtos Farmacêuticos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Ekaterina Shevchenko
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry and Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Oncology and Pneumonology, Internal Medicine VIII, University Hospital Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Straße 10, DE72076 Tübingen, Germany.,Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery & Development (TüCAD2), 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Igor Daniel de Miranda Lima
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Elio A Cino
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Glaucio Monteiro Ferreira
- Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analyses, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Av Prof Lineu Prestes 580, 05508-000 São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Antti Poso
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry and Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Oncology and Pneumonology, Internal Medicine VIII, University Hospital Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Straße 10, DE72076 Tübingen, Germany.,Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery & Development (TüCAD2), 72076 Tübingen, Germany.,School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, 70211 Kuopio, Finland
| | - Thales Kronenberger
- Institute of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Chemistry and Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Oncology and Pneumonology, Internal Medicine VIII, University Hospital Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Straße 10, DE72076 Tübingen, Germany.,Tübingen Center for Academic Drug Discovery & Development (TüCAD2), 72076 Tübingen, Germany.,School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, 70211 Kuopio, Finland
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50
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Lerma Romero JA, Meyners C, Christmann A, Reinbold LM, Charalampidou A, Hausch F, Kolmar H. Binding pocket stabilization by high-throughput screening of yeast display libraries. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:1023131. [DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.1023131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein dynamics have a great influence on the binding pockets of some therapeutic targets. Flexible protein binding sites can result in transient binding pocket formation which might have a negative impact on drug screening efforts. Here, we describe a protein engineering strategy with FK506-binding protein 51 (FKBP51) as a model protein, which is a promising target for stress-related disorders. High-throughput screening of yeast display libraries of FKBP51 resulted in the identification of variants exhibiting higher affinity binding of conformation-specific FKBP51 selective inhibitors. The gene libraries of a random mutagenesis and site saturation mutagenesis of the FK1 domain of FKBP51 encoding sequence were used to create a yeast surface display library. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting for FKBP51 variants that bind conformation-specific fluorescently labeled ligands with high affinity allowed for the identification of 15 different protein variants with improved binding to either, or both FKBP51-specific ligands used in the screening, with improved affinities up to 34-fold compared to the wild type. These variants will pave the way to a better understanding of the conformational flexibility of the FKBP51 binding pocket and may enable the isolation of new selective ligands that preferably and selectively bind the active site of the protein in its open conformation state.
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