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Rocca R, Grillone K, Citriniti EL, Gualtieri G, Artese A, Tagliaferri P, Tassone P, Alcaro S. Targeting non-coding RNAs: Perspectives and challenges of in-silico approaches. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 261:115850. [PMID: 37839343 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 09/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
The growing information currently available on the central role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) including microRNAs (miRNAS) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) for chronic and degenerative human diseases makes them attractive therapeutic targets. RNAs carry out different functional roles in human biology and are deeply deregulated in several diseases. So far, different attempts to therapeutically target the 3D RNA structures with small molecules have been reported. In this scenario, the development of computational tools suitable for describing RNA structures and their potential interactions with small molecules is gaining more and more interest. Here, we describe the most suitable strategies to study ncRNAs through computational tools. We focus on methods capable of predicting 2D and 3D ncRNA structures. Furthermore, we describe computational tools to identify, design and optimize small molecule ncRNA binders. This review aims to outline the state of the art and perspectives of computational methods for ncRNAs over the past decade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Rocca
- Department of Health Science, Magna Graecia University, Catanzaro, Italy; Net4Science srl, Academic Spinoff, Magna Græcia University, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Katia Grillone
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Magna Græcia University, Catanzaro, Italy
| | | | | | - Anna Artese
- Department of Health Science, Magna Graecia University, Catanzaro, Italy; Net4Science srl, Academic Spinoff, Magna Græcia University, Catanzaro, Italy.
| | | | - Pierfrancesco Tassone
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Magna Græcia University, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Stefano Alcaro
- Department of Health Science, Magna Graecia University, Catanzaro, Italy; Net4Science srl, Academic Spinoff, Magna Græcia University, Catanzaro, Italy
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2
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Feng Y, Yan Y, He J, Tao H, Wu Q, Huang SY. Docking and scoring for nucleic acid-ligand interactions: Principles and current status. Drug Discov Today 2021; 27:838-847. [PMID: 34718205 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2021.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Revised: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Nucleic acid (NA)-ligand interactions have crucial roles in many cellular processes and, thus, are increasingly attracting therapeutic interest in drug discovery. Molecular docking is a valuable tool for studying molecular interactions. However, because NAs differ significantly from proteins in both their physical and chemical properties, traditional docking algorithms and scoring functions for protein-ligand interactions might not be applicable to NA-ligand docking. Therefore, various sampling strategies and scoring functions for NA-ligand interactions have been developed. Here, we review the basic principles and current status of docking algorithms and scoring functions for DNA/RNA-ligand interactions. We also discuss challenges and limitations of current docking and scoring approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuyu Feng
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, PR China
| | - Yumeng Yan
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, PR China
| | - Jiahua He
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, PR China
| | - Huanyu Tao
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, PR China
| | - Qilong Wu
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, PR China
| | - Sheng-You Huang
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, PR China.
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3
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Feng Y, Zhang K, Wu Q, Huang SY. NLDock: a Fast Nucleic Acid-Ligand Docking Algorithm for Modeling RNA/DNA-Ligand Complexes. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:4771-4782. [PMID: 34468128 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c00341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Nucleic acid-ligand interactions play an important role in numerous cellular processes such as gene function expression and regulation. Therefore, nucleic acids such as RNAs have become more and more important drug targets, where the structural determination of nucleic acid-ligand complexes is pivotal for understanding their functions and thus developing therapeutic interventions. Molecular docking has been a useful computational tool in predicting the complex structure between molecules. However, although a number of docking algorithms have been developed for protein-ligand interactions, only a few docking programs were presented for nucleic acid-ligand interactions. Here, we have developed a fast nucleic acid-ligand docking algorithm, named NLDock, by implementing our intrinsic scoring function ITScoreNL for nucleic acid-ligand interactions into a modified version of the MDock program. NLDock was extensively evaluated on four test sets and compared with five other state-of-the-art docking algorithms including AutoDock, DOCK 6, rDock, GOLD, and Glide. It was shown that our NLDock algorithm obtained a significantly better performance than the other docking programs in binding mode predictions and achieved the success rates of 73%, 36%, and 32% on the largest test set of 77 complexes for local rigid-, local flexible-, and global flexible-ligand docking, respectively. In addition, our NLDock approach is also computationally efficient and consumed an average of as short as 0.97 and 2.08 min for a local flexible-ligand docking job and a global flexible-ligand docking job, respectively. These results suggest the good performance of our NLDock in both docking accuracy and computational efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuyu Feng
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, P. R. China
| | - Keqiong Zhang
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, P. R. China
| | - Qilong Wu
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, P. R. China
| | - Sheng-You Huang
- School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, P. R. China
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4
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Tessaro F, Scapozza L. How 'Protein-Docking' Translates into the New Emerging Field of Docking Small Molecules to Nucleic Acids? Molecules 2020; 25:E2749. [PMID: 32545835 PMCID: PMC7355999 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25122749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2020] [Revised: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In this review, we retraced the '40-year evolution' of molecular docking algorithms. Over the course of the years, their development allowed to progress from the so-called 'rigid-docking' searching methods to the more sophisticated 'semi-flexible' and 'flexible docking' algorithms. Together with the advancement of computing architecture and power, molecular docking's applications also exponentially increased, from a single-ligand binding calculation to large screening and polypharmacology profiles. Recently targeting nucleic acids with small molecules has emerged as a valuable therapeutic strategy especially for cancer treatment, along with bacterial and viral infections. For example, therapeutic intervention at the mRNA level allows to overcome the problematic of undruggable proteins without modifying the genome. Despite the promising therapeutic potential of nucleic acids, molecular docking programs have been optimized mostly for proteins. Here, we have analyzed literature data on nucleic acid to benchmark some of the widely used docking programs. Finally, the comparison between proteins and nucleic acid targets docking highlighted similarity and differences, which are intrinsically related to their chemical and structural nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Tessaro
- Pharmaceutical Biochemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva CMU, Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland;
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Leonardo Scapozza
- Pharmaceutical Biochemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva CMU, Rue Michel-Servet 1, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland;
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
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5
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Tabrizi L, Olasunkanmi LO, Fadare OA. De novodesign of thioredoxin reductase-targeted heterometallic titanocene–gold compounds of chlorambucil for mechanistic insights into renal cancer. Chem Commun (Camb) 2020; 56:297-300. [DOI: 10.1039/c9cc07406f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
A chlorambucil-alkynyl mononuclear gold(i) complex and heteronuclear titanocene–gold(i) complex were studied for mechanism of action in renal cancer by experimental and computational methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leila Tabrizi
- School of Chemistry
- National University of Ireland
- Galway
- Ireland
| | - Lukman O. Olasunkanmi
- Department of Chemistry
- Faculty of Science
- Obafemi Awolowo University
- Ile-Ife 220005
- Nigeria
| | - Olatomide A. Fadare
- Department of Chemistry
- Faculty of Science
- Obafemi Awolowo University
- Ile-Ife 220005
- Nigeria
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Deligkaris C, Millam E. Physical binding of the tobacco smoke carcinogen NNK diazonium ion to the human tumor suppressor gene TP53 Exon 5. Toxicol Res (Camb) 2019; 8:531-543. [PMID: 31367336 PMCID: PMC6621204 DOI: 10.1039/c9tx00010k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2019] [Accepted: 04/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The tobacco smoke N-nitrosamine, NNK, is an important carcinogen. It has been shown to induce lung, liver, and pancreatic cancer in animals. Its metabolites are associated with lung cancer in tobacco smokers. Our work focuses upon the physical interaction of NNK diazonium ion with DNA. This species is implicated in the formation of pyridyloxobutyl adducts, reacting with DNA bases and phosphate groups. Past research has investigated the metabolic activation of NNK by various enzymes, subsequent adduct formation with DNA, and the role of these adducts in mutagenesis. We present the first study of the physical interaction of NNK diazonium ion with TP53 (exon 5), a frequently mutated human tumor suppressor gene. We identify physical binding sites found via free energy minimization in computational docking simulations. These structures represent local potential energy minima in this system and suggest plausible sites for adduct formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christos Deligkaris
- Department of Geology and Physics , University of Southern Indiana , Evansville , IN 47712 , USA .
| | - Evan Millam
- Department of Chemistry , University of Southern Indiana , Evansville , IN 47712 , USA
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Tabrizi L, Olasunkanmi LO, Fadare OA. Experimental and theoretical investigations of cyclometalated ruthenium(ii) complex containing CCC-pincer and anti-inflammatory drugs as ligands: synthesis, characterization, inhibition of cyclooxygenase and in vitro cytotoxicity activities in various cancer cell lines. Dalton Trans 2019; 48:728-740. [DOI: 10.1039/c8dt03266a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The cyclometalated ruthenium(ii) complex was synthesized and studied for cytotoxicity. The interaction of Ru(ii) complex with COX-2 was studied by experimental and molecular docking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leila Tabrizi
- School of Chemistry
- National University of Ireland
- Galway
- University Road
- Galway
| | - Lukman O. Olasunkanmi
- Department of Chemistry
- Faculty of Science
- Obafemi Awolowo University
- Ile-Ife 220005
- Nigeria
| | - Olatomide A. Fadare
- Department of Chemistry
- Faculty of Science
- Obafemi Awolowo University
- Ile-Ife 220005
- Nigeria
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8
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McElfresh GW, Deligkaris C. A vibrational entropy term for DNA docking with autodock. Comput Biol Chem 2018; 74:286-293. [DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2018.03.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Revised: 02/27/2018] [Accepted: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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9
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Miroshnychenko KV, Shestopalova AV. Molecular Docking of Biologically Active Substances to Double Helical Nucleic Acids. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016. [DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0362-0.ch005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/28/2023]
Abstract
Molecular docking of ligands to DNA-targets is of great importance for the design of new anticancer drugs. Unfortunately, most docking programs were developed for protein-ligand docking which raises a question about their applicability for the DNA-ligand docking. In this study, the popular docking programs AutoDock Vina, AutoDock4 and AutoDock3 were compared for a test set of 50 DNA-ligand complexes taken from the Nucleic Acid Database. It was shown that the version 3.05 of the AutoDock program was the most successful in reproducing the structures of intercalation and minor-groove complexes. The program AutoDock4 was able to re-dock to within 2 Å RMSD most of the intercalation complexes of the test set, but showed poor performance for minor groove binders. While Vina, on the contrary, failed to construct six intercalation complexes of the test set, but showed satisfactory results for DNA-ligand minor-groove complexes when small search space was used.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Anna V. Shestopalova
- O. Ya. Usikov Institute for Radiophysics and Electronics of NAS of Ukraine, Ukraine
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Darabi F, Hadadzadeh H, Simpson J, Shahpiri A. A water-soluble Pd(ii) complex with a terpyridine ligand: experimental and molecular modeling studies of the interaction with DNA and BSA; and in vitro cytotoxicity investigations against five human cancer cell lines. NEW J CHEM 2016. [DOI: 10.1039/c6nj01880g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
[Pd(4-OHPh-tpy)Cl]Cl was prepared. The complex interacts with DNA via a combination of covalent, intercalation, and hydrogen bonding interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Farivash Darabi
- Department of Chemistry
- Isfahan University of Technology
- Isfahan 84156-83111
- Iran
| | - Hassan Hadadzadeh
- Department of Chemistry
- Isfahan University of Technology
- Isfahan 84156-83111
- Iran
| | - Jim Simpson
- Department of Chemistry
- University of Otago
- Dunedin 9054
- New Zealand
| | - Azar Shahpiri
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology
- College of Agriculture
- Isfahan University of Technology
- Isfahan 84156-83111
- Iran
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