1
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Scardino V, Di Filippo JI, Cavasotto CN. How good are AlphaFold models for docking-based virtual screening? iScience 2023; 26:105920. [PMID: 36686396 PMCID: PMC9852548 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 43.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 11/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
A crucial component in structure-based drug discovery is the availability of high-quality three-dimensional structures of the protein target. Whenever experimental structures were not available, homology modeling has been, so far, the method of choice. Recently, AlphaFold (AF), an artificial-intelligence-based protein structure prediction method, has shown impressive results in terms of model accuracy. This outstanding success prompted us to evaluate how accurate AF models are from the perspective of docking-based drug discovery. We compared the high-throughput docking (HTD) performance of AF models with their corresponding experimental PDB structures using a benchmark set of 22 targets. The AF models showed consistently worse performance using four docking programs and two consensus techniques. Although AlphaFold shows a remarkable ability to predict protein architecture, this might not be enough to guarantee that AF models can be reliably used for HTD, and post-modeling refinement strategies might be key to increase the chances of success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Scardino
- Meton AI, Inc, Wilmington, DE 19801, USA
- Austral Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence, Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Juan I. Di Filippo
- Austral Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence, Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Computational Drug Design and Biomedical Informatics Laboratory, Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional (IIMT), Universidad Austral-CONICET, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Claudio N. Cavasotto
- Austral Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence, Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Computational Drug Design and Biomedical Informatics Laboratory, Instituto de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional (IIMT), Universidad Austral-CONICET, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas, and Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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2
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Korshunova K, Carloni P. Ligand Affinities within the Open-Boundary Molecular Mechanics/Coarse-Grained Framework (I): Alchemical Transformations within the Hamiltonian Adaptive Resolution Scheme. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:789-797. [PMID: 33443434 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c09805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Our recently developed Open-Boundary Molecular Mechanics/Coarse Grained (OB-MM/CG) framework predicts ligand poses in important pharmaceutical targets, such as G-protein Coupled Receptors, even when experimental structural information is lacking. The approach, which is based on GROMOS and AMBER force fields, allows for grand-canonical simulations of protein-ligand complexes by using the Hamiltonian Adaptive Resolution Scheme (H-AdResS) for the solvent. Here, we present a key step toward the estimation of ligand binding affinities for their targets within this approach. This is the implementation of the H-AdResS in the GROMACS code. The accuracy of our implementation is established by calculating hydration free energies of several molecules in water by means of alchemical transformations. The deviations of the GROMOS- and AMBER-based H-AdResS results from the reference fully atomistic simulations are smaller than the accuracy of the force field and/or they are in the range of the published results. Importantly, our predictions are in good agreement with experimental data. The current implementation paves the way to the use of the OB-MM/CG framework for the study of large biological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ksenia Korshunova
- Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.,Computational Biomedicine, Institute of Advanced Simulations IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany
| | - Paolo Carloni
- Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.,Computational Biomedicine, Institute of Advanced Simulations IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany.,Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (INM-11), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany
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3
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Cavasotto CN, Lamas MS, Maggini J. Functional and druggability analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 proteome. Eur J Pharmacol 2021; 890:173705. [PMID: 33137330 PMCID: PMC7604074 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2020] [Revised: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
The infectious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, appeared in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has spread worldwide. As of today, more than 46 million people have been infected and over 1.2 million fatalities. With the purpose of contributing to the development of effective therapeutics, we performed an in silico determination of binding hot-spots and an assessment of their druggability within the complete SARS-CoV-2 proteome. All structural, non-structural, and accessory proteins have been studied, and whenever experimental structural data of SARS-CoV-2 proteins were not available, homology models were built based on solved SARS-CoV structures. Several potential allosteric or protein-protein interaction druggable sites on different viral targets were identified, knowledge that could be used to expand current drug discovery endeavors beyond the currently explored cysteine proteases and the polymerase complex. It is our hope that this study will support the efforts of the scientific community both in understanding the molecular determinants of this disease and in widening the repertoire of viral targets in the quest for repurposed or novel drugs against COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudio N Cavasotto
- Computational Drug Design and Biomedical Informatics Laboratory, Translational Medicine Research Institute (IIMT), CONICET-Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Austral Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence, Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| | - Maximiliano Sánchez Lamas
- Austral Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence, Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Meton AI, Inc., Wilmington, DE, 19801, USA
| | - Julián Maggini
- Austral Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence, Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Technology Transfer Office, Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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4
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Schneider J, Ribeiro R, Alfonso-Prieto M, Carloni P, Giorgetti A. Hybrid MM/CG Webserver: Automatic Set Up of Molecular Mechanics/Coarse-Grained Simulations for Human G Protein-Coupled Receptor/Ligand Complexes. Front Mol Biosci 2020; 7:576689. [PMID: 33102525 PMCID: PMC7500467 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.576689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Hybrid Molecular Mechanics/Coarse-Grained (MM/CG) simulations help predict ligand poses in human G protein-coupled receptors (hGPCRs), the most important protein superfamily for pharmacological applications. This approach allows the description of the ligand, the binding cavity, and the surrounding water molecules at atomistic resolution, while coarse-graining the rest of the receptor. Here, we present the Hybrid MM/CG Webserver (mmcg.grs.kfa-juelich.de) that automatizes and speeds up the MM/CG simulation setup of hGPCR/ligand complexes. Initial structures for such complexes can be easily and efficiently generated with other webservers. The Hybrid MM/CG server also allows for equilibration of the systems, either fully automatically or interactively. The results are visualized online (using both interactive 3D visualizations and analysis plots), helping the user identify possible issues and modify the setup parameters accordingly. Furthermore, the prepared system can be downloaded and the simulation continued locally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Schneider
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany.,JARA-Institute: Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-11/JARA-BRAIN Institute JBI-2, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany.,Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Rui Ribeiro
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Mercedes Alfonso-Prieto
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany.,Medical Faculty, Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Paolo Carloni
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany.,JARA-Institute: Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-11/JARA-BRAIN Institute JBI-2, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany.,Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Alejandro Giorgetti
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany.,Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
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5
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Cavasotto CN, Di Filippo JI. In silico Drug Repurposing for COVID-19: Targeting SARS-CoV-2 Proteins through Docking and Consensus Ranking. Mol Inform 2020; 40:e2000115. [PMID: 32722864 DOI: 10.1002/minf.202000115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
In December 2019, an infectious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 appeared in Wuhan, China. This disease (COVID-19) spread rapidly worldwide, and on March 2020 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Today, over 21 million people have been infected, with more than 750.000 casualties. Today, no vaccine or antiviral drug is available. While the development of a vaccine might take at least a year, and for a novel drug, even longer; finding a new use to an old drug (drug repurposing) could be the most effective strategy. We present a docking-based screening using a quantum mechanical scoring of a library built from approved drugs and compounds undergoing clinical trials, against three SARS-CoV-2 target proteins: the spike or S-protein, and two proteases, the main protease and the papain-like protease. The S-protein binds directly to the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 receptor of the human host cell surface, while the two proteases process viral polyproteins. Following the analysis of our structure-based compound screening, we propose several structurally diverse compounds (either FDA-approved or in clinical trials) that could display antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2. Clearly, these compounds should be further evaluated in experimental assays and clinical trials to confirm their actual activity against the disease. We hope that these findings may contribute to the rational drug design against COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudio N Cavasotto
- Computational Drug Design and Biomedical Informatics Laboratory, Translational Medicine Research Institute (IIMT), CONICET-Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas and Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Austral Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Juan I Di Filippo
- Computational Drug Design and Biomedical Informatics Laboratory, Translational Medicine Research Institute (IIMT), CONICET-Universidad Austral, Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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6
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Rasaeifar B, Gomez-Gutierrez P, Perez JJ. New Insights into the Stereochemical Requirements of the Bombesin BB1 Receptor Antagonists Binding. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2020; 13:ph13080197. [PMID: 32824403 PMCID: PMC7463749 DOI: 10.3390/ph13080197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2020] [Revised: 08/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Members of the family of bombesinlike peptides exert a wide range of biological activities both at the central nervous system and in peripheral tissues through at least three G-Protein Coupled Receptors: BB1, BB2 and BB3. Despite the number of peptide ligands already described, only a few small molecule binders have been disclosed so far, hampering a deeper understanding of their pharmacology. In order to have a deeper understanding of the stereochemical features characterizing binding to the BB1 receptor, we performed the molecular modeling study consisting of the construction of a 3D model of the receptor by homology modeling followed by a docking study of the peptoids PD168368 and PD176252 onto it. Analysis of the complexes permitted us to propose prospective bound conformations of the compounds, consistent with the experimental information available. Subsequently, we defined a pharmacophore describing minimal stereochemical requirements for binding to the BB1 receptor that was used in silico screening. This exercise yielded a set of small molecules that were purchased and tested, showing affinity to the BB1 but not to the BB2 receptor. These molecules exhibit scaffolds of diverse chemical families that can be used as a starting point for the development of novel BB1 antagonists.
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7
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Schneider J, Korshunova K, Si Chaib Z, Giorgetti A, Alfonso-Prieto M, Carloni P. Ligand Pose Predictions for Human G Protein-Coupled Receptors: Insights from the Amber-Based Hybrid Molecular Mechanics/Coarse-Grained Approach. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:5103-5116. [PMID: 32786708 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Human G protein-coupled receptors (hGPCRs) are the most frequent targets of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs. Structural bioinformatics, along with molecular simulation, can support structure-based drug design targeting hGPCRs. In this context, several years ago, we developed a hybrid molecular mechanics (MM)/coarse-grained (CG) approach to predict ligand poses in low-resolution hGPCR models. The approach was based on the GROMOS96 43A1 and PRODRG united-atom force fields for the MM part. Here, we present a new MM/CG implementation using, instead, the Amber 14SB and GAFF all-atom potentials for proteins and ligands, respectively. The new implementation outperforms the previous one, as shown by a variety of applications on models of hGPCR/ligand complexes at different resolutions, and it is also more user-friendly. Thus, it emerges as a useful tool to predict poses in low-resolution models and provides insights into ligand binding similarly to all-atom molecular dynamics, albeit at a lower computational cost.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Schneider
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany.,Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.,JARA-Institute: Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-11/JARA-BRAIN Institute JBI-2, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany
| | - Ksenia Korshunova
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany.,Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Zeineb Si Chaib
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany.,RWTH Aachen University, 52062 Aachen, Germany
| | - Alejandro Giorgetti
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany.,Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, 37314 Verona, Italy.,JARA-HPC, IAS-5/INM-9 Computational Biomedicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany
| | - Mercedes Alfonso-Prieto
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany.,JARA-HPC, IAS-5/INM-9 Computational Biomedicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany.,Cecile and Oskar Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Paolo Carloni
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5/Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany.,Department of Physics, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.,JARA-Institute: Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-11/JARA-BRAIN Institute JBI-2, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany.,JARA-HPC, IAS-5/INM-9 Computational Biomedicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany
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8
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Abstract
Computational methods are a powerful and consolidated tool in the early stage of the drug lead discovery process. Among these techniques, high-throughput molecular docking has proved to be extremely useful in identifying novel bioactive compounds within large chemical libraries. In the docking procedure, the predominant binding mode of each small molecule within a target binding site is assessed, and a docking score reflective of the likelihood of binding is assigned to them. These methods also shed light on how a given hit could be modified in order to improve protein-ligand interactions and are thus able to guide lead optimization. The possibility of reducing time and cost compared to experimental approaches made this technology highly appealing. Due to methodological developments and the increase of computational power, the application of quantum mechanical methods to study macromolecular systems has gained substantial attention in the last decade. A quantum mechanical description of the interactions involved in molecular association of biomolecules may lead to better accuracy compared to molecular mechanics, since there are many physical phenomena that cannot be correctly described within a classical framework, such as covalent bond formation, polarization effects, charge transfer, bond rearrangements, halogen bonding, and others, that require electrons to be explicitly accounted for. Considering the fact that quantum mechanics-based approaches in biomolecular simulation constitute an active and important field of research, we highlight in this work the recent developments of quantum mechanical-based molecular docking and high-throughput docking.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Gabriela Aucar
- Computational Drug Design and Biomedical Informatics Laboratory, Translational Medicine Research Institute (IIMT), CONICET-Universidad Austral, Derqui-Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Claudio N Cavasotto
- Computational Drug Design and Biomedical Informatics Laboratory, Translational Medicine Research Institute (IIMT), CONICET-Universidad Austral, Derqui-Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Austral Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence, Universidad Austral, Derqui-Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Facultad de Ciencias Biomédicas, Universidad Austral, Derqui-Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Austral, Derqui-Pilar, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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9
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Costanzi S, Cohen A, Danfora A, Dolatmoradi M. Influence of the Structural Accuracy of Homology Models on Their Applicability to Docking-Based Virtual Screening: The β 2 Adrenergic Receptor as a Case Study. J Chem Inf Model 2019; 59:3177-3190. [PMID: 31257873 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.9b00380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
How accurate do structures of the β2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR) need to be to effectively serve as platforms for docking-based virtual screening campaigns? To answer this research question, here, we targeted through controlled virtual screening experiments 23 homology models of the β2AR endowed with different levels of structural accuracy. Subsequently, we studied the correlation between virtual screening performance and structural accuracy of the targeted models. Moreover, we studied the correlation between virtual screening performance and template/target receptor sequence identity. Our study demonstrates that docking-based virtual screening campaigns targeting homology models of the β2AR, in the majority of the cases, yielded results that exceeded random expectations in terms of area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC AUC). Moreover, with the most effective scoring method, over one-third and one-quarter of the models yielded results that exceeded random expectation also in terms of enrichment factors (EF1, EF5, and EF10) and BEDROC (α = 160.9), respectively. Not surprisingly, we found a detectable linear correlation between virtual screening performance and structural accuracy of the ligand-binding cavity. We also found a detectable linear correlation between virtual screening performance and structural accuracy of the second extracellular loop (EL2). Finally, our data indicate that, although there is no detectable linear correlation between virtual screening performance and template/β2AR sequence identity, models built on the basis of templates that show high sequence identity with the β2AR, especially within the ligand-biding cavity, performed consistently well. Conversely, models with lower sequence identity displayed performance levels that ranged from very good to random, with no apparent correlation with the sequence identity itself.
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10
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Alfonso-Prieto M, Navarini L, Carloni P. Understanding Ligand Binding to G-Protein Coupled Receptors Using Multiscale Simulations. Front Mol Biosci 2019; 6:29. [PMID: 31131282 PMCID: PMC6510167 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2019.00029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2019] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Human G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) convey a wide variety of extracellular signals inside the cell and they are one of the main targets for pharmaceutical intervention. Rational drug design requires structural information on these receptors; however, the number of experimental structures is scarce. This gap can be filled by computational models, based on homology modeling and docking techniques. Nonetheless, the low sequence identity across GPCRs and the chemical diversity of their ligands may limit the quality of these models and hence refinement using molecular dynamics simulations is recommended. This is the case for olfactory and bitter taste receptors, which constitute the first and third largest GPCR groups and show sequence identities with the available GPCR templates below 20%. We have developed a molecular dynamics approach, based on the combination of molecular mechanics and coarse grained (MM/CG), tailored to study ligand binding in GPCRs. This approach has been applied so far to bitter taste receptor complexes, showing significant predictive power. The protein/ligand interactions observed in the simulations were consistent with extensive mutagenesis and functional data. Moreover, the simulations predicted several binding residues not previously tested, which were subsequently verified by carrying out additional experiments. Comparison of the simulations of two bitter taste receptors with different ligand selectivity also provided some insights into the binding determinants of bitter taste receptors. Although the MM/CG approach has been applied so far to a limited number of GPCR/ligand complexes, the excellent agreement of the computational models with the mutagenesis and functional data supports the applicability of this method to other GPCRs for which experimental structures are missing. This is particularly important for the challenging case of GPCRs with low sequence identity with available templates, for which molecular docking shows limited predictive power.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mercedes Alfonso-Prieto
- Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Computational Biomedicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany.,Medical Faculty, Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | | | - Paolo Carloni
- Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Computational Biomedicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany.,Institute for Neuroscience and Medicine INM-11, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany.,Department of Physics, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.,VNU Key Laboratory "Multiscale Simulation of Complex Systems", VNU University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam
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11
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Alfonso-Prieto M, Giorgetti A, Carloni P. Multiscale simulations on human Frizzled and Taste2 GPCRs. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2019; 55:8-16. [PMID: 30933747 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2019.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Recently, molecular dynamics simulations, from all atom and coarse grained to hybrid methods bridging the two scales, have provided exciting functional insights into class F (Frizzled and Taste2) GPCRs (about 40 members in humans). Findings include: (i) The activation of one member of the Frizzled receptors (FZD4) involves a bending of transmembrane helix TM7 far larger than that in class A GPCRs. (ii) The affinity of an anticancer drug targeting another member (Smoothened receptor) decreases in a specific drug-resistant variant, because the mutation ultimately disrupts the binding cavity and affects TM6. (iii) A novel two-state recognition mechanism explains the very large agonist diversity for at least one member of the Taste2 GPCRs, hTAS2R46.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mercedes Alfonso-Prieto
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Alejandro Giorgetti
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Paolo Carloni
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; Department of Physics, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen, Germany; JARA Institute Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (INM-11), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; VNU Key Laboratory "Multiscale Simulation of Complex Systems", VNU University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
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12
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Liu J, Liu L, Tian Z, Li Y, Shi C, Shi J, Wei S, Zhao Y, Zhang C, Bai B, Chen Z, Zhang H. In Silico Discovery of a Small Molecule Suppressing Lung Carcinoma A549 Cells Proliferation and Inducing Autophagy via mTOR Pathway Inhibition. Mol Pharm 2018; 15:5427-5436. [PMID: 30346178 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.8b00996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jiyuan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources & Pest Management of the Ministry of Education, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 Shaanxi, China
| | - Li Liu
- Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 Youyi West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710072, China
- Laboratory Animal Center, Air Force Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China
| | - Zhen Tian
- College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Wenhui East Road, NO. 48, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province 225009, China
| | - Yifan Li
- Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources & Pest Management of the Ministry of Education, College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 Shaanxi, China
| | - Changhong Shi
- Laboratory Animal Center, Air Force Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China
| | - Junling Shi
- Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, 127 Youyi West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710072, China
| | - Sanhua Wei
- Department of Clinical Laboratory and Research Center, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, No. 569 Xinsi Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710038, China
| | - Yong Zhao
- Laboratory Animal Center, Air Force Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China
| | - Caiqing Zhang
- Laboratory Animal Center, Air Force Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China
| | - Bing Bai
- Laboratory Animal Center, Air Force Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China
| | - Zhinan Chen
- National Translational Science Center for Molecular Medicine, Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medicine, Air Force Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China
| | - Hai Zhang
- Laboratory Animal Center, Air Force Medical University, No. 169 Changle West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China
- National Translational Science Center for Molecular Medicine, Department of Cell Biology, School of Basic Medicine, Air Force Medical University, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 710032, China
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13
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Cavasotto CN, Adler NS, Aucar MG. Quantum Chemical Approaches in Structure-Based Virtual Screening and Lead Optimization. Front Chem 2018; 6:188. [PMID: 29896472 PMCID: PMC5986912 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2018.00188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2018] [Accepted: 05/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Today computational chemistry is a consolidated tool in drug lead discovery endeavors. Due to methodological developments and to the enormous advance in computer hardware, methods based on quantum mechanics (QM) have gained great attention in the last 10 years, and calculations on biomacromolecules are becoming increasingly explored, aiming to provide better accuracy in the description of protein-ligand interactions and the prediction of binding affinities. In principle, the QM formulation includes all contributions to the energy, accounting for terms usually missing in molecular mechanics force-fields, such as electronic polarization effects, metal coordination, and covalent binding; moreover, QM methods are systematically improvable, and provide a greater degree of transferability. In this mini-review we present recent applications of explicit QM-based methods in small-molecule docking and scoring, and in the calculation of binding free-energy in protein-ligand systems. Although the routine use of QM-based approaches in an industrial drug lead discovery setting remains a formidable challenging task, it is likely they will increasingly become active players within the drug discovery pipeline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudio N. Cavasotto
- Laboratory of Computational Chemistry and Drug Design, Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires, CONICET, Partner Institute of the Max Planck Society, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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14
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Basith S, Cui M, Macalino SJY, Park J, Clavio NAB, Kang S, Choi S. Exploring G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) Ligand Space via Cheminformatics Approaches: Impact on Rational Drug Design. Front Pharmacol 2018; 9:128. [PMID: 29593527 PMCID: PMC5854945 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2018.00128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2017] [Accepted: 02/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The primary goal of rational drug discovery is the identification of selective ligands which act on single or multiple drug targets to achieve the desired clinical outcome through the exploration of total chemical space. To identify such desired compounds, computational approaches are necessary in predicting their drug-like properties. G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) represent one of the largest and most important integral membrane protein families. These receptors serve as increasingly attractive drug targets due to their relevance in the treatment of various diseases, such as inflammatory disorders, metabolic imbalances, cardiac disorders, cancer, monogenic disorders, etc. In the last decade, multitudes of three-dimensional (3D) structures were solved for diverse GPCRs, thus referring to this period as the "golden age for GPCR structural biology." Moreover, accumulation of data about the chemical properties of GPCR ligands has garnered much interest toward the exploration of GPCR chemical space. Due to the steady increase in the structural, ligand, and functional data of GPCRs, several cheminformatics approaches have been implemented in its drug discovery pipeline. In this review, we mainly focus on the cheminformatics-based paradigms in GPCR drug discovery. We provide a comprehensive view on the ligand- and structure-based cheminformatics approaches which are best illustrated via GPCR case studies. Furthermore, an appropriate combination of ligand-based knowledge with structure-based ones, i.e., integrated approach, which is emerging as a promising strategy for cheminformatics-based GPCR drug design is also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Soosung Kang
- College of Pharmacy and Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Sun Choi
- College of Pharmacy and Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea
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15
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Schneider J, Korshunova K, Musiani F, Alfonso-Prieto M, Giorgetti A, Carloni P. Predicting ligand binding poses for low-resolution membrane protein models: Perspectives from multiscale simulations. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2018; 498:366-374. [PMID: 29409902 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2018.01.160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2017] [Revised: 01/24/2018] [Accepted: 01/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Membrane receptors constitute major targets for pharmaceutical intervention. Drug design efforts rely on the identification of ligand binding poses. However, the limited experimental structural information available may make this extremely challenging, especially when only low-resolution homology models are accessible. In these cases, the predictions may be improved by molecular dynamics simulation approaches. Here we review recent developments of multiscale, hybrid molecular mechanics/coarse-grained (MM/CG) methods applied to membrane proteins. In particular, we focus on our in-house MM/CG approach. It is especially tailored for G-protein coupled receptors, the largest membrane receptor family in humans. We show that our MM/CG approach is able to capture the atomistic details of the receptor/ligand binding interactions, while keeping the computational cost low by representing the protein frame and the membrane environment in a highly simplified manner. We close this review by discussing ongoing improvements and challenges of the current implementation of our MM/CG code.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Schneider
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; Department of Physics, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen, Germany; JARA Institute Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (INM-11), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany
| | - Ksenia Korshunova
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; Department of Physics, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Francesco Musiani
- Laboratory of Bioinorganic Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Mercedes Alfonso-Prieto
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Alejandro Giorgetti
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Paolo Carloni
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulations IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; Department of Physics, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen, Germany; JARA Institute Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (INM-11), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany; VNU Key Laboratory "Multiscale Simulation of Complex Systems", VNU University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Viet Nam.
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16
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Xu B, Vasile S, Østergaard S, Paulsson JF, Pruner J, Åqvist J, Wulff BS, Gutiérrez-de-Terán H, Larhammar D. Elucidation of the Binding Mode of the Carboxyterminal Region of Peptide YY to the Human Y 2 Receptor. Mol Pharmacol 2018; 93:323-334. [PMID: 29367257 DOI: 10.1124/mol.117.110627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the agonist-receptor interactions in the neuropeptide Y (NPY)/peptide YY (PYY) signaling system is fundamental for the design of novel modulators of appetite regulation. We report here the results of a multidisciplinary approach to elucidate the binding mode of the native peptide agonist PYY to the human Y2 receptor, based on computational modeling, peptide chemistry and in vitro pharmacological analyses. The preserved binding orientation proposed for full-length PYY and five analogs, truncated at the amino terminus, explains our pharmacological results where truncations of the N-terminal proline helix showed little effect on peptide affinity. This was followed by receptor mutagenesis to investigate the roles of several receptor positions suggested by the modeling. As a complement, PYY-(3-36) analogs were synthesized with modifications at different positions in the common PYY/NPY C-terminal fragment (32TRQRY36-amide). The results were assessed and interpreted by molecular dynamics and Free Energy Perturbation (FEP) simulations of selected mutants, providing a detailed map of the interactions of the PYY/NPY C-terminal fragment with the transmembrane cavity of the Y2 receptor. The amidated C-terminus would be stabilized by polar interactions with Gln2886.55 and Tyr2195.39, while Gln1303.32 contributes to interactions with Q34 in the peptide and T32 is close to the tip of TM7 in the receptor. This leaves the core, α-helix of the peptide exposed to make potential interactions with the extracellular loops. This model agrees with most experimental data available for the Y2 system and can be used as a basis for optimization of Y2 receptor agonists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Xu
- Departments of Neuroscience (B.X., J.P., D.L.) and Cell and Molecular Biology (S.V., J.Å., H.G.-T.), Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; and Protein and Peptide Chemistry 2 (S.Ø.) and Obesity Research (J.F.P., B.S.W.), Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Silvana Vasile
- Departments of Neuroscience (B.X., J.P., D.L.) and Cell and Molecular Biology (S.V., J.Å., H.G.-T.), Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; and Protein and Peptide Chemistry 2 (S.Ø.) and Obesity Research (J.F.P., B.S.W.), Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Søren Østergaard
- Departments of Neuroscience (B.X., J.P., D.L.) and Cell and Molecular Biology (S.V., J.Å., H.G.-T.), Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; and Protein and Peptide Chemistry 2 (S.Ø.) and Obesity Research (J.F.P., B.S.W.), Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Johan F Paulsson
- Departments of Neuroscience (B.X., J.P., D.L.) and Cell and Molecular Biology (S.V., J.Å., H.G.-T.), Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; and Protein and Peptide Chemistry 2 (S.Ø.) and Obesity Research (J.F.P., B.S.W.), Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Jasna Pruner
- Departments of Neuroscience (B.X., J.P., D.L.) and Cell and Molecular Biology (S.V., J.Å., H.G.-T.), Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; and Protein and Peptide Chemistry 2 (S.Ø.) and Obesity Research (J.F.P., B.S.W.), Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Johan Åqvist
- Departments of Neuroscience (B.X., J.P., D.L.) and Cell and Molecular Biology (S.V., J.Å., H.G.-T.), Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; and Protein and Peptide Chemistry 2 (S.Ø.) and Obesity Research (J.F.P., B.S.W.), Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Birgitte S Wulff
- Departments of Neuroscience (B.X., J.P., D.L.) and Cell and Molecular Biology (S.V., J.Å., H.G.-T.), Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; and Protein and Peptide Chemistry 2 (S.Ø.) and Obesity Research (J.F.P., B.S.W.), Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Hugo Gutiérrez-de-Terán
- Departments of Neuroscience (B.X., J.P., D.L.) and Cell and Molecular Biology (S.V., J.Å., H.G.-T.), Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; and Protein and Peptide Chemistry 2 (S.Ø.) and Obesity Research (J.F.P., B.S.W.), Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
| | - Dan Larhammar
- Departments of Neuroscience (B.X., J.P., D.L.) and Cell and Molecular Biology (S.V., J.Å., H.G.-T.), Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden; and Protein and Peptide Chemistry 2 (S.Ø.) and Obesity Research (J.F.P., B.S.W.), Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark
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17
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Loo JSE, Emtage AL, Ng KW, Yong ASJ, Doughty SW. Assessing GPCR homology models constructed from templates of various transmembrane sequence identities: Binding mode prediction and docking enrichment. J Mol Graph Model 2017; 80:38-47. [PMID: 29306746 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2017.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2017] [Revised: 11/27/2017] [Accepted: 12/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
GPCR crystal structures have become more readily accessible in recent years. However, homology models of GPCRs continue to play an important role as many GPCR structures remain unsolved. The new crystal structures now available provide not only additional templates for homology modelling but also the opportunity to assess the performance of homology models against their respective crystal structures and gain insight into the performance of such models. In this study we have constructed homology models from templates of various transmembrane sequence identities for eight GPCR targets to better understand the relationship between transmembrane sequence identity and model quality. Model quality was assessed relative to the crystal structure in terms of structural accuracy as well as performance in two typical structure-based drug design applications: ligand binding pose prediction and docking enrichment in virtual screening. Crystal structures significantly outperformed homology models in both assessments. Accurate ligand binding pose prediction was possible but difficult to achieve using homology models, even with the use of induced fit docking. In virtual screening using homology models still conferred significant enrichment compared to random selection, with a clear benefit also observed in using models optimized through induced fit docking. Our results indicate that while homology models that are reasonably accurate structurally can be constructed, without significant refinement homology models will be outperformed by crystal structures in ligand binding pose prediction and docking enrichment regardless of the template used, primarily due to the extremely high level of structural accuracy needed for such applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason S E Loo
- School of Pharmacy, Taylor's University, No.1 Jalan Taylor's, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
| | - Abigail L Emtage
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Kar Weng Ng
- School of Pharmacy, Taylor's University, No.1 Jalan Taylor's, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Alene S J Yong
- School of Pharmacy, Taylor's University, No.1 Jalan Taylor's, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Stephen W Doughty
- Penang Medical College, No. 4 Jalan Sepoy Lines, 10450 George Town, Penang, Malaysia
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18
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Nikitina N, Ivashko E, Tchernykh A. Congestion game scheduling for virtual drug screening optimization. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2017; 32:363-374. [PMID: 29264790 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-017-0093-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2017] [Accepted: 12/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
In virtual drug screening, the chemical diversity of hits is an important factor, along with their predicted activity. Moreover, interim results are of interest for directing the further research, and their diversity is also desirable. In this paper, we consider a problem of obtaining a diverse set of virtual screening hits in a short time. To this end, we propose a mathematical model of task scheduling for virtual drug screening in high-performance computational systems as a congestion game between computational nodes to find the equilibrium solutions for best balancing the number of interim hits with their chemical diversity. The model considers the heterogeneous environment with workload uncertainty, processing time uncertainty, and limited knowledge about the input dataset structure. We perform computational experiments and evaluate the performance of the developed approach considering organic molecules database GDB-9. The used set of molecules is rich enough to demonstrate the feasibility and practicability of proposed solutions. We compare the algorithm with two known heuristics used in practice and observe that game-based scheduling outperforms them by the hit discovery rate and chemical diversity at earlier steps. Based on these results, we use a social utility metric for assessing the efficiency of our equilibrium solutions and show that they reach greatest values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Nikitina
- Institute of Applied Mathematical Research, Karelian Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, 11 Pushkinskaya str., 185910, Petrozavodsk, Russia.
| | - Evgeny Ivashko
- Institute of Applied Mathematical Research, Karelian Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, 11 Pushkinskaya str., 185910, Petrozavodsk, Russia
| | - Andrei Tchernykh
- Computer Science Department, CICESE Research Center, Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana No. 3918, Zona Playitas, Código Postal 22860, Apdo. Postal 360, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
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19
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Fierro F, Suku E, Alfonso-Prieto M, Giorgetti A, Cichon S, Carloni P. Agonist Binding to Chemosensory Receptors: A Systematic Bioinformatics Analysis. Front Mol Biosci 2017; 4:63. [PMID: 28932739 PMCID: PMC5592726 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2017.00063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2017] [Accepted: 08/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Human G-protein coupled receptors (hGPCRs) constitute a large and highly pharmaceutically relevant membrane receptor superfamily. About half of the hGPCRs' family members are chemosensory receptors, involved in bitter taste and olfaction, along with a variety of other physiological processes. Hence these receptors constitute promising targets for pharmaceutical intervention. Molecular modeling has been so far the most important tool to get insights on agonist binding and receptor activation. Here we investigate both aspects by bioinformatics-based predictions across all bitter taste and odorant receptors for which site-directed mutagenesis data are available. First, we observe that state-of-the-art homology modeling combined with previously used docking procedures turned out to reproduce only a limited fraction of ligand/receptor interactions inferred by experiments. This is most probably caused by the low sequence identity with available structural templates, which limits the accuracy of the protein model and in particular of the side-chains' orientations. Methods which transcend the limited sampling of the conformational space of docking may improve the predictions. As an example corroborating this, we review here multi-scale simulations from our lab and show that, for the three complexes studied so far, they significantly enhance the predictive power of the computational approach. Second, our bioinformatics analysis provides support to previous claims that several residues, including those at positions 1.50, 2.50, and 7.52, are involved in receptor activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabrizio Fierro
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum JülichJülich, Germany
| | - Eda Suku
- Department of Biotechnology, University of VeronaVerona, Italy
| | - Mercedes Alfonso-Prieto
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum JülichJülich, Germany.,Cécile and Oskar Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University DüsseldorfDüsseldorf, Germany
| | - Alejandro Giorgetti
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum JülichJülich, Germany.,Department of Biotechnology, University of VeronaVerona, Italy
| | - Sven Cichon
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-1, Forschungszentrum JülichJülich, Germany.,Institute for Human Genetics, Department of Genomics, Life&Brain Center, University of BonnBonn, Germany.,Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Biomedicine, University of BaselBasel, Switzerland
| | - Paolo Carloni
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5 and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum JülichJülich, Germany.,Department of Physics, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule AachenAachen, Germany.,VNU Key Laboratory "Multiscale Simulation of Complex Systems", VNU University of Science, Vietnam National UniversityHanoi, Vietnam
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20
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Template selection and refinement considerations for modelling aminergic GPCR-ligand complexes. J Mol Graph Model 2017; 76:488-503. [PMID: 28818718 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2017.07.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2017] [Revised: 07/21/2017] [Accepted: 07/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are important targets for development of drugs for the treatment of many diseases. However, crystal structures are available for only a small fraction of these membrane bound proteins. Accurate homology models will provide opportunities for effective drug design targeting GPCRs. Recently, several serotonin receptor crystal structures were solved and needed to be evaluated as potential templates. In the first part of this work different measures of similarity in template selection were explored and methods for homology modelling, docking and refinement of aminergic GPCR-ligand complexes were developed and evaluated by comparing models of the D3-R/eticlopride complex with the crystal structure. Homology models of the three α1 adrenergic receptor subtypes and of a serotonin receptor subtype were then constructed using these methods These models were evaluated by docking a range of antagonists into them.
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21
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Lupala CS, Rasaeifar B, Gomez-Gutierrez P, Perez JJ. Using molecular dynamics for the refinement of atomistic models of GPCRs by homology modeling. J Biomol Struct Dyn 2017; 36:2436-2448. [PMID: 28728517 DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2017.1357503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Despite GPCRs sharing a common seven helix bundle, analysis of the diverse crystallographic structures available reveal specific features that might be relevant for ligand design. Despite the number of crystallographic structures of GPCRs steadily increasing, there are still challenges that hamper the availability of new structures. In the absence of a crystallographic structure, homology modeling remains one of the important techniques for constructing 3D models of proteins. In the present study we investigated the use of molecular dynamics simulations for the refinement of GPCRs models constructed by homology modeling. Specifically, we investigated the relevance of template selection, ligand inclusion as well as the length of the simulation on the quality of the GPCRs models constructed. For this purpose we chose the crystallographic structure of the rat muscarinic M3 receptor as reference and constructed diverse atomistic models by homology modeling, using different templates. Specifically, templates used in the present work include the human muscarinic M2; the more distant human histamine H1 and the even more distant bovine rhodopsin as shown in the GPCRs phylogenetic tree. We also investigated the use or not of a ligand in the refinement process. Hence, we conducted the refinement process of the M3 model using the M2 muscarinic as template with tiotropium or NMS docked in the orthosteric site and compared with the results obtained with a model refined without any ligand bound.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecylia S Lupala
- a Department of Chemical Engineering (ETSEIB) , Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya , Av. Diagonal, 647. 08028 Barcelona , Spain
| | - Bahareh Rasaeifar
- a Department of Chemical Engineering (ETSEIB) , Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya , Av. Diagonal, 647. 08028 Barcelona , Spain
| | - Patricia Gomez-Gutierrez
- a Department of Chemical Engineering (ETSEIB) , Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya , Av. Diagonal, 647. 08028 Barcelona , Spain
| | - Juan J Perez
- a Department of Chemical Engineering (ETSEIB) , Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya , Av. Diagonal, 647. 08028 Barcelona , Spain
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22
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Uddin MS, Naider F, Becker JM. Dynamic roles for the N-terminus of the yeast G protein-coupled receptor Ste2p. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES 2017; 1859:2058-2067. [PMID: 28754538 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2017.07.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2017] [Revised: 07/13/2017] [Accepted: 07/24/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The Saccharomyces cerevisiae α-factor receptor Ste2p has been used extensively as a model to understand the molecular mechanism of signal transduction by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Single and double cysteine mutants of Ste2p were created and served as surrogates to detect intramolecular interactions and dimerization of Ste2p using disulfide cross-linking methodology. When a mutation was introduced into the phylogenetically conserved tyrosine residue at position 26 (Y26C) in the N-terminus of Ste2p, dimerization was increased greatly. The amount of dimer formed by this Y26C mutant was greatly reduced by ligand binding even though the ligand binding site is far removed from the N-terminus; the lowering of the dimer formation was consistent with a conformational change in the N-terminus of the receptor upon activation. Dimerization was decreased by double mutations Y26C/V109C or Y26C/T114C indicating that Y26 is in close proximity to V109 and T114 of extracellular loop 1 in native Ste2p. Combined with earlier studies, these results indicate previously unrecognized roles for the N-terminus of Ste2p, and perhaps of GPCRs in general, and reveal a specific N-terminus residue or region, that is involved in GPCR signaling, intrareceptor interactions, and receptor dimerization.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Seraj Uddin
- Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, United States
| | - Fred Naider
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecular Assemblies Institute, College of Staten Island, CUNY, New York, New York 10314, United States; Ph.D. Programs in Biochemistry and Chemistry, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10016, United States
| | - Jeffrey M Becker
- Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, United States.
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23
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Lee Y, Basith S, Choi S. Recent Advances in Structure-Based Drug Design Targeting Class A G Protein-Coupled Receptors Utilizing Crystal Structures and Computational Simulations. J Med Chem 2017; 61:1-46. [PMID: 28657745 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b01453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the largest and most physiologically important integral membrane protein family, and these receptors respond to a wide variety of physiological and environmental stimuli. GPCRs are among the most critical therapeutic targets for numerous human diseases, and approximately one-third of the currently marketed drugs target this receptor family. The recent breakthroughs in GPCR structural biology have significantly contributed to our understanding of GPCR function, ligand binding, and pharmacological action as well as to the design of new drugs. This perspective highlights the latest advances in GPCR structures with a focus on the receptor-ligand interactions of each receptor family in class A nonrhodopsin GPCRs as well as the structural features for their activation, biased signaling, and allosteric mechanisms. The current state-of-the-art methodologies of structure-based drug design (SBDD) approaches in the GPCR research field are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoonji Lee
- National Leading Research Laboratory (NLRL) of Molecular Modeling & Drug Design, College of Pharmacy and Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University , Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Shaherin Basith
- National Leading Research Laboratory (NLRL) of Molecular Modeling & Drug Design, College of Pharmacy and Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University , Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Sun Choi
- National Leading Research Laboratory (NLRL) of Molecular Modeling & Drug Design, College of Pharmacy and Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ewha Womans University , Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea
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Freyd T, Warszycki D, Mordalski S, Bojarski AJ, Sylte I, Gabrielsen M. Ligand-guided homology modelling of the GABAB2 subunit of the GABAB receptor. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0173889. [PMID: 28323850 PMCID: PMC5360267 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2016] [Accepted: 02/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, and disturbances in the GABAergic system have been implicated in numerous neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. The GABAB receptor is a heterodimeric class C G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) consisting of GABAB1a/b and GABAB2 subunits. Two GABAB receptor ligand binding sites have been described, namely the orthosteric GABA binding site located in the extracellular GABAB1 Venus fly trap domain and the allosteric binding site found in the GABAB2 transmembrane domain. To date, the only experimentally solved three-dimensional structures of the GABAB receptor are of the Venus fly trap domain. GABAB receptor allosteric modulators, however, show great therapeutic potential, and elucidating the structure of the GABAB2 transmembrane domain may lead to development of novel drugs and increased understanding of the allosteric mechanism of action. Despite the lack of x-ray crystal structures of the GABAB2 transmembrane domain, multiple crystal structures belonging to other classes of GPCRs than class A have been released within the last years. More closely related template structures are now available for homology modelling of the GABAB receptor. Here, multiple homology models of the GABAB2 subunit of the GABAB receptor have been constructed using templates from class A, B and C GPCRs, and docking of five clusters of positive allosteric modulators and decoys has been undertaken to select models that enrich the active compounds. Using this ligand-guided approach, eight GABAB2 homology models have been chosen as possible structural representatives of the transmembrane domain of the GABAB2 subunit. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to describe homology modelling of the transmembrane domain of the GABAB2 subunit and the docking of positive allosteric modulators in the receptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thibaud Freyd
- Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT - the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Dawid Warszycki
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
| | - Stefan Mordalski
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
| | - Andrzej J. Bojarski
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Institute of Pharmacology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland
| | - Ingebrigt Sylte
- Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT - the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
- * E-mail:
| | - Mari Gabrielsen
- Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT - the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
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25
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Costanzi S, Skorski M, Deplano A, Habermehl B, Mendoza M, Wang K, Biederman M, Dawson J, Gao J. Homology modeling of a Class A GPCR in the inactive conformation: A quantitative analysis of the correlation between model/template sequence identity and model accuracy. J Mol Graph Model 2016; 70:140-152. [PMID: 27723562 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2016.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2016] [Revised: 09/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/03/2016] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
With the present work we quantitatively studied the modellability of the inactive state of Class A G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Specifically, we constructed models of one of the Class A GPCRs for which structures solved in the inactive state are available, namely the β2 AR, using as templates each of the other class members for which structures solved in the inactive state are also available. Our results showed a detectable linear correlation between model accuracy and model/template sequence identity. This suggests that the likely accuracy of the homology models that can be built for a given receptor can be generally forecasted on the basis of the available templates. We also probed whether sequence alignments that allow for the presence of gaps within the transmembrane domains to account for structural irregularities afford better models than the classical alignment procedures that do not allow for the presence of gaps within such domains. As our results indicated, although the overall differences are very subtle, the inclusion of internal gaps within the transmembrane domains has a noticeable a beneficial effect on the local structural accuracy of the domain in question.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Costanzi
- Department of Chemistry, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA; Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA.
| | - Matthew Skorski
- Department of Chemistry, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
| | | | - Brett Habermehl
- Department of Chemistry, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
| | - Mary Mendoza
- Department of Chemistry, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
| | - Keyun Wang
- Department of Chemistry, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
| | | | - Jessica Dawson
- Department of Chemistry, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
| | - Jia Gao
- Department of Chemistry, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA
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26
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McRobb FM, Negri A, Beuming T, Sherman W. Molecular dynamics techniques for modeling G protein-coupled receptors. Curr Opin Pharmacol 2016; 30:69-75. [DOI: 10.1016/j.coph.2016.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2016] [Revised: 06/28/2016] [Accepted: 07/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Ditto NT, Brooks BD. The emerging role of biosensor-based epitope binning and mapping in antibody-based drug discovery. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2016; 11:925-37. [DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2016.1229295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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28
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Esguerra M, Siretskiy A, Bello X, Sallander J, Gutiérrez-de-Terán H. GPCR-ModSim: A comprehensive web based solution for modeling G-protein coupled receptors. Nucleic Acids Res 2016; 44:W455-62. [PMID: 27166369 PMCID: PMC4987938 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkw403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2016] [Accepted: 04/29/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
GPCR-ModSim (http://open.gpcr-modsim.org) is a centralized and easy to use service dedicated to the structural modeling of G-protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). 3D molecular models can be generated from amino acid sequence by homology-modeling techniques, considering different receptor conformations. GPCR-ModSim includes a membrane insertion and molecular dynamics (MD) equilibration protocol, which can be used to refine the generated model or any GPCR structure uploaded to the server, including if desired non-protein elements such as orthosteric or allosteric ligands, structural waters or ions. We herein revise the main characteristics of GPCR-ModSim and present new functionalities. The templates used for homology modeling have been updated considering the latest structural data, with separate profile structural alignments built for inactive, partially-active and active groups of templates. We have also added the possibility to perform multiple-template homology modeling in a unique and flexible way. Finally, our new MD protocol considers a series of distance restraints derived from a recently identified conserved network of helical contacts, allowing for a smoother refinement of the generated models which is particularly advised when there is low homology to the available templates. GPCR- ModSim has been tested on the GPCR Dock 2013 competition with satisfactory results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauricio Esguerra
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Biomedical Center, Box 596, SE-751 24, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Alexey Siretskiy
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Biomedical Center, Box 596, SE-751 24, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Xabier Bello
- Fundación Pública Galega de Medicina Xenómica, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, 15706, Spain
| | - Jessica Sallander
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Biomedical Center, Box 596, SE-751 24, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Hugo Gutiérrez-de-Terán
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Biomedical Center, Box 596, SE-751 24, Uppsala, Sweden
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29
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Lee GR, Seok C. Galaxy7TM: flexible GPCR-ligand docking by structure refinement. Nucleic Acids Res 2016; 44:W502-6. [PMID: 27131365 PMCID: PMC4987912 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkw360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2016] [Accepted: 04/21/2016] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play important physiological roles related to signal transduction and form a major group of drug targets. Prediction of GPCR-ligand complex structures has therefore important implications to drug discovery. With previously available servers, it was only possible to first predict GPCR structures by homology modeling and then perform ligand docking on the model structures. However, model structures generated without explicit consideration of specific ligands of interest can be inaccurate because GPCR structures can be affected by ligand binding. The Galaxy7TM server, freely accessible at http://galaxy.seoklab.org/7TM, improves an input GPCR structure by simultaneous ligand docking and flexible structure refinement using GALAXY methods. The server shows better performance in both ligand docking and GPCR structure refinement than commonly used programs AutoDock Vina and Rosetta MPrelax, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gyu Rie Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-747, Korea
| | - Chaok Seok
- Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-747, Korea
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30
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Busato M, Giorgetti A. Structural modeling of G-protein coupled receptors: An overview on automatic web-servers. Int J Biochem Cell Biol 2016; 77:264-74. [PMID: 27102413 DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2016.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2016] [Revised: 04/09/2016] [Accepted: 04/15/2016] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Despite the significant efforts and discoveries during the last few years in G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) expression and crystallization, the receptors with known structures to date are limited only to a small fraction of human GPCRs. The lack of experimental three-dimensional structures of the receptors represents a strong limitation that hampers a deep understanding of their function. Computational techniques are thus a valid alternative strategy to model three-dimensional structures. Indeed, recent advances in the field, together with extraordinary developments in crystallography, in particular due to its ability to capture GPCRs in different activation states, have led to encouraging results in the generation of accurate models. This, prompted the community of modelers to render their methods publicly available through dedicated databases and web-servers. Here, we present an extensive overview on these services, focusing on their advantages, drawbacks and their role in successful applications. Future challenges in the field of GPCR modeling, such as the predictions of long loop regions and the modeling of receptor activation states are presented as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirko Busato
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Strada le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona, Italy.
| | - Alejandro Giorgetti
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona, Strada le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona, Italy; Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5 and Computational Biomedicine, Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany.
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31
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Tosh DK, Ciancetta A, Warnick E, O'Connor R, Chen Z, Gizewski E, Crane S, Gao ZG, Auchampach JA, Salvemini D, Jacobson KA. Purine (N)-Methanocarba Nucleoside Derivatives Lacking an Exocyclic Amine as Selective A3 Adenosine Receptor Agonists. J Med Chem 2016; 59:3249-63. [PMID: 26890707 PMCID: PMC4970510 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b01998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
![]()
Purine
(N)-methanocarba-5′-N-alkyluronamidoriboside
A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR) agonists lacking
an exocyclic amine resulted from an unexpected
reaction during a Sonogashira coupling and subsequent aminolysis.
Because the initial C6-Me and C6-styryl derivatives had unexpectedly
high A3AR affinity, other rigid nucleoside analogues lacking
an exocyclic amine were prepared. Of these, the C6-Me-(2-phenylethynyl)
and C2-(5-chlorothienylethynyl) analogues were particularly potent,
with human A3AR Ki values of
6 and 42 nM, respectively. Additionally, the C2-(5-chlorothienyl)-6-H
analogue was potent and selective at A3AR (MRS7220, Ki 60 nM) and also completely reversed mouse
sciatic nerve mechanoallodynia (in vivo, 3 μmol/kg, po). The
lack of a C6 H-bond donor while maintaining A3AR affinity
and efficacy could be rationalized by homology modeling and docking
of these hypermodified nucleosides. The modeling suggests that a suitable
combination of stabilizing features can partially compensate for the
lack of an exocyclic amine, an otherwise important contributor to
recognition in the A3AR binding site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dilip K Tosh
- Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health , Building 8A, Room B1A-19, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0810, United States
| | - Antonella Ciancetta
- Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health , Building 8A, Room B1A-19, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0810, United States
| | - Eugene Warnick
- Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health , Building 8A, Room B1A-19, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0810, United States
| | - Robert O'Connor
- Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health , Building 8A, Room B1A-19, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0810, United States
| | - Zhoumou Chen
- Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Science, Saint Louis University School of Medicine , St. Louis, Missouri 63104, United States
| | - Elizabeth Gizewski
- Department of Pharmacology, Medical College of Wisconsin , 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, United States
| | - Steven Crane
- Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health , Building 8A, Room B1A-19, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0810, United States
| | - Zhan-Guo Gao
- Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health , Building 8A, Room B1A-19, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0810, United States
| | - John A Auchampach
- Department of Pharmacology, Medical College of Wisconsin , 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, United States
| | - Daniela Salvemini
- Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Science, Saint Louis University School of Medicine , St. Louis, Missouri 63104, United States
| | - Kenneth A Jacobson
- Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health , Building 8A, Room B1A-19, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-0810, United States
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32
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Cheng J, Kozikowski AP. We Need 2C but Not 2B: Developing Serotonin 2C (5-HT2C) Receptor Agonists for the Treatment of CNS Disorders. ChemMedChem 2015; 10:1963-7. [PMID: 26507582 PMCID: PMC4832415 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201500437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2015] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
The serotonin 2C (5-HT2C ) receptor has been identified as a potential drug target for the treatment of a variety of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, such as obesity, substance abuse, and schizophrenia. In this Viewpoint article, recent progress in developing selective 5-HT2C agonists for use in treating these disorders is summarized, including the work of our group. Challenges in this field and the possible future directions are described. Homology modeling as a method to predict the binding modes of 5-HT2C ligands to the receptor is also discussed. Compared to known ligands, the improved pharmacological profiles of the 2-phenylcyclopropylmethylamine-based 5-HT2C agonists make them preferred candidates for further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianjun Cheng
- Drug Discovery Program, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 833 South Wood Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA
| | - Alan P Kozikowski
- Drug Discovery Program, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 833 South Wood Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
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