1
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Smith L, Novak B, Osato M, Mobley DL, Bowman GR. PopShift: A Thermodynamically Sound Approach to Estimate Binding Free Energies by Accounting for Ligand-Induced Population Shifts from a Ligand-Free Markov State Model. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:1036-1050. [PMID: 38291966 PMCID: PMC10867841 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Obtaining accurate binding free energies from in silico screens has been a long-standing goal for the computational chemistry community. However, accuracy and computational cost are at odds with one another, limiting the utility of methods that perform this type of calculation. Many methods achieve massive scale by explicitly or implicitly assuming that the target protein adopts a single structure, or undergoes limited fluctuations around that structure, to minimize computational cost. Others simulate each protein-ligand complex of interest, accepting lower throughput in exchange for better predictions of binding affinities. Here, we present the PopShift framework for accounting for the ensemble of structures a protein adopts and their relative probabilities. Protein degrees of freedom are enumerated once, and then arbitrarily many molecules can be screened against this ensemble. Specifically, we use Markov state models (MSMs) as a compressed representation of a protein's thermodynamic ensemble. We start with a ligand-free MSM and then calculate how addition of a ligand shifts the populations of each protein conformational state based on the strength of the interaction between that protein conformation and the ligand. In this work we use docking to estimate the affinity between a given protein structure and ligand, but any estimator of binding affinities could be used in the PopShift framework. We test PopShift on the classic benchmark pocket T4 Lysozyme L99A. We find that PopShift is more accurate than common strategies, such as docking to a single structure and traditional ensemble docking─producing results that compare favorably with alchemical binding free energy calculations in terms of RMSE but not correlation─and may have a more favorable computational cost profile in some applications. In addition to predicting binding free energies and ligand poses, PopShift also provides insight into how the probability of different protein structures is shifted upon addition of various concentrations of ligand, providing a platform for predicting affinities and allosteric effects of ligand binding. Therefore, we expect PopShift will be valuable for hit finding and for providing insight into phenomena like allostery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louis
G. Smith
- Departments
of Biochemistry & Biophysics and Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
| | - Borna Novak
- Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
- Medical
Scientist Training Program, Washington University
in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United
States
| | - Meghan Osato
- School
of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - David L. Mobley
- School
of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Gregory R. Bowman
- Departments
of Biochemistry & Biophysics and Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
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2
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Khuttan S, Azimi S, Wu JZ, Dick S, Wu C, Xu H, Gallicchio E. Taming multiple binding poses in alchemical binding free energy prediction: the β-cyclodextrin host-guest SAMPL9 blinded challenge. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:24364-24376. [PMID: 37676233 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp02125d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
We apply the Alchemical Transfer Method (ATM) and a bespoke fixed partial charge force field to the SAMPL9 bCD host-guest binding free energy prediction challenge that comprises a combination of complexes formed between five phenothiazine guests and two cyclodextrin hosts. Multiple chemical forms, competing binding poses, and computational modeling challenges pose significant obstacles to obtaining reliable computational predictions for these systems. The phenothiazine guests exist in solution as racemic mixtures of enantiomers related by nitrogen inversions that bind the hosts in various binding poses, each requiring an individual free energy analysis. Due to the large size of the guests and the conformational reorganization of the hosts, which prevent a direct absolute binding free energy route, binding free energies are obtained by a series of absolute and relative binding alchemical steps for each chemical species in each binding pose. Metadynamics-accelerated conformational sampling was found to be necessary to address the poor convergence of some numerical estimates affected by conformational trapping. Despite these challenges, our blinded predictions quantitatively reproduced the experimental affinities for the β-cyclodextrin host and, to a lesser extent, those with a methylated derivative. The work illustrates the challenges of obtaining reliable free energy data in in silico drug design for even seemingly simple systems and introduces some of the technologies available to tackle them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheenam Khuttan
- Department of Chemistry, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, New York, USA.
- PhD Program in Biochemistry, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA
| | - Solmaz Azimi
- Department of Chemistry, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, New York, USA.
- PhD Program in Biochemistry, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA
| | - Joe Z Wu
- Department of Chemistry, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, New York, USA.
- PhD Program in Chemistry, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA
| | | | | | | | - Emilio Gallicchio
- Department of Chemistry, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, New York, USA.
- PhD Program in Biochemistry, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA
- PhD Program in Chemistry, Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA
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3
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Chen W, Cui D, Jerome SV, Michino M, Lenselink EB, Huggins DJ, Beautrait A, Vendome J, Abel R, Friesner RA, Wang L. Enhancing Hit Discovery in Virtual Screening through Absolute Protein-Ligand Binding Free-Energy Calculations. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:3171-3185. [PMID: 37167486 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
In the hit identification stage of drug discovery, a diverse chemical space needs to be explored to identify initial hits. Contrary to empirical scoring functions, absolute protein-ligand binding free-energy perturbation (ABFEP) provides a theoretically more rigorous and accurate description of protein-ligand binding thermodynamics and could, in principle, greatly improve the hit rates in virtual screening. In this work, we describe an implementation of an accurate and reliable ABFEP method in FEP+. We validated the ABFEP method on eight congeneric compound series binding to eight protein receptors including both neutral and charged ligands. For ligands with net charges, the alchemical ion approach is adopted to avoid artifacts in electrostatic potential energy calculations. The calculated binding free energies correlate with experimental results with a weighted average of R2 = 0.55 for the entire dataset. We also observe an overall root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 1.1 kcal/mol after shifting the zero-point of the simulation data to match the average experimental values. Through ABFEP calculations using apo versus holo protein structures, we demonstrated that the protein conformational and protonation state changes between the apo and holo proteins are the main physical factors contributing to the protein reorganization free energy manifested by the overestimation of raw ABFEP calculated binding free energies using the holo structures of the proteins. Furthermore, we performed ABFEP calculations in three virtual screening applications for hit enrichment. ABFEP greatly improves the hit rates as compared to docking scores or other methods like metadynamics. The good performance of ABFEP in rank ordering compounds demonstrated in this work confirms it as a useful tool to improve the hit rates in virtual screening, thus facilitating hit discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Chen
- Schrödinger, Inc., 1540 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Di Cui
- Schrödinger, Inc., 1540 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Steven V Jerome
- Schrödinger, Inc., 10201 Wateridge Circle, Suite 220, San Diego, California 92121, United States
| | - Mayako Michino
- Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute, 413 E. 69th Street, New York, New York 10065, United States
| | | | - David J Huggins
- Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute, 413 E. 69th Street, New York, New York 10065, United States
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York 10065, United States
| | - Alexandre Beautrait
- Schrödinger, Inc., 1540 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Jeremie Vendome
- Schrödinger, Inc., 1540 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Robert Abel
- Schrödinger, Inc., 1540 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, New York 10036, United States
| | - Richard A Friesner
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, United States
| | - Lingle Wang
- Schrödinger, Inc., 1540 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, New York 10036, United States
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4
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Silva AF, Guest EE, Falcone BN, Pickett SD, Rogers DM, Hirst JD. Free energy perturbation calculations of tetrahydroquinolines complexed to the first bromodomain of BRD4. Mol Phys 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/00268976.2022.2124201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ellen E. Guest
- School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | | | - Stephen D. Pickett
- GlaxoSmithKline R&D Pharmaceuticals, Computational Chemistry, Stevenage, UK
| | - David M. Rogers
- School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
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5
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Fu H, Zhou Y, Jing X, Shao X, Cai W. Meta-Analysis Reveals That Absolute Binding Free-Energy Calculations Approach Chemical Accuracy. J Med Chem 2022; 65:12970-12978. [PMID: 36179112 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Systematic and quantitative analysis of the reliability of formally exact methods that in silico calculate absolute protein-ligand binding free energies remains lacking. Here, we provide, for the first time, evidence-based information on the reliability of these methods by statistically studying 853 cases from 34 different research groups through meta-analysis. The results show that formally exact methods approach chemical accuracy (error = 1.58 kcal/mol), even if people are challenging difficult tasks such as blind drug screening in recent years. The geometrical-pathway-based methods prove to possess a better convergence ability than the alchemical ones, while the latter have a larger application range. We also reveal the importance of always using the latest force fields to guarantee reliability and discuss the pros and cons of turning to an implicit solvent model in absolute binding free-energy calculations. Moreover, based on the meta-analysis, an evidence-based guideline for in silico binding free-energy calculations is provided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haohao Fu
- Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Nankai University, Tianjin300071, China.,Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin300192, China
| | - Yan Zhou
- School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin300071, China.,Department of Ultrasound, Tianjin Third Central Hospital, Tianjin300170, China
| | - Xiang Jing
- Department of Ultrasound, Tianjin Third Central Hospital, Tianjin300170, China
| | - Xueguang Shao
- Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Nankai University, Tianjin300071, China.,Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin300192, China
| | - Wensheng Cai
- Research Center for Analytical Sciences, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biosensing and Molecular Recognition, State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Nankai University, Tianjin300071, China.,Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin300192, China
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6
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Patel LA, Chau P, Debesai S, Darwin L, Neale C. Drug Discovery by Automated Adaptation of Chemical Structure and Identity. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:5006-5024. [PMID: 35834740 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c01271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Computer-aided drug design offers the potential to dramatically reduce the cost and effort required for drug discovery. While screening-based methods are valuable in the early stages of hit identification, they are frequently succeeded by iterative, hypothesis-driven computations that require recurrent investment of human time and intuition. To increase automation, we introduce a computational method for lead refinement that combines concerted dynamics of the ligand/protein complex via molecular dynamics simulations with integrated Monte Carlo-based changes in the chemical formula of the ligand. This approach, which we refer to as ligand-exchange Monte Carlo molecular dynamics, accounts for solvent- and entropy-based contributions to competitive binding free energies by coupling the energetics of bound and unbound states during the ligand-exchange attempt. Quantitative comparison of relative binding free energies to reference values from free energy perturbation, conducted in vacuum, indicates that ligand-exchange Monte Carlo molecular dynamics simulations sample relevant conformational ensembles and are capable of identifying strongly binding compounds. Additional simulations demonstrate the use of an implicit solvent model. We speculate that the use of chemical graphs in which exchanges are only permitted between ligands with sufficient similarity may enable an automated search to capture some of the benefits provided by human intuition during hypothesis-guided lead refinement.
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7
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Huggins DJ. Comparing the Performance of Different AMBER Protein Forcefields, Partial Charge Assignments, and Water Models for Absolute Binding Free Energy Calculations. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:2616-2630. [PMID: 35266690 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c01208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Identifying chemical starting points is a vital first step in small molecule drug discovery and can take significant time and money. For this reason, computational approaches to virtual screening are of great interest as they can lower the cost and shorten timeframes. However, simple approaches such as molecular docking and pharmacophore screening are of limited accuracy and provide a low probability of success. Alchemical binding free energies represent a promising approach for virtual screening as they naturally incorporate the key effects of water molecules, protein flexibility, and binding entropy. However, the calculations are technically very challenging, with performance depending on the specific forcefield used. For this reason, it is important that the community has access to benchmark test sets to assess prediction accuracy. In this paper, we present an approach to alchemical binding free energies using OpenMM. We identify effective simulation parameters using an existing BRD4(1) test set and present two new benchmark sets (cMET and PDE2A) that can be used in the community for validation purposes. Our findings also highlight the effectiveness of some AMBER forcefields, in particular, AMBER ff15ipq.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Huggins
- Tri-Institutional Therapeutics Discovery Institute, New York, New York 10021, United States.,Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York 10065, United States
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8
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Farrokhzadeh A, Akher FB, Egan TJ. Molecular Mechanism Exploration of Potent Fluorinated PI3K Inhibitors with a Triazine Scaffold: Unveiling the Unusual Synergistic Effect of Pyridine-to-Pyrimidine Ring Interconversion and CF 3 Defluorination. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:10072-10084. [PMID: 34473499 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c03242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The phosphatidylinostitol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway is a vital regulator of cell proliferation, growth, and survival, which is frequently overactivated in many human cancers. To this effect, PI3K, which is an important mediator of this pathway, has been pinpointed as a crucial target in cancer therapy and hence the importance of PI3K inhibitors. It was recently reported that defluorination and pyridine-to-pyrimidine ring interconversion increase the potency of specific small-molecule inhibitors of PI3K. Compound 4, an inhibitor with the difluorinated pyrimidine motif, was found to be eight times more potent against PI3K than compound 1, an inhibitor with the trifluorinated pyridine motif. This observation presents the need to rationally resolve the differential inhibitory mechanisms exhibited by both compounds. In this present work, we employed multiple computational approaches to investigate and distinguish the binding modes of 1 and 4 in addition to the effects they mediate on the secondary structure of PI3K. Likewise, we evaluated two other derivatives, compounds 2 with the difluorinated pyridine motif and 3 with the trifluorinated pyrimidine motif, to investigate the cooperativity effect between the defluorination of CF3 and pyridine-to-pyrimidine ring interconversion. Findings revealed that PI3K, upon interaction with 4, exhibited a series of structural changes that favored the binding of the inhibitor at the active-site region. Furthermore, a positive (synergistic) cooperativity effect was observed between CF3 defluorination and pyridine-to-pyrimidine ring interconversion. Moreover, there was a good correlation between the binding free energy estimated and the biological activity reported experimentally. Energy decomposition analysis revealed that the major contributing force to binding affinity variations between 1 and 4 is the electrostatic energy. Per-residue energy-based hierarchical clustering analysis further identified four hot-spot residues ASP841, TYR867, ASP964, and LYS833 and four warm-spot residues ASP836, SER806, ASP837, and LYS808, which essentially mediate the optimal and higher-affinity binding of compound 4 to PI3K relative to 1. This study therefore provides rational insights into the mechanisms by which 4 exhibited superior PI3K-inhibitory activities over 1, which is vital for future structure-based drug discovery efforts in PI3K targeting.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Farideh Badichi Akher
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701 Cape Town, South Africa.,Department of Computer Science, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701 Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Timothy J Egan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701 Cape Town, South Africa
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9
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Ibrahim E, Mahmoud A, Jones KD, Taylor KE, Hosseney EN, Mills PL, Escudero JM. Kinetics and thermodynamics of thermal inactivation for recombinant Escherichia coli cellulases, cel12B, cel8C, and polygalacturonase, peh28; biocatalysts for biofuel precursor production. J Biochem 2021; 169:109-117. [PMID: 32810224 DOI: 10.1093/jb/mvaa097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Lignocellulosic biomass conversion using cellulases/polygalacturonases is a process that can be progressively influenced by several determinants involved in cellulose microfibril degradation. This article focuses on the kinetics and thermodynamics of thermal inactivation of recombinant Escherichia coli cellulases, cel12B, cel8C and a polygalacturonase, peh 28, derived from Pectobacterium carotovorum sub sp. carotovorum. Several consensus motifs conferring the enzymes' thermal stability in both cel12B and peh28 model structures have been detailed earlier, which were confirmed for the three enzymes through the current study of their thermal inactivation profiles over the 20-80°C range using the respective activities on carboxymethylcellulose and polygalacturonic acid. Kinetic constants and half-lives of thermal inactivation, inactivation energy, plus inactivation entropies, enthalpies and Gibbs free energies, revealed high stability, less conformational change and protein unfolding for cel12B and peh28 due to thermal denaturation compared to cel8C. The apparent thermal stability of peh28 and cel12B, along with their hydrolytic efficiency on a lignocellulosic biomass conversion as reported previously, makes these enzymes candidates for various industrial applications. Analysis of the Gibbs free energy values suggests that the thermal stabilities of cel12B and peh28 are entropy-controlled over the tested temperature range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eman Ibrahim
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA.,Department of Botany and Microbiology, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo 11884, Egypt
| | - Ahmed Mahmoud
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA
| | - Kim D Jones
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA
| | - Keith E Taylor
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada
| | - Ebtesam N Hosseney
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo 11884, Egypt
| | - Patrick L Mills
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA
| | - Jean M Escudero
- Department of Basic Sciences, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, St. Louis, MO 63110-1088, USA
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10
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Qureshi S, Khandelwal R, Madhavi M, Khurana N, Gupta N, Choudhary SK, Suresh RA, Hazarika L, Srija CD, Sharma K, Hindala MR, Hussain T, Nayarisseri A, Singh SK. A Multi-target Drug Designing for BTK, MMP9, Proteasome and TAK1 for the Clinical Treatment of Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Curr Top Med Chem 2021; 21:790-818. [PMID: 33463471 DOI: 10.2174/1568026621666210119112336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma characterized by the mutation and overexpression of the cyclin D1 protein by the reciprocal chromosomal translocation t(11;14)(q13:q32). AIM The present study aims to identify potential inhibition of MMP9, Proteasome, BTK, and TAK1 and determine the most suitable and effective protein target for the MCL. METHODOLOGY Nine known inhibitors for MMP9, 24 for proteasome, 15 for BTK and 14 for TAK1 were screened. SB-3CT (PubChem ID: 9883002), oprozomib (PubChem ID: 25067547), zanubrutinib (PubChem ID: 135565884) and TAK1 inhibitor (PubChem ID: 66760355) were recognized as drugs with high binding capacity with their respective protein receptors. 41, 72, 102 and 3 virtual screened compounds were obtained after the similarity search with compound (PubChem ID:102173753), PubChem compound SCHEMBL15569297 (PubChem ID:72374403), PubChem compound SCHEMBL17075298 (PubChem ID:136970120) and compound CID: 71814473 with best virtual screened compounds. RESULT MMP9 inhibitors show commendable affinity and good interaction profile of compound holding PubChem ID:102173753 over the most effective established inhibitor SB-3CT. The pharmacophore study of the best virtual screened compound reveals its high efficacy based on various interactions. The virtual screened compound's better affinity with the target MMP9 protein was deduced using toxicity and integration profile studies. CONCLUSION Based on the ADMET profile, the compound (PubChem ID: 102173753) could be a potent drug for MCL treatment. Similar to the established SB-3CT, the compound was non-toxic with LD50 values for both the compounds lying in the same range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahrukh Qureshi
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Ravina Khandelwal
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Maddala Madhavi
- Department of Zoology, Nizam College, Osmania University, Hyderabad - 500001, Telangana State, India
| | - Naveesha Khurana
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Neha Gupta
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Saurav K Choudhary
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Revathy A Suresh
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Lima Hazarika
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Chillamcherla D Srija
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Khushboo Sharma
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Mali R Hindala
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Tajamul Hussain
- Center of Excellence in Biotechnology Research, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Anuraj Nayarisseri
- In silico Research Laboratory, Eminent Biosciences, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Indore - 452010, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Sanjeev K Singh
- Computer Aided Drug Designing and Molecular Modeling Lab, Department of Bioinformatics, Alagappa University, Karaikudi-630 003, Tamil Nadu, India
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11
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Lee TS, Allen BK, Giese TJ, Guo Z, Li P, Lin C, McGee TD, Pearlman DA, Radak BK, Tao Y, Tsai HC, Xu H, Sherman W, York DM. Alchemical Binding Free Energy Calculations in AMBER20: Advances and Best Practices for Drug Discovery. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:5595-5623. [PMID: 32936637 PMCID: PMC7686026 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 148] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Predicting protein-ligand binding affinities and the associated thermodynamics of biomolecular recognition is a primary objective of structure-based drug design. Alchemical free energy simulations offer a highly accurate and computationally efficient route to achieving this goal. While the AMBER molecular dynamics package has successfully been used for alchemical free energy simulations in academic research groups for decades, widespread impact in industrial drug discovery settings has been minimal because of the previous limitations within the AMBER alchemical code, coupled with challenges in system setup and postprocessing workflows. Through a close academia-industry collaboration we have addressed many of the previous limitations with an aim to improve accuracy, efficiency, and robustness of alchemical binding free energy simulations in industrial drug discovery applications. Here, we highlight some of the recent advances in AMBER20 with a focus on alchemical binding free energy (BFE) calculations, which are less computationally intensive than alternative binding free energy methods where full binding/unbinding paths are explored. In addition to scientific and technical advances in AMBER20, we also describe the essential practical aspects associated with running relative alchemical BFE calculations, along with recommendations for best practices, highlighting the importance not only of the alchemical simulation code but also the auxiliary functionalities and expertise required to obtain accurate and reliable results. This work is intended to provide a contemporary overview of the scientific, technical, and practical issues associated with running relative BFE simulations in AMBER20, with a focus on real-world drug discovery applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tai-Sung Lee
- Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, United States
| | - Bryce K. Allen
- Silicon Therapeutics, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - Timothy J. Giese
- Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, United States
| | - Zhenyu Guo
- Silicon Therapeutics, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - Pengfei Li
- Silicon Therapeutics, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - Charles Lin
- Silicon Therapeutics, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - T. Dwight McGee
- Silicon Therapeutics, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - David A. Pearlman
- QSimulate Incorporated, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Brian K. Radak
- Silicon Therapeutics, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - Yujun Tao
- Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, United States
| | - Hsu-Chun Tsai
- Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, United States
| | - Huafeng Xu
- Silicon Therapeutics, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - Woody Sherman
- Silicon Therapeutics, Boston, Massachusetts 02210, United States
| | - Darrin M. York
- Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Laboratory for Biomolecular Simulation Research, and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, United States
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12
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Wang E, Liu H, Wang J, Weng G, Sun H, Wang Z, Kang Y, Hou T. Development and Evaluation of MM/GBSA Based on a Variable Dielectric GB Model for Predicting Protein–Ligand Binding Affinities. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:5353-5365. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ercheng Wang
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Hui Liu
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Junmei Wang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Computational Chemical Genomics Screening Center, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
| | - Gaoqi Weng
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Huiyong Sun
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Zhe Wang
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Yu Kang
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Tingjun Hou
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou Zhejiang 310058, China
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13
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Ashida T, Kikuchi T. A new method for estimating the relative binding free energy, derived from a free energy variational principle for the Pim-1-kinase-ligand and FKBP-ligand systems. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2020; 34:647-658. [PMID: 32107701 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-020-00302-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 02/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
In this study, a new method is proposed for calculating the relative binding free energy between a ligand and a protein, derived from a free energy variational principle (FEVP). To address the shortcomings of the method used in our previous study, we incorporate the dynamical fluctuation of a ligand in the FEVP calculation. The present modified method is applied to the Pim-1-kinase-ligand system and also to the FKBP-ligand system as a comparison with our previous work. Any inhibitor of Pim-1 kinase is expected to function as an anti-cancer drug. Some improvements are observed in the results compared to the previous study. The present work also shows comparable or better results than approaches using a standard technique of binding free energy calculations, such as the LIE and the MM-PB/SA methods. The possibility of applying the present method in the drug discovery process is also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takeshi Ashida
- Department of Bioinformatics, College of Life Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan
| | - Takeshi Kikuchi
- Department of Bioinformatics, College of Life Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan.
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14
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Higo J, Kasahara K, Wada M, Dasgupta B, Kamiya N, Hayami T, Fukuda I, Fukunishi Y, Nakamura H. Free-energy landscape of molecular interactions between endothelin 1 and human endothelin type B receptor: fly-casting mechanism. Protein Eng Des Sel 2019; 32:297-308. [PMID: 31608410 PMCID: PMC7052515 DOI: 10.1093/protein/gzz029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Revised: 06/28/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The free-energy landscape of interaction between a medium-sized peptide, endothelin 1 (ET1), and its receptor, human endothelin type B receptor (hETB), was computed using multidimensional virtual-system coupled molecular dynamics, which controls the system's motions by introducing multiple reaction coordinates. The hETB embedded in lipid bilayer was immersed in explicit solvent. All molecules were expressed as all-atom models. The resultant free-energy landscape had five ranges with decreasing ET1-hETB distance: completely dissociative, outside-gate, gate, binding pocket, and genuine-bound ranges. In the completely dissociative range, no ET1-hETB interaction appeared. In the outside-gate range, an ET1-hETB attractive interaction was the fly-casting mechanism. In the gate range, the ET1 orientational variety decreased rapidly. In the binding pocket range, ET1 was in a narrow pathway with a steep free-energy slope. In the genuine-bound range, ET1 was in a stable free-energy basin. A G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) might capture its ligand from a distant place.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junichi Higo
- Graduate School of Simulation Studies, University of Hyogo, 7-1-28 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamada-oka, Osaka, Suita 565-0871, Japan
| | - Kota Kasahara
- College of Life Sciences, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Noji-higashi, Shiga, Kusatsu 525-8577, Japan
| | - Mitsuhito Wada
- Technology Research Association for Next Generation Natural Products Chemistry, 2-3-26, Aomi, Tokyo, Koto-ku 135-0064, Japan
| | - Bhaskar Dasgupta
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamada-oka, Osaka, Suita 565-0871, Japan
| | - Narutoshi Kamiya
- Graduate School of Simulation Studies, University of Hyogo, 7-1-28 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamada-oka, Osaka, Suita 565-0871, Japan
| | - Tomonori Hayami
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamada-oka, Osaka, Suita 565-0871, Japan
| | - Ikuo Fukuda
- Graduate School of Simulation Studies, University of Hyogo, 7-1-28 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan
| | - Yoshifumi Fukunishi
- Molecular Profiling Research Center for Drug Discovery (molprof), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2-3-26, Aomi, Tokyo, Koto-ku 135-0064, Japan
| | - Haruki Nakamura
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, 3-2 Yamada-oka, Osaka, Suita 565-0871, Japan
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15
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Wang E, Sun H, Wang J, Wang Z, Liu H, Zhang JZH, Hou T. End-Point Binding Free Energy Calculation with MM/PBSA and MM/GBSA: Strategies and Applications in Drug Design. Chem Rev 2019; 119:9478-9508. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 578] [Impact Index Per Article: 115.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ercheng Wang
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Huiyong Sun
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Junmei Wang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261, United States
| | - Zhe Wang
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - Hui Liu
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
| | - John Z. H. Zhang
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics & New Drug Development, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry & Chemical Process, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
- NYU−ECNU Center for Computational Chemistry, NYU Shanghai, Shanghai 200122, China
- Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, New York 10003, United States
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
| | - Tingjun Hou
- Hangzhou Institute of Innovative Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China
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16
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Scherer MK, Husic BE, Hoffmann M, Paul F, Wu H, Noé F. Variational selection of features for molecular kinetics. J Chem Phys 2019; 150:194108. [PMID: 31117766 DOI: 10.1063/1.5083040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The modeling of atomistic biomolecular simulations using kinetic models such as Markov state models (MSMs) has had many notable algorithmic advances in recent years. The variational principle has opened the door for a nearly fully automated toolkit for selecting models that predict the long time-scale kinetics from molecular dynamics simulations. However, one yet-unoptimized step of the pipeline involves choosing the features, or collective variables, from which the model should be constructed. In order to build intuitive models, these collective variables are often sought to be interpretable and familiar features, such as torsional angles or contact distances in a protein structure. However, previous approaches for evaluating the chosen features rely on constructing a full MSM, which in turn requires additional hyperparameters to be chosen, and hence leads to a computationally expensive framework. Here, we present a method to optimize the feature choice directly, without requiring the construction of the final kinetic model. We demonstrate our rigorous preprocessing algorithm on a canonical set of 12 fast-folding protein simulations and show that our procedure leads to more efficient model selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin K Scherer
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Brooke E Husic
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Moritz Hoffmann
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Fabian Paul
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Hao Wu
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, People's Republic of China
| | - Frank Noé
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
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17
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Xia J, Flynn W, Gallicchio E, Uplinger K, Armstrong JD, Forli S, Olson AJ, Levy RM. Massive-Scale Binding Free Energy Simulations of HIV Integrase Complexes Using Asynchronous Replica Exchange Framework Implemented on the IBM WCG Distributed Network. J Chem Inf Model 2019; 59:1382-1397. [PMID: 30758197 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.8b00817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
To perform massive-scale replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations for calculating binding free energies of protein-ligand complexes, we implemented the asynchronous replica exchange (AsyncRE) framework of the binding energy distribution analysis method (BEDAM) in implicit solvent on the IBM World Community Grid (WCG) and optimized the simulation parameters to reduce the overhead and improve the prediction power of the WCG AsyncRE simulations. We also performed the first massive-scale binding free energy calculations using the WCG distributed computing grid and 301 ligands from the SAMPL4 challenge for large-scale binding free energy predictions of HIV-1 integrase complexes. In total there are ∼10000 simulated complexes, ∼1 million replicas, and ∼2000 μs of aggregated MD simulations. Running AsyncRE MD simulations on the WCG requires accepting a trade-off between the number of replicas that can be run (breadth) and the number of full RE cycles that can be completed per replica (depth). As compared with synchronous Replica Exchange (SyncRE) running on tightly coupled clusters like XSEDE, on the WCG many more replicas can be launched simultaneously on heterogeneous distributed hardware, but each full RE cycle requires more overhead. We compared the WCG results with that from AutoDock and more advanced RE simulations including the use of flattening potentials to accelerate sampling of selected degrees of freedom of ligands and/or receptors related to slow dynamics due to high energy barriers. We propose a suitable strategy of RE simulations to refine high throughput docking results which can be matched to corresponding computing resources: from HPC clusters, to small or medium-size distributed campus grids, and finally to massive-scale computing networks including millions of CPUs like the resources available on the WCG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junchao Xia
- Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology and Department of Physics , Temple University , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 19122 , United States
| | - William Flynn
- Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology and Department of Chemistry , Temple University , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 19122 , United States
| | - Emilio Gallicchio
- Department of Chemistry , CUNY Brooklyn College , Brooklyn , New York 11210 , United States
| | - Keith Uplinger
- IBM WCG Team, 1177 South Belt Line Road , Coppell , Texas 75019 , United States
| | - Jonathan D Armstrong
- IBM WCG Team, 11400 Burnet Road , 0453B129, Austin , Texas 78758 , United States
| | - Stefano Forli
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology , The Scripps Research Institute , La Jolla , California 92037-1000 , United States
| | - Arthur J Olson
- Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology , The Scripps Research Institute , La Jolla , California 92037-1000 , United States
| | - Ronald M Levy
- Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology and Department of Chemistry , Temple University , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania 19122 , United States
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18
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Santos LH, Waldner BJ, Fuchs JE, Pereira GAN, Liedl KR, Caffarena ER, Ferreira RS. Understanding Structure–Activity Relationships for Trypanosomal Cysteine Protease Inhibitors by Simulations and Free Energy Calculations. J Chem Inf Model 2018; 59:137-148. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.8b00557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lucianna H. Santos
- Grupo de Biofísica Computacional e Modelagem Molecular, Programa de Computação Científica (PROCC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21040-360, Brazil
- Laboratório de Modelagem Molecular e Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brazil
| | - Birgit J. Waldner
- Institute of General, Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry, and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), University of Innsbruck, Innrain 82, Innsbruck, Tyrol 6020, Austria
| | - Julian E. Fuchs
- Institute of General, Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry, and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), University of Innsbruck, Innrain 82, Innsbruck, Tyrol 6020, Austria
| | - Glaécia A. N. Pereira
- Laboratório de Modelagem Molecular e Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brazil
- CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, DF Brazil
| | - Klaus R. Liedl
- Institute of General, Inorganic and Theoretical Chemistry, and Center for Molecular Biosciences Innsbruck (CMBI), University of Innsbruck, Innrain 82, Innsbruck, Tyrol 6020, Austria
| | - Ernesto R. Caffarena
- Grupo de Biofísica Computacional e Modelagem Molecular, Programa de Computação Científica (PROCC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21040-360, Brazil
| | - Rafaela S. Ferreira
- Laboratório de Modelagem Molecular e Planejamento de Fármacos, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brazil
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19
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Gill SC, Lim NM, Grinaway PB, Rustenburg AS, Fass J, Ross GA, Chodera JD, Mobley DL. Binding Modes of Ligands Using Enhanced Sampling (BLUES): Rapid Decorrelation of Ligand Binding Modes via Nonequilibrium Candidate Monte Carlo. J Phys Chem B 2018; 122:5579-5598. [PMID: 29486559 PMCID: PMC5980761 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b11820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Accurately predicting protein-ligand binding affinities and binding modes is a major goal in computational chemistry, but even the prediction of ligand binding modes in proteins poses major challenges. Here, we focus on solving the binding mode prediction problem for rigid fragments. That is, we focus on computing the dominant placement, conformation, and orientations of a relatively rigid, fragment-like ligand in a receptor, and the populations of the multiple binding modes which may be relevant. This problem is important in its own right, but is even more timely given the recent success of alchemical free energy calculations. Alchemical calculations are increasingly used to predict binding free energies of ligands to receptors. However, the accuracy of these calculations is dependent on proper sampling of the relevant ligand binding modes. Unfortunately, ligand binding modes may often be uncertain, hard to predict, and/or slow to interconvert on simulation time scales, so proper sampling with current techniques can require prohibitively long simulations. We need new methods which dramatically improve sampling of ligand binding modes. Here, we develop and apply a nonequilibrium candidate Monte Carlo (NCMC) method to improve sampling of ligand binding modes. In this technique, the ligand is rotated and subsequently allowed to relax in its new position through alchemical perturbation before accepting or rejecting the rotation and relaxation as a nonequilibrium Monte Carlo move. When applied to a T4 lysozyme model binding system, this NCMC method shows over 2 orders of magnitude improvement in binding mode sampling efficiency compared to a brute force molecular dynamics simulation. This is a first step toward applying this methodology to pharmaceutically relevant binding of fragments and, eventually, drug-like molecules. We are making this approach available via our new Binding modes of ligands using enhanced sampling (BLUES) package which is freely available on GitHub.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel C. Gill
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
| | - Nathan M. Lim
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine
| | - Patrick B. Grinaway
- Graduate Program in Physiology, Biophysics, and Systems Biology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065
| | - Ariën S. Rustenburg
- Graduate Program in Physiology, Biophysics, and Systems Biology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065
| | - Josh Fass
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065
- Tri-Institutional PhD Program in Computational Biology and Medicine, New York, NY 10065
| | - Gregory A. Ross
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065
| | | | - David L. Mobley
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine
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20
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Solomentsev G, Diehl C, Akke M. Conformational Entropy of FK506 Binding to FKBP12 Determined by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxation and Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Biochemistry 2018; 57:1451-1461. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.7b01256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gleb Solomentsev
- Biophysical Chemistry, Center for Molecular Protein Science, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
| | - Carl Diehl
- Biophysical Chemistry, Center for Molecular Protein Science, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
| | - Mikael Akke
- Biophysical Chemistry, Center for Molecular Protein Science, Lund University, P.O. Box 124, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
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21
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Binding affinity of the L-742,001 inhibitor to the endonuclease domain of A/H1N1/PA influenza virus variants: Molecular simulation approaches. Chem Phys 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphys.2017.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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22
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Giovannelli E, Procacci P, Cardini G, Pagliai M, Volkov V, Chelli R. Binding Free Energies of Host–Guest Systems by Nonequilibrium Alchemical Simulations with Constrained Dynamics: Theoretical Framework. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 13:5874-5886. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Edoardo Giovannelli
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Piero Procacci
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Gianni Cardini
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Marco Pagliai
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Victor Volkov
- Interdisciplinary
Biomedical Research Center, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Lane, Nottingham NG11 8NS, U.K
| | - Riccardo Chelli
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
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23
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Giovannelli E, Cioni M, Procacci P, Cardini G, Pagliai M, Volkov V, Chelli R. Binding Free Energies of Host–Guest Systems by Nonequilibrium Alchemical Simulations with Constrained Dynamics: Illustrative Calculations and Numerical Validation. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 13:5887-5899. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Edoardo Giovannelli
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Matteo Cioni
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Piero Procacci
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Gianni Cardini
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Marco Pagliai
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Victor Volkov
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Università di Firenze, Via della Lastruccia 3, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Riccardo Chelli
- Interdisciplinary
Biomedical Research Center, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Lane, Nottingham NG11 8NS, U.K
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24
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Williams-Noonan BJ, Yuriev E, Chalmers DK. Free Energy Methods in Drug Design: Prospects of “Alchemical Perturbation” in Medicinal Chemistry. J Med Chem 2017; 61:638-649. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b00681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Billy J. Williams-Noonan
- Medicinal Chemistry, Monash
Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal
Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Elizabeth Yuriev
- Medicinal Chemistry, Monash
Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal
Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - David K. Chalmers
- Medicinal Chemistry, Monash
Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal
Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
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25
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Ligand binding to telomeric G-quadruplex DNA investigated by funnel-metadynamics simulations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:E2136-E2145. [PMID: 28232513 PMCID: PMC5358390 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1612627114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
A thorough characterization of the binding interaction between a drug and its molecular target is fundamental to successfully lead drug design. We demonstrate that this characterization is also possible using the recently developed method of funnel-metadynamics (FM), here applied to investigate the binding of berberine to DNA G-quadruplex. We computed a quantitatively well-characterized free-energy landscape that allows identifying two low-energy ligand binding modes and the presence of higher energy prebinding states. We validated the accuracy of our calculations by steady-state fluorescence experiments. The good agreement between the theoretical and experimental binding free-energy value demonstrates that FM is a most reliable method to study ligand/DNA interaction. G-quadruplexes (G4s) are higher-order DNA structures typically present at promoter regions of genes and telomeres. Here, the G4 formation decreases the replicative DNA at each cell cycle, finally leading to apoptosis. The ability to control this mitotic clock, particularly in cancer cells, is fascinating and passes through a rational understanding of the ligand/G4 interaction. We demonstrate that an accurate description of the ligand/G4 binding mechanism is possible using an innovative free-energy method called funnel-metadynamics (FM), which we have recently developed to investigate ligand/protein interaction. Using FM simulations, we have elucidated the binding mechanism of the anticancer alkaloid berberine to the human telomeric G4 (d[AG3(T2AG3)3]), computing also the binding free-energy landscape. Two ligand binding modes have been identified as the lowest energy states. Furthermore, we have found prebinding sites, which are preparatory to reach the final binding mode. In our simulations, the ions and the water molecules have been explicitly represented and the energetic contribution of the solvent during ligand binding evaluated. Our theoretical results provide an accurate estimate of the absolute ligand/DNA binding free energy (ΔGb0 = −10.3 ± 0.5 kcal/mol) that we validated through steady-state fluorescence binding assays. The good agreement between the theoretical and experimental value demonstrates that FM is a most powerful method to investigate ligand/DNA interaction and can be a useful tool for the rational design also of G4 ligands.
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26
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Ngo ST, Hung HM, Tran KN, Nguyen MT. Replica exchange molecular dynamics study of the amyloid beta (11–40) trimer penetrating a membrane. RSC Adv 2017. [DOI: 10.1039/c6ra26461a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The transmembrane Aβ11–40 trimer is investigated for the first time using REMD and FEP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Son Tung Ngo
- Computational Chemistry Research Group
- Ton Duc Thang University
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Vietnam
- Faculty of Applied Sciences
| | | | - Khoa Nhat Tran
- Department of Biological Sciences
- University of Maryland Baltimore County
- 21250 Baltimore
- USA
| | - Minh Tho Nguyen
- Computational Chemistry Research Group
- Ton Duc Thang University
- Ho Chi Minh City
- Vietnam
- Faculty of Applied Sciences
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27
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Alchemical determination of drug-receptor binding free energy: Where we stand and where we could move to. J Mol Graph Model 2017; 71:233-241. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2016.11.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2016] [Revised: 11/24/2016] [Accepted: 11/29/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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28
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Ngo ST, Fang ST, Huang SH, Chou CL, Huy PDQ, Li MS, Chen YC. Anti-arrhythmic Medication Propafenone a Potential Drug for Alzheimer's Disease Inhibiting Aggregation of Aβ: In Silico and in Vitro Studies. J Chem Inf Model 2016; 56:1344-56. [PMID: 27304669 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.6b00029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia caused by the formation of Aβ aggregates. So far, no effective medicine for the treatment of AD is available. Many efforts have been made to find effective medicine to cope with AD. Curcumin is a drug candidate for AD, being a potent anti-amyloidogenic compound, but the results of clinical trials for it were either negative or inclusive. In the present study, we took advantages from accumulated knowledge about curcumin and have screened out four compounds that have chemical and structural similarity with curcumin more than 80% from all FDA-approved oral drugs. Using all-atom molecular dynamics simulation and the free energy perturbation method we showed that among predicted compounds anti-arrhythmic medication propafenone shows the best anti-amyloidogenic activity. The in vitro experiment further revealed that it can inhibit Aβ aggregation and protect cells against Aβ induced cytotoxicity to almost the same extent as curcumin. Our results suggest that propafenone may be a potent drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Son Tung Ngo
- Institute for Computational Science and Technology , Quang Trung Software City, Tan Chanh Hiep Ward, District 12, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.,Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences , Al. Lotnikow 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland
| | | | | | - Chao-Liang Chou
- Department of Neurology, Mackay Memorial Hospital , New Taipei City, 252 Taiwan
| | - Pham Dinh Quoc Huy
- Institute for Computational Science and Technology , Quang Trung Software City, Tan Chanh Hiep Ward, District 12, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.,Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences , Al. Lotnikow 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Mai Suan Li
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences , Al. Lotnikow 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland
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29
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Procacci P. I. Dissociation free energies of drug–receptor systems via non-equilibrium alchemical simulations: a theoretical framework. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2016; 18:14991-5004. [DOI: 10.1039/c5cp05519a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
In this contribution I critically discuss the alchemical approach for evaluating binding free energies in drug–receptor systems, placing this methodology into the broader context of non-equilibrium thermodynamics.
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30
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Wang Q, Edupuganti R, Tavares CDJ, Dalby KN, Ren P. Using docking and alchemical free energy approach to determine the binding mechanism of eEF2K inhibitors and prioritizing the compound synthesis. Front Mol Biosci 2015; 2:9. [PMID: 25988177 PMCID: PMC4429643 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2015.00009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2015] [Accepted: 03/03/2015] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
A-484954 is a known eEF2K inhibitor with submicromolar IC50 potency. However, the binding mechanism and the crystal structure of the kinase remains unknown. Here, we employ a homology eEF2K model, docking and alchemical free energy simulations to probe the binding mechanism of eEF2K, and in turn, guide the optimization of potential lead compounds. The inhibitor was docked into the ATP-binding site of a homology model first. Three different binding poses, hypothesis 1, 2, and 3, were obtained and subsequently applied to molecular dynamics (MD) based alchemical free energy simulations. The calculated relative binding free energy of the analogs of A-484954 using the binding pose of hypothesis 1 show a good correlation with the experimental IC50 values, yielding an r2 coefficient of 0.96 after removing an outlier (compound 5). Calculations using another two poses show little correlation with experimental data, (r2 of less than 0.5 with or without removing any outliers). Based on hypothesis 1, the calculated relative free energy suggests that bigger cyclic groups, at R1 e.g., cyclobutyl and cyclopentyl promote more favorable binding than smaller groups, such as cyclopropyl and hydrogen. Moreover, this study also demonstrates the ability of the alchemical free energy approach in combination with docking and homology modeling to prioritize compound synthesis. This can be an effective means of facilitating structure-based drug design when crystal structures are not available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiantao Wang
- Division of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA ; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA
| | - Ramakrishna Edupuganti
- Division of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA
| | - Clint D J Tavares
- Graduate Program in Cell and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA
| | - Kevin N Dalby
- Division of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA ; Graduate Program in Cell and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA
| | - Pengyu Ren
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA
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31
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Ngo ST, Mai BK, Hiep DM, Li MS. Estimation of the Binding Free Energy of AC1NX476 to HIV-1 Protease Wild Type and Mutations Using Free Energy Perturbation Method. Chem Biol Drug Des 2015; 86:546-58. [DOI: 10.1111/cbdd.12518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2014] [Revised: 12/16/2014] [Accepted: 01/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Son Tung Ngo
- Institute for Computational Science and Technology; Quang Trung Software City; Tan Chanh Hiep Ward, District 12 Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences; Al. Lotnikow 32/46 02-668 Warsaw Poland
| | - Binh Khanh Mai
- Department of Applied Chemistry; College of Applied Sciences; Kyung Hee University; Yongin 446-701 Korea
| | - Dinh Minh Hiep
- Department of Sciences and Technology; 244 Dien Bien Phu Street , Ward 7, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
| | - Mai Suan Li
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences; Al. Lotnikow 32/46 02-668 Warsaw Poland
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32
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Sandberg RB, Banchelli M, Guardiani C, Menichetti S, Caminati G, Procacci P. Efficient Nonequilibrium Method for Binding Free Energy Calculations in Molecular Dynamics Simulations. J Chem Theory Comput 2015; 11:423-35. [DOI: 10.1021/ct500964e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Robert B. Sandberg
- Department
of Chemistry, State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13902, United States
| | | | - Carlo Guardiani
- Department
of Physics, University of Cagliari, 09124 Cagliari, Italy
- IOM Institute, CNR, 09042 Cagliari, Italy
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33
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Site Identification by Ligand Competitive Saturation (SILCS) simulations for fragment-based drug design. Methods Mol Biol 2015; 1289:75-87. [PMID: 25709034 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2486-8_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Fragment-based drug design (FBDD) involves screening low molecular weight molecules ("fragments") that correspond to functional groups found in larger drug-like molecules to determine their binding to target proteins or nucleic acids. Based on the principle of thermodynamic additivity, two fragments that bind nonoverlapping nearby sites on the target can be combined to yield a new molecule whose binding free energy is the sum of those of the fragments. Experimental FBDD approaches, like NMR and X-ray crystallography, have proven very useful but can be expensive in terms of time, materials, and labor. Accordingly, a variety of computational FBDD approaches have been developed that provide different levels of detail and accuracy.The Site Identification by Ligand Competitive Saturation (SILCS) method of computational FBDD uses all-atom explicit-solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to identify fragment binding. The target is "soaked" in an aqueous solution with multiple fragments having different identities. The resulting computational competition assay reveals what small molecule types are most likely to bind which regions of the target. From SILCS simulations, 3D probability maps of fragment binding called "FragMaps" can be produced. Based on the probabilities relative to bulk, SILCS FragMaps can be used to determine "Grid Free Energies (GFEs)," which provide per-atom contributions to fragment binding affinities. For essentially no additional computational overhead relative to the production of the FragMaps, GFEs can be used to compute Ligand Grid Free Energies (LGFEs) for arbitrarily complex molecules, and these LGFEs can be used to rank-order the molecules in accordance with binding affinities.
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34
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Nunes-Alves A, Arantes GM. Ligand-receptor affinities computed by an adapted linear interaction model for continuum electrostatics and by protein conformational averaging. J Chem Inf Model 2014; 54:2309-19. [PMID: 25076043 DOI: 10.1021/ci500301s] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Accurate calculations of free energies involved in small-molecule binding to a receptor are challenging. Interactions between ligand, receptor, and solvent molecules have to be described precisely, and a large number of conformational microstates has to be sampled, particularly for ligand binding to a flexible protein. Linear interaction energy models are computationally efficient methods that have found considerable success in the prediction of binding free energies. Here, we parametrize a linear interaction model for implicit solvation with coefficients adapted by ligand and binding site relative polarities in order to predict ligand binding free energies. Results obtained for a diverse series of ligands suggest that the model has good predictive power and transferability. We also apply implicit ligand theory and propose approximations to average contributions of multiple ligand-receptor poses built from a protein conformational ensemble and find that exponential averages require proper energy discrimination between plausible binding poses and false-positives (i.e., decoys). The linear interaction model and the averaging procedures presented can be applied independently of each other and of the method used to obtain the receptor structural representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariane Nunes-Alves
- Department of Biochemistry, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo , Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-900, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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35
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Lee HC, Hsu WC, Liu AL, Hsu CJ, Sun YC. Using thermodynamic integration MD simulation to compute relative protein–ligand binding free energy of a GSK3β kinase inhibitor and its analogs. J Mol Graph Model 2014; 51:37-49. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2014.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2013] [Revised: 04/20/2014] [Accepted: 04/22/2014] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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36
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Converging free energies of binding in cucurbit[7]uril and octa-acid host-guest systems from SAMPL4 using expanded ensemble simulations. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2014; 28:401-15. [PMID: 24610238 DOI: 10.1007/s10822-014-9716-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2013] [Accepted: 01/21/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Molecular containers such as cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) and the octa-acid (OA) host are ideal simplified model test systems for optimizing and analyzing methods for computing free energies of binding intended for use with biologically relevant protein-ligand complexes. To this end, we have performed initially blind free energy calculations to determine the free energies of binding for ligands of both the CB7 and OA hosts. A subset of the selected guest molecules were those included in the SAMPL4 prediction challenge. Using expanded ensemble simulations in the dimension of coupling host-guest intermolecular interactions, we are able to show that our estimates in most cases can be demonstrated to fully converge and that the errors in our estimates are due almost entirely to the assigned force field parameters and the choice of environmental conditions used to model experiment. We confirm the convergence through the use of alternative simulation methodologies and thermodynamic pathways, analyzing sampled conformations, and directly observing changes of the free energy with respect to simulation time. Our results demonstrate the benefits of enhanced sampling of multiple local free energy minima made possible by the use of expanded ensemble molecular dynamics and may indicate the presence of significant problems with current transferable force fields for organic molecules when used for calculating binding affinities, especially in non-protein chemistries.
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37
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General IJ, Meirovitch H. Absolute Free Energy of Binding and Entropy of the FKBP12-FK506 Complex: Effects of the Force Field. J Chem Theory Comput 2013; 9:4609-19. [PMID: 26589173 DOI: 10.1021/ct400484u] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The hypothetical scanning molecular dynamics (HSMD) method combined with thermodynamic integration (HSMD-TI) has been extended recently for calculating ΔA(0)-the absolute free energy of binding of a ligand to a protein. With HSMD-TI, ΔA(0) is obtained in a new way as a sum of several components, among them is ΔSligand-the change in the conformational entropy as the ligand is transferred from the bulk solvent to the active site-this entropy is obtained by a specific reconstruction procedure. This unique aspect of HSMD (which is useful in rational drug design) is in particular important for treating large ligands, where ΔSligand might be significant. Technically, one should verify that the results for ΔSligand converge-a property that might become more difficult for large ligands; therefore, studying ligands of increasing size would define the range of applicability of HSMD-TI for binding. In this paper, we check the performance of HSMD-TI by applying it to the relatively large ligand FK506 (126 atoms) complexed with the protein FKBP12, where ΔA(0) = -12.8 kcal/mol is known experimentally as well as the crystal structure of the complex. This structure was initially equilibrated by carrying out a 100 ns molecular dynamics trajectory, where the system is modeled by the AMBER force field, TIP3P water, and Particle Mesh Ewald. HSMD-TI calculations were carried out in three conformational regions defined by the intervals [0.2,2], [2,5], and [5,100] ns along the trajectory, where local equilibration of the total energy has been observed; we obtained ΔA(0) = -13.6 ± 1.1, -16.6 ± 1.4, and -16.7 ± 1.4 kcal/mol, respectively indicating the following: (1) The second and third regions belong to the same conformational subspace of the complex, which is different from the [0.2,2] ns subspace. (2) The unsatisfactory result for ΔA(0) obtained in the well equilibrated (hence theoretically preferred) latter regions reflects the nonperfect modeling used, which however (3) has led to the experimental ΔA(0) in the [0.2,2] ns region close to the crystal structure. Keeping the complex near its crystal structure has been a successful approach in the literature. To check this avenue further, we applied harmonic restraints on backbone atoms and obtained unsatisfactory results for ΔA(0), suggesting that implementation of this approach is not straightforward. Converging results for ΔSligand were obtained in all regions, where the result ΔSligand([0.2,2]) = 7.1 ± 1.2 kcal/mol is less region dependent than ΔA(0) and is relatively large probably due to the large ligand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio J General
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine , 3059 BST3, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Hagai Meirovitch
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine , 3059 BST3, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States.,Department of Physics, Bar-Ilan University , Ramat Gan, 52900, Israel
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38
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Okada O, Yamashita H, Takedomi K, Ono S, Sunada S, Kubodera H. Prediction of the binding affinity of compounds with diverse scaffolds by MP-CAFEE. Biophys Chem 2013; 180-181:119-26. [PMID: 23938954 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2013.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2013] [Revised: 07/02/2013] [Accepted: 07/15/2013] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Accurate methods to predict the binding affinities of compounds for target molecules are powerful tools in structure-based drug design (SBDD). A recently developed method called massively parallel computation of absolute binding free energy with a well-equilibrated system (MP-CAFEE) successfully predicted the binding affinities of compounds with relatively similar scaffolds. We investigate the applicability of MP-CAFEE for predicting the affinity of compounds having more diverse scaffolds for the target p38α, a mitogen-activated protein kinase. The calculated and experimental binding affinities correlate well, showing that MP-CAFEE can accurately rank the compounds with diverse scaffolds. We propose a method to determine the optimal number of sampling runs with respect to a predefined level of accuracy, which is established according to the stage in the SBDD process being considered. The optimal number of sampling runs for two key stages-lead identification and lead optimization-is estimated to be five and eight or more, respectively, in our model system using Cochrans sample size formula.
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Affiliation(s)
- Okimasa Okada
- Medicinal Chemistry Research Laboratories II, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, Toda, Saitama 335-8505, Japan.
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39
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Zhu S, Travis SM, Elcock AH. Accurate calculation of mutational effects on the thermodynamics of inhibitor binding to p38α MAP kinase: a combined computational and experimental study. J Chem Theory Comput 2013; 9:3151-3164. [PMID: 23914145 PMCID: PMC3731164 DOI: 10.1021/ct400104x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
A major current challenge for drug design efforts focused on protein kinases is the development of drug resistance caused by spontaneous mutations in the kinase catalytic domain. The ubiquity of this problem means that it would be advantageous to develop fast, effective computational methods that could be used to determine the effects of potential resistance-causing mutations before they arise in a clinical setting. With this long-term goal in mind, we have conducted a combined experimental and computational study of the thermodynamic effects of active-site mutations on a well-characterized and high-affinity interaction between a protein kinase and a small-molecule inhibitor. Specifically, we developed a fluorescence-based assay to measure the binding free energy of the small-molecule inhibitor, SB203580, to the p38α MAP kinase and used it measure the inhibitor's affinity for five different kinase mutants involving two residues (Val38 and Ala51) that contact the inhibitor in the crystal structure of the inhibitor-kinase complex. We then conducted long, explicit-solvent thermodynamic integration (TI) simulations in an attempt to reproduce the experimental relative binding affinities of the inhibitor for the five mutants; in total, a combined simulation time of 18.5 μs was obtained. Two widely used force fields - OPLS-AA/L and Amber ff99SB-ILDN - were tested in the TI simulations. Both force fields produced excellent agreement with experiment for three of the five mutants; simulations performed with the OPLS-AA/L force field, however, produced qualitatively incorrect results for the constructs that contained an A51V mutation. Interestingly, the discrepancies with the OPLS-AA/L force field could be rectified by the imposition of position restraints on the atoms of the protein backbone and the inhibitor without destroying the agreement for other mutations; the ability to reproduce experiment depended, however, upon the strength of the restraints' force constant. Imposition of position restraints in corresponding simulations that used the Amber ff99SB-ILDN force field had little effect on their ability to match experiment. Overall, the study shows that both force fields can work well for predicting the effects of active-site mutations on small molecule binding affinities and demonstrates how a direct combination of experiment and computation can be a powerful strategy for developing an understanding of protein-inhibitor interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shun Zhu
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
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40
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Estimation of relative binding free energy based on a free energy variational principle for the FKBP-ligand system. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2013; 27:479-90. [DOI: 10.1007/s10822-013-9657-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2012] [Accepted: 06/02/2013] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
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41
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Baron
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, and The Henry Eyring Center for Theoretical Chemistry, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-5820;
| | - J. Andrew McCammon
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Pharmacology, and Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0365;
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42
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Mobley DL, Klimovich PV. Perspective: Alchemical free energy calculations for drug discovery. J Chem Phys 2012; 137:230901. [PMID: 23267463 PMCID: PMC3537745 DOI: 10.1063/1.4769292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 159] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2012] [Accepted: 11/15/2012] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Computational techniques see widespread use in pharmaceutical drug discovery, but typically prove unreliable in predicting trends in protein-ligand binding. Alchemical free energy calculations seek to change that by providing rigorous binding free energies from molecular simulations. Given adequate sampling and an accurate enough force field, these techniques yield accurate free energy estimates. Recent innovations in alchemical techniques have sparked a resurgence of interest in these calculations. Still, many obstacles stand in the way of their routine application in a drug discovery context, including the one we focus on here, sampling. Sampling of binding modes poses a particular challenge as binding modes are often separated by large energy barriers, leading to slow transitions. Binding modes are difficult to predict, and in some cases multiple binding modes may contribute to binding. In view of these hurdles, we present a framework for dealing carefully with uncertainty in binding mode or conformation in the context of free energy calculations. With careful sampling, free energy techniques show considerable promise for aiding drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- David L Mobley
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Orleans, 2000 Lakeshore Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148, USA.
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43
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Computation of relative binding free energy for an inhibitor and its analogs binding with Erk kinase using thermodynamic integration MD simulation. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2012; 26:1159-69. [DOI: 10.1007/s10822-012-9606-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2012] [Accepted: 09/10/2012] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
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44
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Application of Hydration Thermodynamics to the Evaluation of Protein Structures and Protein-Ligand Binding. ENTROPY 2012. [DOI: 10.3390/e14081443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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45
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General IJ, Dragomirova R, Meirovitch H. Absolute free energy of binding of avidin/biotin, revisited. J Phys Chem B 2012; 116:6628-36. [PMID: 22300239 PMCID: PMC3383089 DOI: 10.1021/jp212276m] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The binding of biotin to avidin is one of the strongest in nature with absolute free energy of binding, ΔA(0) = -20.4 kcal/mol. Therefore, this complex became a target for a large number of computational studies, which all, however, are based on approximate techniques or simplified models and have led to a wide range of results Therefore, ΔA(0) is calculated here by rigorous statistical mechanical methods and models that consider long-range electrostatics. (1) We apply our method, "hypothetical scanning molecular dynamics with thermodynamic integration" (HSMD-TI) to avidin-biotin modeled by periodic boundary conditions with particle mesh ewald (PME). (2) We apply the double decoupling method (DDM) to this system modeled by the spherical solvent boundary potential (SSBP) and the generalized solvent boundary potential (GSBP). The corresponding results for neutral biotin, ΔA(0) = -29.1 ± 0.8 and -25.2 ± 0.5 kcal/mol are significantly lower than the experimental value; we also provide the result for a charged biotin, ΔA(0) = -33.3 ± 0.8 kcal/mol. It is plausible to suggest that this disagreement with the experiment may stem from ignoring the (positive) contribution of a mobile loop that changes its structure upon ligand binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio J. General
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3059 BST3, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
| | - Ralitsa Dragomirova
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3059 BST3, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
| | - Hagai Meirovitch
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3059 BST3, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
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46
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Dagliyan O, Proctor EA, D'Auria KM, Ding F, Dokholyan NV. Structural and dynamic determinants of protein-peptide recognition. Structure 2012; 19:1837-45. [PMID: 22153506 DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2011.09.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2011] [Revised: 09/15/2011] [Accepted: 09/17/2011] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Protein-peptide interactions play important roles in many cellular processes, including signal transduction, trafficking, and immune recognition. Protein conformational changes upon binding, an ill-defined peptide binding surface, and the large number of peptide degrees of freedom make the prediction of protein-peptide interactions particularly challenging. To address these challenges, we perform rapid molecular dynamics simulations in order to examine the energetic and dynamic aspects of protein-peptide binding. We find that, in most cases, we recapitulate the native binding sites and native-like poses of protein-peptide complexes. Inclusion of electrostatic interactions in simulations significantly improves the prediction accuracy. Our results also highlight the importance of protein conformational flexibility, especially side-chain movement, which allows the peptide to optimize its conformation. Our findings not only demonstrate the importance of sufficient sampling of the protein and peptide conformations, but also reveal the possible effects of electrostatics and conformational flexibility on peptide recognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Onur Dagliyan
- Program in Molecular and Cellular Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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47
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Palma PN, Bonifácio MJ, Loureiro AI, Soares-da-Silva P. Computation of the binding affinities of catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors: multisubstate relative free energy calculations. J Comput Chem 2012; 33:970-86. [PMID: 22278964 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.22926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2011] [Revised: 11/18/2011] [Accepted: 12/11/2011] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Alchemical free energy simulations are amongst the most accurate techniques for the computation of the free energy changes associated with noncovalent protein-ligand interactions. A procedure is presented to estimate the relative binding free energies of several ligands to the same protein target where multiple, low-energy configurational substates might coexist, as opposed to one unique structure. The contributions of all individual substates were estimated, explicitly, with the free energy perturbation method, and combined in a rigorous fashion to compute the overall relative binding free energies and dissociation constants. It is shown that, unless the most stable bound forms are known a priori, inaccurate results may be obtained if the contributions of multiple substates are ignored. The method was applied to study the complex formed between human catechol-O-methyltransferase and BIA 9-1067, a newly developed tight-binding inhibitor that is currently under clinical evaluation for the therapy of Parkinson's disease. Our results reveal an exceptionally high-binding affinity (K(d) in subpicomolar range) and provide insightful clues on the interactions and mechanism of inhibition. The inhibitor is, itself, a slowly reacting substrate of the target enzyme and is released from the complex in the form of O-methylated product. By comparing the experimental catalytic rate (k(cat)) and the estimated dissociation rate (k(off)) constants of the enzyme-inhibitor complex, one can conclude that the observed inhibition potency (K(i)) is primarily dependent on the catalytic rate constant of the inhibitor's O-methylation, rather than the rate constant of dissociation of the complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Nuno Palma
- BIAL, Department of Research and Development, S Mamede do Coronado, Portugal.
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48
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Chiba S, Harano Y, Roth R, Kinoshita M, Sakurai M. Evaluation of protein-ligand binding free energy focused on its entropic components. J Comput Chem 2011; 33:550-60. [DOI: 10.1002/jcc.22891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2011] [Revised: 10/18/2011] [Accepted: 10/24/2011] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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49
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Mobley DL. Let’s get honest about sampling. J Comput Aided Mol Des 2011; 26:93-5. [DOI: 10.1007/s10822-011-9497-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2011] [Accepted: 11/15/2011] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
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50
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General IJ, Dragomirova R, Meirovitch H. Calculation of the Absolute Free Energy of Binding and Related Entropies with the HSMD-TI Method: The FKBP12-L8 Complex. J Chem Theory Comput 2011; 7:4196-4207. [PMID: 22328868 DOI: 10.1021/ct2004897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The hypothetical scanning molecular dynamics (HSMD) method is used here for calculating the absolute free energy of binding, ΔA(0) of the complex of the protein FKBP12 with the ligand SB2 (also denoted L8) - a system that has been studied previously for comparing the performance of different methods. Our preliminary study suggests that considering long-range electrostatics is imperative even for a hydrophobic ligand such as L8. Therefore the system is modeled by the AMBER force field using Particle Mesh Ewald (PME). HSMD consists of three stages applied to both the ligand-solvent and ligand-protein systems. (1) A small set of system configurations (frames) is extracted from an MD trajectory. (2) The entropy of the ligand in each frame is calculated by a reconstruction procedure. (3) The contribution of water and protein to ΔA(0) is calculated for each frame by gradually increasing the ligand-environment interactions from zero to their full value using thermodynamic integration (TI). Unlike the conventional methods, the structure of the ligand is kept fixed during TI, and HSMD is thus free from the end-point problem encountered with the double annihilation method (DAM); therefore, the need for applying restraints is avoided. Furthermore, unlike the conventional methods, the entropy of the ligand and water is obtained directly as a byproduct of the simulation. In this paper, in addition to the difference in the internal entropies of the ligand in the two environments, we calculate for the first time the external entropy of the ligand, which provides a measure for the size of the active site. We obtain ΔA(0) = -10.7 ±1.0 as compared to the experimental values -10.9 and -10.6 kcal/mol. However, a protein/water system treated by periodic boundary conditions grows significantly with increasing protein size and the computation of ΔA(0) would become expensive by all methods. Therefore, we also apply HSMD to FKBP12-L8 described by the GSBP/SSBP model of Roux's group (implemented in the software CHARMM) where only part of the protein and water around the active site are considered and long-range electrostatic effects are taken into account. For comparison this model was also treated by the double decoupling method (DDM). The two methods have led to comparable results for ΔA(0) which are somewhat lower than the experimental value. The ligand was found to be more confined in the active site described by GSBP/SSBP than by PME where its entropy in solvent is larger than in the active site by 1.7 and by 5.5 kcal/mol, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio J General
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3059 BST3, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
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