Two-dimensional IR spectroscopy of the anti-HIV agent KP1212 reveals protonated and neutral tautomers that influence pH-dependent mutagenicity

Cytosine analogues as DNA methyltransferase substrates

DNA methyltransferases are drug targets for myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML), acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and possibly β-hemoglobinopathies. We characterize the interaction of nucleoside analogues in DNA with a prokaryotic CpG-specific DNA methyltransferase (M.MpeI) as a model for mammalian DNMT1 methyltransferases. We tested DNA containing 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-hydroxycytosine (5OHC), 5-methyl-2-pyrimidinone (in the ribosylated form known as 5-methylzebularine, 5mZ), 5,6-dihydro-5-azacytosine (dhaC), 5-fluorocytosine (5FC), 5-chlorocytosine (5ClC), 5-bromocytosine (5BrC) and 5-iodocytosine (5IC). Covalent complex formation was by far most efficient for 5FC. Non-covalent complexes were most abundant for dhaC and 5mZ. Surprisingly, we observed methylation of 5IC and 5BrC, and to a lesser extent 5ClC and 5FC, in the presence, but not the absence of small molecule thiol nucleophiles. For 5IC and 5BrC, we demonstrated by mass spectrometry that the reactions were due to methyltransferase driven dehalogenation, followed by methylation. Crystal structures of M.MpeI-DNA complexes capture the 'in' conformation of the active site loop for analogues with small or rotatable (5mZ) 5-substituents and its 'out' form for bulky 5-substituents. Since very similar 'in' and 'out' loop conformations were also observed for DNMT1, it is likely that our conclusions generalize to other DNA methyltransferases.

Structures and dynamics of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine in neutral and basic aqueous solutions by spectroscopy

8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-dexyoguanine (8-oxo-dG) can be tautomerized to a 6-enolate,8-keto tautomer through nearby-NH deprotonation at elevated pH. In this work, the N3-protonated 8-oxo-dG tautomers in deuterated pH-buffer solutions were studied using steady-state UV/Vis, FTIR, and ultrafast two-dimensional IR spectroscopies. The presence of 6,8-diketo and C6-anionic tautomers at neutral to basic conditions (pD = 7.4-12.0) was revealed by UV/Vis and FTIR results and was further confirmed by 2D IR signals in both diagonal and off-diagonal regions. However, the C6-enol tautomer, which may be an intermediate during the transition from 6,8-diketo to C6-enolate,C8-keto, was not observed appreciably due to its extreme low population. Furthermore, the neutral-to-anionic tautomeric transition of N3H-8-oxo-dG studied in this work occurs under more basic conditions than the N1H-8-oxo-dG reported previously, showing a higher pKa value for N3H than N1H. Finally, vibrational relaxation of the carbonyl stretching mode was found to be both molecular site dependent and pD dependent for 8oxo-dG. Taken together, this work shows that the ultrafast infrared spectroscopic method is effective for examining tautomers and their dynamics in nucleic acids.

Growth "self-inhibition" of irbesartan desmotrope: surface intra-annular tautomer inter-conversion is the culprit

The newly discovered growth self-inhibition phenomenon of tautomeric crystals is now generalized to the demostrope (form B) of irbesartan that displays intra-annular tautomerism in neutral aqueous solutions. The dynamic intra-annular tautomer inter-conversion on the surface is the key factor. Our findings provide implications for producing and engineering tautomeric materials.

Structural Insights Into Tautomeric Dynamics in Nucleic Acids and in Antiviral Nucleoside Analogs

DNA (2'-deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) play diverse functional roles in biology and disease. Despite being comprised primarily of only four cognate nucleobases, nucleic acids can adopt complex three-dimensional structures, and RNA in particular, can catalyze biochemical reactions to regulate a wide variety of biological processes. Such chemical versatility is due in part to the phenomenon of nucleobase tautomerism, whereby the bases can adopt multiple, yet distinct isomeric forms, known as tautomers. For nucleobases, tautomers refer to structural isomers that differ from one another by the position of protons. By altering the position of protons on nucleobases, many of which play critical roles for hydrogen bonding and base pairing interactions, tautomerism has profound effects on the biochemical processes involving nucleic acids. For example, the transient formation of minor tautomers during replication could generate spontaneous mutations. These mutations could arise from the stabilization of mismatches, in the active site of polymerases, in conformations involving minor tautomers that are indistinguishable from canonical base pairs. In this review, we discuss the evidence for tautomerism in DNA, and its consequences to the fidelity of DNA replication. Also reviewed are RNA systems, such as the riboswitches and self-cleaving ribozymes, in which tautomerism plays a functional role in ligand recognition and catalysis, respectively. We also discuss tautomeric nucleoside analogs that are efficacious as antiviral drug candidates such as molnupiravir for coronaviruses and KP1212 for HIV. The antiviral efficacy of these analogs is due, in part, to their ability to exist in multiple tautomeric forms and induce mutations in the replicating viral genomes. From a technical standpoint, minor tautomers of nucleobases are challenging to identify directly because they are rare and interconvert on a fast, millisecond to nanosecond, time scale. Nevertheless, many approaches including biochemical, structural, computational and spectroscopic methods have been developed to study tautomeric dynamics in RNA and DNA systems, and in antiviral nucleoside analogs. An overview of these methods and their applications is included here.

Favipiravir-Based Ionic Liquids as Potent Antiviral Drugs for Oral Delivery: Synthesis, Solubility, and Pharmacokinetic Evaluation

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread across the world, and no specific antiviral drugs have yet been approved to combat this disease. Favipiravir (FAV) is an antiviral drug that is currently in clinical trials for use against COVID-19. However, the delivery of FAV is challenging because of its limited solubility, and its formulation is difficult with common organic solvents and water. To address these issues, four FAV ionic liquids (FAV-ILs) were synthesized as potent antiviral prodrugs and were fully characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), derivative thermogravimetry (DTG), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The aqueous solubility and in vivo pharmacokinetic properties of the FAV-ILs were also evaluated. The FAV-ILs exhibited improved aqueous solubility by 78 to 125 orders of magnitude when compared with that of free FAV. Upon oral dosing in mice, the absolute bioavailability of the β-alanine ethyl ester FAV formulation was increased 1.9-fold compared with that of the control FAV formulation. The peak blood concentration, elimination half-life, and mean absorption time of FAV were also increased by 1.5-, 2.0-, and 1.5-fold, respectively, compared with the control. Furthermore, the FAV in the FAV-ILs exhibited significantly different biodistribution compared with the control FAV formulation. Interestingly, drug accumulation in the lungs and liver was improved 1.5-fold and 1.3-fold, respectively, compared with the control FAV formulation. These results indicate that the use of ILs exhibits potential as a simple, scalable strategy to improve the solubility and oral absorption of hydrophobic drugs, such as FAV.

Physico-chemical profiles of the wobble ↔ Watson-Crick G*·2AP(w) ↔ G·2AP(WC) and A·2AP(w) ↔ A*·2AP(WC) tautomerisations: a QM/QTAIM comprehensive survey

This study is intended to clarify in detail the tautomeric transformations of the wobble (w) G*·2AP(w) and A·2AP(w) nucleobase mispairs involving 2-aminopurine (2AP) into the Watson-Crick (WC) G·2AP(WC) and A*·2AP(WC) base mispairs (asterisks denote mutagenic tautomers of the DNA bases), respectively, by quantum-mechanical methods and Bader's Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules. Our previously reported methodology has been used, which allows the evolution of the physico-chemical parameters to be tracked along the entire internal reaction coordinate (IRC), not exclusively in the stationary states of these reactions. These biologically important G*·2AP(w) ↔ G·2AP(WC) and A·2AP(w) ↔ A*·2AP(WC) w ↔ WC tautomerisations, which are involved in mutagenic tautomerically-conformational pathways, determine the origin of the transitions and transversions induced by 2AP. In addition, it is established that they proceed through planar, highly stable, zwitterionic transition states and they exhibit similar physico-chemical profiles and stages of sequential intrapair proton transfer, followed by spatial rearrangement of the nucleobases relative to each other within the base pairs. These w ↔ WC tautomerisations occur non-dissociatively and are accompanied by a significant alteration in geometry (from wobble to Watson-Crick and vice versa) and redistribution of the specific intermolecular interactions, which can be divided into 10 patterns including AHB H-bonds and loosened A-H-B covalent bridges along the IRC of tautomerisation. Based on the redistribution of the geometrical and electron-topological parameters of the intrapair hydrogen bonds, exactly 9 key points have been allocated to characterize the evolution of these reactions.

Watching Proteins Wiggle: Mapping Structures with Two-Dimensional Infrared Spectroscopy

Proteins exhibit structural fluctuations over decades of time scales. From the picosecond side chain motions to aggregates that form over the course of minutes, characterizing protein structure over these vast lengths of time is important to understanding their function. In the past 15 years, two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy (2D IR) has been established as a versatile tool that can uniquely probe proteins structures on many time scales. In this review, we present some of the basic principles behind 2D IR and show how they have, and can, impact the field of protein biophysics. We highlight experiments in which 2D IR spectroscopy has provided structural and dynamical data that would be difficult to obtain with more standard structural biology techniques. We also highlight technological developments in 2D IR that continue to expand the scope of scientific problems that can be accessed in the biomedical sciences.

Electrostatic frequency maps for amide-I mode of β-peptide: Comparison of molecular mechanics force field and DFT calculations

The spectroscopy of amide-I vibrations has been widely utilized for the understanding of dynamical structure of polypeptides. For the modeling of amide-I spectra, two frequency maps were built for β-peptide analogue (N-ethylpropionamide, NEPA) in a number of solvents within different schemes (molecular mechanics force field based, GM map; DFT calculation based, GD map), respectively. The electrostatic potentials on the amide unit that originated from solvents and peptide backbone were correlated to the amide-I frequency shift from gas phase to solution phase during map parameterization. GM map is easier to construct with negligible computational cost since the frequency calculations for the samples are purely based on force field, while GD map utilizes sophisticated DFT calculations on the representative solute-solvent clusters and brings insight into the electronic structures of solvated NEPA and its chemical environments. The results show that the maps' predicted amide-I frequencies present solvation environmental sensitivities and exhibit their specific characters with respect to the map protocols, and the obtained vibrational parameters are in satisfactory agreement with experimental amide-I spectra of NEPA in solution phase. Although different theoretical schemes based maps have their advantages and disadvantages, the present maps show their potentials in interpreting the amide-I spectra for β-peptides, respectively.

New strategies against drug resistance to herpes simplex virus

Herpes simplex virus (HSV), a member of the Herpesviridae family, is a significant human pathogen that results in mucocutaneous lesions in the oral cavity or genital infections. Acyclovir (ACV) and related nucleoside analogues can successfully treat HSV infections, but the emergence of drug resistance to ACV has created a barrier for the treatment of HSV infections, especially in immunocompromised patients. There is an urgent need to explore new and effective tactics to circumvent drug resistance to HSV. This review summarises the current strategies in the development of new targets (the DNA helicase/primase (H/P) complex), new types of molecules (nature products) and new antiviral mechanisms (lethal mutagenesis of Janus-type nucleosides) to fight the drug resistance of HSV.

Weakened N3 Hydrogen Bonding by 5-Formylcytosine and 5-Carboxylcytosine Reduces Their Base-Pairing Stability

In the active cytosine demethylation pathway, 5-methylcytosine (5mC) is oxidized sequentially to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), 5-formylcytosine (5fC), and 5-carboxylcytosine (5caC). Thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) selectively excises 5fC and 5caC but not cytosine (C), 5mC, and 5hmC. We propose that the electron-withdrawing properties of -CHO and -COOH in 5fC and 5caC increase N3 acidity, leading to weakened hydrogen bonding and reduced base pair stability relative to C, 5mC, and 5hmC, thereby facilitating the selective recognition of 5fC and 5caC by TDG. Through (13)C NMR, we measured the pKa at N3 of 5fC as 2.4 and the two pKa's of 5caC as 2.1 and 4.2. We used isotope-edited IR spectroscopy coupled with density functional theory (DFT) calculations to site-specifically assign the more acidic pKa of 5caC to protonation at N3, indicating that N3 acidity is increased in 5fC and 5caC relative to C. IR and UV melting studies of self-complementary DNA oligomers confirm reduced stability for 5fC-G and 5caC-G base pairs. Furthermore, while the 5fC-G base pair stability is insensitive to pH, the 5caC-G stability is reduced as pH decreases and the carboxyl group is increasingly protonated. Despite suggestions that 5fC and 5caC may exist in rare tautomeric structures which form wobble GC base pairs, our two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy of 5fC and 5caC free nucleosides confirms that both bases are predominantly in the canonical amino-keto form. Taken together, these findings support our model that weakened base pairing ability for 5fC and 5caC in dsDNA contributes to their selective recognition by TDG.

General Applicable Frequency Map for the Amide-I Mode in β-Peptides

In this work, a general applicable amide-I vibrational frequency map (GA map) for β-peptides in a number of common solvents was constructed, based on a peptide derivative, N-ethylpropionamide (NEPA). The map utilizes force fields at the ab initio computational level to accurately describe molecular structure and solute-solvent interactions, and also force fields at the molecular mechanics level to take into account long-range solute-solvent interactions. The results indicate that the GA map works reasonably for mapping the vibrational frequencies of the amide-I local-modes for β-peptides, holding promises for understanding the complicated infrared spectra of the amide-I mode in β-polypeptides.

Structural grounds for the 2-aminopurine mutagenicity: a novel insight into the old problem of the replication errors

Mutagenic pressure of the 2AP molecule on DNA during its replication is realized via the more intensive generation of the T* mutagenic tautomers through the reaction 2AP·T(WC) → 2AP·T*(w).

Structural Characterization of Single-Stranded DNA Monolayers Using Two-Dimensional Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

DNA-covered materials are important in technological applications such as biosensors and microarrays, but obtaining structural information on surface-bound biomolecules is experimentally challenging. In this paper, we structurally characterize single-stranded DNA monolayers of poly(thymine) from 10 to 25 bases in length with an emerging surface technique called two-dimensional sum frequency generation (2D SFG) spectroscopy. These experiments are carried out by adding a mid-IR pulse shaper to a femtosecond broad-band SFG spectrometer. Cross peaks and 2D line shapes in the 2D SFG spectra provide information about structure and dynamics. Because the 2D SFG spectra are heterodyne detected, the monolayer spectra can be directly compared to 2D infrared (2D IR) spectra of poly(thymine) in solution, which aids interpretation. We simulate the 2D SFG spectra using DFT calculations and an excitonic Hamiltonian that relates the molecular geometry to the vibrational coupling. Intrabase cross peaks help define the orientation of the bases and interbase cross peaks, created by coupling between bases, and resolves features not observed in 1D SFG spectra that constrain the relative geometries of stacked bases. We present a structure for the poly(T) oligomer that is consistent with the 2D SFG data. These experiments provide insight into the DNA monolayer structure and set precedent for studying complex biomolecules on surfaces with 2D SFG spectroscopy.