Computer-aided Drug Design of Novel PLA 2 Inhibitor Candidates for Treatment of Snakebite

Experimental and Computational Approaches to Improve Binding Affinity in Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery

Drug discovery is one of the most complicated processes and establishment of a single drug may require multidisciplinary attempts to design efficient and commercially viable drugs. The main purpose of drug design is to identify a chemical compound or inhibitor that can bind to an active site of a specific cavity on a target protein. The traditional drug design methods involved various experimental based approaches including random screening of chemicals found in nature or can be synthesized directly in chemical laboratories. Except for the long cycle design and time, high cost is also the major issue of concern. Modernized computer-based algorithm including structure-based drug design has accelerated the drug design and discovery process adequately. Surprisingly from the past decade remarkable progress has been made concerned with all area of drug design and discovery. CADD (Computer Aided Drug Designing) based tools shorten the conventional cycle size and also generate chemically more stable and worthy compounds and hence reduce the drug discovery cost. This special edition of editorial comprises the combination of seven research and review articles set emphasis especially on the computational approaches along with the experimental approaches using a chemical synthesizing for the binding affinity in chemical biology and discovery as a salient used in de-novo drug designing. This set of articles exfoliates the role that systems biology and the evaluation of ligand affinity in drug design and discovery for the future.

Computational Studies of Snake Venom Toxins

Most snake venom toxins are proteins, and participate to envenomation through a diverse array of bioactivities, such as bleeding, inflammation, and pain, cytotoxic, cardiotoxic or neurotoxic effects. The venom of a single snake species contains hundreds of toxins, and the venoms of the 725 species of venomous snakes represent a large pool of potentially bioactive proteins. Despite considerable discovery efforts, most of the snake venom toxins are still uncharacterized. Modern bioinformatics tools have been recently developed to mine snake venoms, helping focus experimental research on the most potentially interesting toxins. Some computational techniques predict toxin molecular targets, and the binding mode to these targets. This review gives an overview of current knowledge on the ~2200 sequences, and more than 400 three-dimensional structures of snake toxins deposited in public repositories, as well as of molecular modeling studies of the interaction between these toxins and their molecular targets. We also describe how modern bioinformatics have been used to study the snake venom protein phospholipase A2, the small basic myotoxin Crotamine, and the three-finger peptide Mambalgin.

3D descriptors calculation and conformational search to investigate potential bioactive conformations, with application in 3D-QSAR and virtual screening in drug design

The knowledge of the bioactive conformation for an active hit is relevant because of the easier interpretation and the general quality of the recognition models of protein and ligand. With the aim of investigating potential bioactive conformations without previous structural knowledge of the molecular target, we present herewith a 'protocol' that could be used which includes generation of low-energy conformations, calculations of tridimensional descriptors and investigation of structural similarity via principal component analysis. The protocol was used in the search for potential bioactive conformations. An initial selection of targets was made from a set of protein-ligand complexes with structure deposited in the Protein Data Bank, which was systematically filtered by lead-like rules, resulting in 45 ligands of 8 important therapeutic targets. After extensive optimization of the protocol and parameters of both OMEGA and Pentacle softwares, the best results were obtained for series of compounds such as the beta-trypsin and urokinase inhibitors, which are more structurally related among each other, inside the respective therapeutic class. Future improvements of the protocol, including a suitable choice and combination of robust 3D descriptors, could yield more reliable and less restrictive results, with general and diverse applications in drug design, in particular for improving the 3D-QSAR methodologies as well as virtual screening experiments for a more reliable selection of new lead compounds for different molecular targets.

Biological evaluation and interaction of a newly designed anti-cancer Pd(II) complex and human serum albumin

The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of any drug will depend, largely, on the interaction that has with human serum albumin (HSA), the most abundant plasma protein. The interaction between newly synthesized Pd(II) complexe, 2,2'-bipyridin Butylglycinato Pd(II) nitrate, an anti-tumor component, with HSA was studied at different temperatures by fluorescence, far UV circular dichroism (CD), UV-visible spectrophotometry and theoretical approaches. The Pd(II) complex has a strong ability to quench the intrinsic fluorescence of HSA through a dynamic quenching procedure. The binding parameters and thermodynamic parameters, including δH°, δS° and δG° were calculated by fluorescence quenching method, indicated that hydrophobic forces play a major role in the interaction of Pd(II) complex with HSA. Based on Autodock, FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) and fluorescence quenching data, it may be concluded that one of the binding sites in the complex of HSA is near the only one Trp of HSA (Trp214) in sub domain IIA of the protein. Far-UV-CD results indicated that Pd(II)-complex induced increase in the α-helical content of the protein. The anti-tumor property of the synthesized Pd(II) complex was studied by testing it on human tumor cell line K562. The 50% cytotoxic concentration (Cc₅₀) of complex was determined using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay. Also, fluorescence staining with DAPI (4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) revealed some typical nuclear changes that are characteristic of apoptosis which is induced at Cc₅₀ concentration of Pd(II) complex in K562 cell line after 24 h incubation. Our results suggest that Pd(II) complex is a promising anti-proliferative agent and should execute its biological effects by inducing apoptosis.

Molecular dynamics and docking studies on cardiac troponin C

Cardiac troponin C (cTnC) is the Ca²⁺ dependent switch for contraction in heart muscle making it a potential target for drug research in the therapy of heart failure. Calcium binding on Troponin C (TnC) triggers a series of conformational changes exposing a hydrophobic pocket in the N-domain of TnC (cNTnC), which leads to force generation. Mutations and acidic pH have been related to altering the sensitivity of TnC affecting the efficiency of the heart. Bepridil, identified as a calcium sensitizer to TnC, has been experimentally found to bind to the N-domain pocket of TnC but with negative cooperativity. Screening and de novo design were carried out using LUDI and AUTOLUDI programs in this work to identify and design potential ligands that can bind to the hydrophobic pocket of TnC. Two docking centers and multiple searching radii including 5 Å, 5.5 Å, 6 Å, 6.5 Å, 7.0 Å and 7.5 Å were used in LUDI to screen the ZINC database. Based on the LUDI docking results, 8 molecules were identified from the database with good potential to bind into the binding pocket and they were used as template molecules to generate a series of new molecules by AUTOLUDI design. Out of all the newly-designed molecules, 14 new ligands were recognized to be potential ligands that can bind and fit well into the binding pocket. These molecules can be used as starting molecules to develop TnC ligands. The binding stability and binding affinity of these molecules to the protein was further analyzed by molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that the binding energies, interactions and complex stabilities of 6 ligands are comparable to or better than bepridil.

Biphasic association of T7 RNA polymerase and a nucleotide analogue, cibacron blue as a model to understand the role of initiating nucleotide in the mechanism of enzyme action

T7 RNA polymerase (T7 RNAP) is an enzyme that utilizes ribonucleotides to synthesize the nascent RNA chain in a template-dependent manner. Here we have studied the interaction of T7 RNAP with cibacron blue, an anthraquinone monochlorotriazine dye, its effect on the function of the enzyme and the probable mode of binding of the dye. We have used difference absorption spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry to show that the dye binds T7 RNAP in a biphasic manner. The first phase of the binding is characterized by inactivation of the enzyme. The second binding site overlaps with the common substrate-binding site of the enzyme. We have carried out docking experiment to map the binding site of the dye in the promoter bound protein. Competitive displacement of the dye from the high affinity site by labeled GTP and isothermal titration calorimetry of high affinity GTP bound enzyme with the dye suggests a strong correlation between the high affinity dye binding and the high affinity GTP binding in T7 RNAP reported earlier from our laboratory.

Using computer-aided drug design and medicinal chemistry strategies in the fight against diabetes

The aim of this work is to present a simple, practical and efficient protocol for drug design, in particular Diabetes, which includes selection of the illness, good choice of a target as well as a bioactive ligand and then usage of various computer aided drug design and medicinal chemistry tools to design novel potential drug candidates in different diseases. We have selected the validated target dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV), whose inhibition contributes to reduce glucose levels in type 2 diabetes patients. The most active inhibitor with complex X-ray structure reported was initially extracted from the BindingDB database. By using molecular modification strategies widely used in medicinal chemistry, besides current state-of-the-art tools in drug design (including flexible docking, virtual screening, molecular interaction fields, molecular dynamics, ADME and toxicity predictions), we have proposed 4 novel potential DPP-IV inhibitors with drug properties for Diabetes control, which have been supported and validated by all the computational tools used herewith.

Screening from the world's largest TCM database against H1N1 virus

The swine influenza virus (H1N1) 2009 pandemic highlights the importance of having effective anti-viral strategies. Recently, oseltamivir (Tamiflu) resistant influenza viruses are identified; which further emphasizes the urgency in developing new antiviral agents. In influenza virus replication cycle, viral surface glycoprotein, hemagglutinin, is responsible for viral entry into host cells. Hence, a potentially effective antiviral strategy is to inhibit viral entry mechanism. To develop novel antiviral agent that inhibits viral entry, we analyzed 20,000 traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) ingredients in hemagglutinin subtype H1 sialic acid binding site found on H1N1 virus. We then performed molecular dynamics simulations to investigate receptor-ligand interaction of the candidates obtained from docking. Here, we report three TCM derivatives that have high binding affinities to H1 sialic acid binding site residues based on structure-based calculations. The top three derivatives, xylopine_2, rosmaricine_14 and rosmaricine_15, all have an amine group that interact with Glu83 and a pyridinium group that interact with Asp103. Molecular dynamics simulations show that these derivatives form strong hydrogen bonding with Glu83 but interact transiently with Asp103. We therefore suggest that an enhanced hemagglutinin inhibitor, based on our scaffold, should be designed to bind both Glu83 and Asp103 with high affinity.

The key residues of active sites on the catalytic fragment for paclitaxel interacting with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) is regarded as a target protein for paclitaxel (PTX) to bind. An important issue is to identify the key residues as active sites for PTX interacting with PARP, which will help to understand the potential drug activity of PTX against cancer cells. Using docking method and MD simulation, we have constructed a refined structure of PTX docked on the catalytic function domain of PARP (PDB code: 1A26). The residues Glu327(988), Tyr246(907), Lys242(903), His165(826), Asp105(766), Gln102(763) and Gln98(759) in PARP are identified as potential sites involved in interaction with PTX according to binding energy (E(b)) between PTX and single residue calculated with B3LYP/6-31G(d,p). These residues form an active binding pocket located on the surface of the catalytic fragment, possibly interacting with the required groups of PTX leading to its activity against cancer cells. It is noted that most of the active sites make conatct with the "southern hemisphere" of PTX except for one residue, Tyr246(907), which interacts with the "northern hemisphere" of PTX. The conformation of PTX in complex with the catalytic fragment is observed as being T-shaped, similar to that complexed with β-tubulin. The total Eb of -269.9 kJ/mol represents the potent interaction between PTX and the catalytic fragment, implying that PTX can readily bind to the active pocket. The tight association of PTX with the catalytic fragment would inhibit PARP activation, suggesting a potential application of PTX as an effective antineoplastic agent.

A conformationally constrained peptidomimetic binds to the extracellular region of HER2 protein

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is a member of the human epidermal growth factor receptor kinases (other members include EGFR or HER1, HER3, and HER4) that are involved in signaling cascades for cell growth and differentiation. It is well established that HER2-mediated heterodimerization has important implications in cancer. Deregulation of signaling pathways and overexpression of HER2 is known to occur in cancer cells, indicating a role of HER2 in tumorigenesis. Therefore, blocking HER2-mediated signaling has potential therapeutic value. We have designed several peptidomimetics to inhibit HER2-mediated signaling for cell growth. One of the compounds (HERP5, Arg-beta Naph-Phe) exhibited antiproliferative activity with IC(50) values in the micromolar-to-nanomolar range in breast cancer cell lines. Binding of fluorescently labeled HERP5 to HER2 protein was evaluated by fluorescence assay, microscopy, and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Results indicated that HERP5 binds to the extracellular region of the HER2 protein. Structure of the peptidomimetic HERP5 was studied by NMR and molecular dynamics simulations. Based on these results a model was proposed for HER2-EGFR dimerization and possible blocking by HERP5 peptidomimetic using a protein-protein docking method.

Anti-infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) activity of 1,8-cineole: effect on nucleocapsid (N) protein

In the present study, anti-IBV (infectious bronchitis virus) activity of 1,8-cineole was studied by MTT assay, as well as docking and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. The CC50 of 1,8-cineole was above 10 mM. And the maximum noncytotoxic concentration (TD0) of 1,8-cineole was determined to be 3.90 ± 0.22 mM, which was much higher than that of ribavirin (0.78 ± 0.15 mM). 1,8-cineole could inhibit IBV with an IC(50) of 0.61 mM. MTT assay showed that the inhibition of IBV by 1, 8-cineole appears to occur moderately before entering the cell but much strongly after penetration of the virus into the cell. In silico simulations indicated that the binding site of 1,8-cineole was located at the N terminus of phosphorylated nucleocapsid (N) protein, with interaction energy equaling -40.33 kcal mol(-1). The residues TyrA92, ProA134, PheA137, AspA138 and TyrA140 had important roles during the binding process and are fully or partially conserved in various IBV strains. Based on spatial and energetic criteria, 1,8-cineole interfered with the binding between RNA and IBV N-protein. Results presented here may suggest that 1,8-cineole possesses anti-IBV properties, and therefore is a potential source of anti-IBV ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry.

Structure-based and ligand-based drug design for HER 2 receptor

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, HER2, is a commonly over-expressed tyrosine kinase receptor found in many types of carcinoma. Despite that there are several HER2 inhibitors, namely Iressa, Tarceva and Tykerb, currently in clinical trials, all can cause several side effects. In this study, both structure-based and ligand-based drug design were employed to design novel HER2 inhibitors from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The HER2 structure model was built in homology modeling based on known receptors of the same family. Docking and de novo evolution experiments were performed to identify candidates and to build derivatives. A training set of 32 compounds with inhibitory activities to HER2 was used to formulate the pharmacophore hypotheses that were subsequently used to examine candidates obtained from the docking study. Hydrogen bond interactions, salt-bridge formations and pi-stacking were observed between the ligands and Phe731, Lys753, Asp863 and Asp808 of HER2 protein. Combining results from both docking and pharmacophore mapping analysis, CLC015-5, CLC604-11 and CLC604-18 were well accepted and consistent in both approaches and were considered as the most potential HER2 inhibitors.

Computer-aided drug design and ADMET predictions for identification and evaluation of novel potential farnesyltransferase inhibitors in cancer therapy

We have used various computational methodologies including molecular dynamics, density functional theory, virtual screening, ADMET predictions and molecular interaction field studies to design and analyze four novel potential inhibitors of farnesyltransferase (FTase). Evaluation of two proposals regarding their drug potential as well as lead compounds have indicated them as novel promising FTase inhibitors, with theoretically interesting pharmacotherapeutic profiles, when compared to the very active and most cited FTase inhibitors that have activity data reported, which are launched drugs or compounds in clinical tests. One of our two proposals appears to be a more promising drug candidate and FTase inhibitor, but both derivative molecules indicate potentially very good pharmacotherapeutic profiles in comparison with Tipifarnib and Lonafarnib, two reference pharmaceuticals. Two other proposals have been selected with virtual screening approaches and investigated by us, which suggest novel and alternatives scaffolds to design future potential FTase inhibitors. Such compounds can be explored as promising molecules to initiate a research protocol in order to discover novel anticancer drug candidates targeting farnesyltransferase, in the fight against cancer.