1
|
Abstract
The greatest challenge in drug discovery remains the high rate of attrition across the different phases of the process, which cost the industry billions of dollars every year. While all phases remain crucial to ensure pharmaceutical-level safety, quality, and efficacy of the end product, streamlining these efforts toward compounds with success potential is pivotal for a more efficient and cost-effective process. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) within the pharmaceutical industry aims at just this, and has applications in preclinical screening for biological activity, optimization of pharmacokinetic properties for improved drug formulation, early toxicity prediction which reduces attrition, and pre-emptively screening for genetic changes in the biological target to improve therapeutic longevity. Here, we present a series of in silico tools that address these applications in small molecule development and describe how they can be embedded within the current pharmaceutical development pipeline.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Serghini
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Stephanie Portelli
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
| | - David B Ascher
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ahmad V, Khan MI, Jamal QMS, Alzahrani FA, Albiheyri R. Computational Molecular Docking and Simulation-Based Assessment of Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn Phytochemicals. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2023; 17:18. [PMID: 38256852 PMCID: PMC10820488 DOI: 10.3390/ph17010018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2023] [Revised: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
The leaves, flowers, seeds, and bark of the Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn plant have been pharmacologically evaluated to signify the medicinal importance traditionally described for various ailments. We evaluated the anti-inflammatory potentials of 26 natural compounds using AutoDock 4.2 and Molecular Dynamics (MDS) performed with the GROMACS tool. SwissADME evaluated ADME (adsorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) parameters. Arb_E and Beta-sito, natural compounds of the plant, showed significant levels of binding affinity against COX-1, COX-2, PDE4, PDE7, IL-17A, IL-17D, TNF-α, IL-1β, prostaglandin E2, and prostaglandin F synthase. The control drug celecoxib exhibited a binding energy of -9.29 kcal/mol, and among the tested compounds, Arb_E was the most significant (docking energy: -10.26 kcal/mol). Beta_sito was also observed with high and considerable docking energy of -8.86 kcal/mol with the COX-2 receptor. COX-2 simulation in the presence of Arb_E and control drug celecoxib, RMSD ranged from 0.15 to 0.25 nm, showing stability until the end of the simulation. Also, MM-PBSA analysis showed that Arb_E bound to COX-2 exhibited the lowest binding energy of -277.602 kJ/mol. Arb_E and Beta_sito showed interesting ADME physico-chemical and drug-like characteristics with significant drug-like effects. Therefore, the studied natural compounds could be potential anti-inflammatory molecules and need further in vitro/in vivo experimentation to develop novel anti-inflammatory drugs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Varish Ahmad
- Health Information Technology Department, The Applied College, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia;
- Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Precision Medicines, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammad Imran Khan
- Research Centre, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, P.O. Box 40047, Jeddah 21499, Saudi Arabia
| | - Qazi Mohammad Sajid Jamal
- Department of Health Informatics, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, Qassim University, Al Bukayriyah 52741, Saudi Arabia
| | - Faisal A. Alzahrani
- Embryonic Stem Cell Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, King Fahad Center for Medical Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Raed Albiheyri
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia;
- Centre of Excellence in Bionanoscience Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sieg J, Rarey M. Searching similar local 3D micro-environments in protein structure databases with MicroMiner. Brief Bioinform 2023; 24:bbad357. [PMID: 37833838 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbad357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The available protein structure data are rapidly increasing. Within these structures, numerous local structural sites depict the details characterizing structure and function. However, searching and analyzing these sites extensively and at scale poses a challenge. We present a new method to search local sites in protein structure databases using residue-defined local 3D micro-environments. We implemented the method in a new tool called MicroMiner and demonstrate the capabilities of residue micro-environment search on the example of structural mutation analysis. Usually, experimental structures for both the wild-type and the mutant are unavailable for comparison. With MicroMiner, we extracted $>255 \times 10^{6}$ amino acid pairs in protein structures from the PDB, exemplifying single mutations' local structural changes for single chains and $>45 \times 10^{6}$ pairs for protein-protein interfaces. We further annotate existing data sets of experimentally measured mutation effects, like $\Delta \Delta G$ measurements, with the extracted structure pairs to combine the mutation effect measurement with the structural change upon mutation. In addition, we show how MicroMiner can bridge the gap between mutation analysis and structure-based drug design tools. MicroMiner is available as a command line tool and interactively on the https://proteins.plus/ webserver.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jochen Sieg
- Universität Hamburg, ZBH - Center for Bioinformatics, Bundesstraße 43, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Rarey
- Universität Hamburg, ZBH - Center for Bioinformatics, Bundesstraße 43, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Huang YQ, Wang S, Gong DH, Kumar V, Dong YW, Hao GF. In silico resources help combat cancer drug resistance mediated by target mutations. Drug Discov Today 2023; 28:103686. [PMID: 37379904 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2023.103686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/30/2023]
Abstract
Drug resistance causes catastrophic cancer treatment failures. Mutations in target proteins with altered drug binding indicate a main mechanism of cancer drug resistance (CDR). Global research has generated considerable CDR-related data and well-established knowledge bases and predictive tools. Unfortunately, these resources are fragmented and underutilized. Here, we examine computational resources for exploring CDR caused by target mutations, analyzing these tools based on their functional characteristics, data capacity, data sources, methodologies and performance. We also discuss their disadvantages and provide examples of how potential inhibitors of CDR have been discovered using these resources. This toolkit is designed to help specialists explore resistance occurrence effectively and to explain resistance prediction to non-specialists easily.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yuan-Qin Huang
- National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Shuang Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Dao-Hong Gong
- National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Vinit Kumar
- National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Ya-Wen Dong
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
| | - Ge-Fei Hao
- National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Li J, Kang G, Wang J, Yuan H, Wu Y, Meng S, Wang P, Zhang M, Wang Y, Feng Y, Huang H, de Marco A. Affinity maturation of antibody fragments: A review encompassing the development from random approaches to computational rational optimization. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 247:125733. [PMID: 37423452 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Revised: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
Routinely screened antibody fragments usually require further in vitro maturation to achieve the desired biophysical properties. Blind in vitro strategies can produce improved ligands by introducing random mutations into the original sequences and selecting the resulting clones under more and more stringent conditions. Rational approaches exploit an alternative perspective that aims first at identifying the specific residues potentially involved in the control of biophysical mechanisms, such as affinity or stability, and then to evaluate what mutations could improve those characteristics. The understanding of the antigen-antibody interactions is instrumental to develop this process the reliability of which, consequently, strongly depends on the quality and completeness of the structural information. Recently, methods based on deep learning approaches critically improved the speed and accuracy of model building and are promising tools for accelerating the docking step. Here, we review the features of the available bioinformatic instruments and analyze the reports illustrating the result obtained with their application to optimize antibody fragments, and nanobodies in particular. Finally, the emerging trends and open questions are summarized.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jiaqi Li
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Guangbo Kang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Jiewen Wang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Haibin Yuan
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Yili Wu
- Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and the Affiliated Kangning Hospital, Institute of Aging, Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease of Zhejiang Province, Wenzhou Medical University, Oujiang Laboratory, Wenzhou, Zhejiang 325035, China
| | - Shuxian Meng
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Ping Wang
- New Technology R&D Department, Tianjin Modern Innovative TCM Technology Company Limited, Tianjin 300392, China
| | - Miao Zhang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; China Resources Biopharmaceutical Company Limited, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Yuli Wang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; Tianjin Pharmaceutical Da Ren Tang Group Corporation Limited, Traditional Chinese Pharmacy Research Institute, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Quality Control in Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300457, China; State Key Laboratory of Drug Delivery Technology and Pharmacokinetics, Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, Tianjin 300193, China
| | - Yuanhang Feng
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - He Huang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China; Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology and Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering (Ministry of Education), Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
| | - Ario de Marco
- Laboratory for Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Yang Z, Ye Z, Qiu J, Feng R, Li D, Hsieh C, Allcock J, Zhang S. A mutation-induced drug resistance database (MdrDB). Commun Chem 2023; 6:123. [PMID: 37316673 DOI: 10.1038/s42004-023-00920-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Mutation-induced drug resistance is a significant challenge to the clinical treatment of many diseases, as structural changes in proteins can diminish drug efficacy. Understanding how mutations affect protein-ligand binding affinities is crucial for developing new drugs and therapies. However, the lack of a large-scale and high-quality database has hindered the research progresses in this area. To address this issue, we have developed MdrDB, a database that integrates data from seven publicly available datasets, which is the largest database of its kind. By integrating information on drug sensitivity and cell line mutations from Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer and DepMap, MdrDB has substantially expanded the existing drug resistance data. MdrDB is comprised of 100,537 samples of 240 proteins (which encompass 5119 total PDB structures), 2503 mutations, and 440 drugs. Each sample brings together 3D structures of wild type and mutant protein-ligand complexes, binding affinity changes upon mutation (ΔΔG), and biochemical features. Experimental results with MdrDB demonstrate its effectiveness in significantly enhancing the performance of commonly used machine learning models when predicting ΔΔG in three standard benchmarking scenarios. In conclusion, MdrDB is a comprehensive database that can advance the understanding of mutation-induced drug resistance, and accelerate the discovery of novel chemicals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ziyi Yang
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhaofeng Ye
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China
| | - Jiezhong Qiu
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China
| | - Rongjun Feng
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China
| | - Danyu Li
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China
| | - Changyu Hsieh
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China
| | | | - Shengyu Zhang
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
David A, Sternberg MJE. Protein structure-based evaluation of missense variants: Resources, challenges and future directions. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2023; 80:102600. [PMID: 37126977 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2023.102600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
We provide an overview of the methods that can be used for protein structure-based evaluation of missense variants. The algorithms can be broadly divided into those that calculate the difference in free energy (ΔΔG) between the wild type and variant structures and those that use structural features to predict the damaging effect of a variant without providing a ΔΔG. A wide range of machine learning approaches have been employed to develop those algorithms. We also discuss challenges and opportunities for variant interpretation in view of the recent breakthrough in three-dimensional structural modelling using deep learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alessia David
- Centre for Integrative Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
| | - Michael J E Sternberg
- Centre for Integrative Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Huang YQ, Sun P, Chen Y, Liu HX, Hao GF, Song BA. Bioinformatics toolbox for exploring target mutation-induced drug resistance. Brief Bioinform 2023; 24:7026012. [PMID: 36738254 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbad033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 12/25/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Drug resistance is increasingly among the main issues affecting human health and threatening agriculture and food security. In particular, developing approaches to overcome target mutation-induced drug resistance has long been an essential part of biological research. During the past decade, many bioinformatics tools have been developed to explore this type of drug resistance, and they have become popular for elucidating drug resistance mechanisms in a low cost, fast and effective way. However, these resources are scattered and underutilized, and their strengths and limitations have not been systematically analyzed and compared. Here, we systematically surveyed 59 freely available bioinformatics tools for exploring target mutation-induced drug resistance. We analyzed and summarized these resources based on their functionality, data volume, data source, operating principle, performance, etc. And we concisely discussed the strengths, limitations and application examples of these tools. Specifically, we tested some predictive tools and offered some thoughts from the clinician's perspective. Hopefully, this work will provide a useful toolbox for researchers working in the biomedical, pesticide, bioinformatics and pharmaceutical engineering fields, and a good platform for non-specialists to quickly understand drug resistance prediction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yuan-Qin Huang
- National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China
| | - Ping Sun
- National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China
| | - Yi Chen
- National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China
| | - Huan-Xiang Liu
- Faculty of Applied Science, Macao Polytechnic University, Macao 999078, SAR, China
| | - Ge-Fei Hao
- National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China
| | - Bao-An Song
- National Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Banerjee A, Saha S, Tvedt NC, Yang LW, Bahar I. Mutually beneficial confluence of structure-based modeling of protein dynamics and machine learning methods. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2023; 78:102517. [PMID: 36587424 PMCID: PMC10038760 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2022.102517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Revised: 11/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Proteins sample an ensemble of conformers under physiological conditions, having access to a spectrum of modes of motions, also called intrinsic dynamics. These motions ensure the adaptation to various interactions in the cell, and largely assist in, if not determine, viable mechanisms of biological function. In recent years, machine learning frameworks have proven uniquely useful in structural biology, and recent studies further provide evidence to the utility and/or necessity of considering intrinsic dynamics for increasing their predictive ability. Efficient quantification of dynamics-based attributes by recently developed physics-based theories and models such as elastic network models provides a unique opportunity to generate data on dynamics for training ML models towards inferring mechanisms of protein function, assessing pathogenicity, or estimating binding affinities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anupam Banerjee
- Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh PA 15261, USA
| | - Satyaki Saha
- Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh PA 15261, USA
| | - Nathan C Tvedt
- Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh PA 15261, USA; Computational and Applied Mathematics and Statistics, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23185, USA
| | - Lee-Wei Yang
- Institute of Bioinformatics and Structural Biology, and PhD Program in Biomedical Artificial Intelligence, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300044, Taiwan; Physics Division, National Center for Theoretical Sciences, Taipei 106319, Taiwan
| | - Ivet Bahar
- Computational and Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh PA 15261, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Lau B, Emani PS, Chapman J, Yao L, Lam T, Merrill P, Warrell J, Gerstein MB, Lam HYK. Insights from incorporating quantum computing into drug design workflows. Bioinformatics 2023; 39:btac789. [PMID: 36477833 PMCID: PMC9825754 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btac789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
MOTIVATION While many quantum computing (QC) methods promise theoretical advantages over classical counterparts, quantum hardware remains limited. Exploiting near-term QC in computer-aided drug design (CADD) thus requires judicious partitioning between classical and quantum calculations. RESULTS We present HypaCADD, a hybrid classical-quantum workflow for finding ligands binding to proteins, while accounting for genetic mutations. We explicitly identify modules of our drug-design workflow currently amenable to replacement by QC: non-intuitively, we identify the mutation-impact predictor as the best candidate. HypaCADD thus combines classical docking and molecular dynamics with quantum machine learning (QML) to infer the impact of mutations. We present a case study with the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) protease and associated mutants. We map a classical machine-learning module onto QC, using a neural network constructed from qubit-rotation gates. We have implemented this in simulation and on two commercial quantum computers. We find that the QML models can perform on par with, if not better than, classical baselines. In summary, HypaCADD offers a successful strategy for leveraging QC for CADD. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION Jupyter Notebooks with Python code are freely available for academic use on GitHub: https://www.github.com/hypahub/hypacadd_notebook. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bayo Lau
- HypaHealth, HypaHub Inc., San Jose, CA 95128, USA
| | - Prashant S Emani
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Jackson Chapman
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Lijing Yao
- HypaHealth, HypaHub Inc., San Jose, CA 95128, USA
| | - Tarsus Lam
- HypaHealth, HypaHub Inc., San Jose, CA 95128, USA
| | - Paul Merrill
- HypaHealth, HypaHub Inc., San Jose, CA 95128, USA
| | - Jonathan Warrell
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Mark B Gerstein
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Department of Computer Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Department of Statistics & Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Hugo Y K Lam
- HypaHealth, HypaHub Inc., San Jose, CA 95128, USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Ascher DB, Kaminskas LM, Myung Y, Pires DEV. Using Graph-Based Signatures to Guide Rational Antibody Engineering. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2552:375-397. [PMID: 36346604 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2609-2_21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Antibodies are essential experimental and diagnostic tools and as biotherapeutics have significantly advanced our ability to treat a range of diseases. With recent innovations in computational tools to guide protein engineering, we can now rationally design better antibodies with improved efficacy, stability, and pharmacokinetics. Here, we describe the use of the mCSM web-based in silico suite, which uses graph-based signatures to rapidly identify the structural and functional consequences of mutations, to guide rational antibody engineering to improve stability, affinity, and specificity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David B Ascher
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Biochemistry, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Lisa M Kaminskas
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Yoochan Myung
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Douglas E V Pires
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
- School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Liu Y, Yeung WSB, Chiu PCN, Cao D. Computational approaches for predicting variant impact: An overview from resources, principles to applications. Front Genet 2022; 13:981005. [PMID: 36246661 PMCID: PMC9559863 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.981005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
One objective of human genetics is to unveil the variants that contribute to human diseases. With the rapid development and wide use of next-generation sequencing (NGS), massive genomic sequence data have been created, making personal genetic information available. Conventional experimental evidence is critical in establishing the relationship between sequence variants and phenotype but with low efficiency. Due to the lack of comprehensive databases and resources which present clinical and experimental evidence on genotype-phenotype relationship, as well as accumulating variants found from NGS, different computational tools that can predict the impact of the variants on phenotype have been greatly developed to bridge the gap. In this review, we present a brief introduction and discussion about the computational approaches for variant impact prediction. Following an innovative manner, we mainly focus on approaches for non-synonymous variants (nsSNVs) impact prediction and categorize them into six classes. Their underlying rationale and constraints, together with the concerns and remedies raised from comparative studies are discussed. We also present how the predictive approaches employed in different research. Although diverse constraints exist, the computational predictive approaches are indispensable in exploring genotype-phenotype relationship.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ye Liu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Fertility Regulation, Reproductive Medicine Center, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| | - William S. B. Yeung
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Fertility Regulation, Reproductive Medicine Center, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Philip C. N. Chiu
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Fertility Regulation, Reproductive Medicine Center, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Dandan Cao
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Fertility Regulation, Reproductive Medicine Center, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Yu Y, Wang Z, Wang L, Tian S, Hou T, Sun H. Predicting the mutation effects of protein–ligand interactions via end-point binding free energy calculations: strategies and analyses. J Cheminform 2022; 14:56. [PMID: 35987841 PMCID: PMC9392442 DOI: 10.1186/s13321-022-00639-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein mutations occur frequently in biological systems, which may impact, for example, the binding of drugs to their targets through impairing the critical H-bonds, changing the hydrophobic interactions, etc. Thus, accurately predicting the effects of mutations on biological systems is of great interests to various fields. Unfortunately, it is still unavailable to conduct large-scale wet-lab mutation experiments because of the unaffordable experimental time and financial costs. Alternatively, in silico computation can serve as a pioneer to guide the experiments. In fact, numerous pioneering works have been conducted from computationally cheaper machine-learning (ML) methods to the more expensive alchemical methods with the purpose to accurately predict the mutation effects. However, these methods usually either cannot result in a physically understandable model (ML-based methods) or work with huge computational resources (alchemical methods). Thus, compromised methods with good physical characteristics and high computational efficiency are expected. Therefore, here, we conducted a comprehensive investigation on the mutation issues of biological systems with the famous end-point binding free energy calculation methods represented by MM/GBSA and MM/PBSA. Different computational strategies considering different length of MD simulations, different value of dielectric constants and whether to incorporate entropy effects to the predicted total binding affinities were investigated to provide a more accurate way for predicting the energetic change upon protein mutations. Overall, our result shows that a relatively long MD simulation (e.g. 100 ns) benefits the prediction accuracy for both MM/GBSA and MM/PBSA (with the best Pearson correlation coefficient between the predicted ∆∆G and the experimental data of ~ 0.44 for a challenging dataset). Further analyses shows that systems involving large perturbations (e.g. multiple mutations and large number of atoms change in the mutation site) are much easier to be accurately predicted since the algorithm works more sensitively to the large change of the systems. Besides, system-specific investigation reveals that conformational adjustment is needed to refine the micro-environment of the manually mutated systems and thus lead one to understand why longer MD simulation is necessary to improve the predicting result. The proposed strategy is expected to be applied in large-scale mutation effects investigation with interpretation.
Collapse
|
14
|
Probing the ligand-binding pocket of recombinant β-lactoglobulin: Calorimetric and spectroscopic studies. Biophys Chem 2022; 283:106770. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bpc.2022.106770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
|
15
|
Pan Q, Nguyen TB, Ascher DB, Pires DEV. Systematic evaluation of computational tools to predict the effects of mutations on protein stability in the absence of experimental structures. Brief Bioinform 2022; 23:bbac025. [PMID: 35189634 PMCID: PMC9155634 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbac025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Changes in protein sequence can have dramatic effects on how proteins fold, their stability and dynamics. Over the last 20 years, pioneering methods have been developed to try to estimate the effects of missense mutations on protein stability, leveraging growing availability of protein 3D structures. These, however, have been developed and validated using experimentally derived structures and biophysical measurements. A large proportion of protein structures remain to be experimentally elucidated and, while many studies have based their conclusions on predictions made using homology models, there has been no systematic evaluation of the reliability of these tools in the absence of experimental structural data. We have, therefore, systematically investigated the performance and robustness of ten widely used structural methods when presented with homology models built using templates at a range of sequence identity levels (from 15% to 95%) and contrasted performance with sequence-based tools, as a baseline. We found there is indeed performance deterioration on homology models built using templates with sequence identity below 40%, where sequence-based tools might become preferable. This was most marked for mutations in solvent exposed residues and stabilizing mutations. As structure prediction tools improve, the reliability of these predictors is expected to follow, however we strongly suggest that these factors should be taken into consideration when interpreting results from structure-based predictors of mutation effects on protein stability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qisheng Pan
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane City, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Systems and Computational Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Thanh Binh Nguyen
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane City, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Systems and Computational Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - David B Ascher
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane City, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Systems and Computational Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, 80 Tennis Ct Rd, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| | - Douglas E V Pires
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane City, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Systems and Computational Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, 30 Flemington Rd, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
- School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3053, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Yang ZY, Ye ZF, Xiao YJ, Hsieh CY, Zhang SY. SPLDExtraTrees: robust machine learning approach for predicting kinase inhibitor resistance. Brief Bioinform 2022; 23:6543900. [PMID: 35262669 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbac050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Drug resistance is a major threat to the global health and a significant concern throughout the clinical treatment of diseases and drug development. The mutation in proteins that is related to drug binding is a common cause for adaptive drug resistance. Therefore, quantitative estimations of how mutations would affect the interaction between a drug and the target protein would be of vital significance for the drug development and the clinical practice. Computational methods that rely on molecular dynamics simulations, Rosetta protocols, as well as machine learning methods have been proven to be capable of predicting ligand affinity changes upon protein mutation. However, the severely limited sample size and heavy noise induced overfitting and generalization issues have impeded wide adoption of machine learning for studying drug resistance. In this paper, we propose a robust machine learning method, termed SPLDExtraTrees, which can accurately predict ligand binding affinity changes upon protein mutation and identify resistance-causing mutations. Especially, the proposed method ranks training data following a specific scheme that starts with easy-to-learn samples and gradually incorporates harder and diverse samples into the training, and then iterates between sample weight recalculations and model updates. In addition, we calculate additional physics-based structural features to provide the machine learning model with the valuable domain knowledge on proteins for these data-limited predictive tasks. The experiments substantiate the capability of the proposed method for predicting kinase inhibitor resistance under three scenarios and achieve predictive accuracy comparable with that of molecular dynamics and Rosetta methods with much less computational costs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zi-Yi Yang
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhao-Feng Ye
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China
| | - Yi-Jia Xiao
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China.,Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China
| | - Chang-Yu Hsieh
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China
| | - Sheng-Yu Zhang
- Tencent Quantum Laboratory, Shenzhen, 518057, Guangdong, China
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Sun T, Chen Y, Wen Y, Zhu Z, Li M. PremPLI: a machine learning model for predicting the effects of missense mutations on protein-ligand interactions. Commun Biol 2021; 4:1311. [PMID: 34799678 PMCID: PMC8604987 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02826-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Resistance to small-molecule drugs is the main cause of the failure of therapeutic drugs in clinical practice. Missense mutations altering the binding of ligands to proteins are one of the critical mechanisms that result in genetic disease and drug resistance. Computational methods have made a lot of progress for predicting binding affinity changes and identifying resistance mutations, but their prediction accuracy and speed are still not satisfied and need to be further improved. To address these issues, we introduce a structure-based machine learning method for quantitatively estimating the effects of single mutations on ligand binding affinity changes (named as PremPLI). A comprehensive comparison of the predictive performance of PremPLI with other available methods on two benchmark datasets confirms that our approach performs robustly and presents similar or even higher predictive accuracy than the approaches relying on first-principle statistical mechanics and mixed physics- and knowledge-based potentials while requires much less computational resources. PremPLI can be used for guiding the design of ligand-binding proteins, identifying and understanding disease driver mutations, and finding potential resistance mutations for different drugs. PremPLI is freely available at https://lilab.jysw.suda.edu.cn/research/PremPLI/ and allows to do large-scale mutational scanning. Sun et al. present PremPLI, a machine learning approach and web tool to predict how missense mutations in a drug’s target protein will affect the drug’s binding affinity. PremPLI can be applied to identify drug resistance mechanisms in cancer cells and microorganisms and develop drugs to combat drug resistance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Sun
- Center for Systems Biology, Department of Bioinformatics, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, 215123, Suzhou, China
| | - Yuting Chen
- Center for Systems Biology, Department of Bioinformatics, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, 215123, Suzhou, China
| | - Yuhao Wen
- Center for Systems Biology, Department of Bioinformatics, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, 215123, Suzhou, China
| | - Zefeng Zhu
- Center for Systems Biology, Department of Bioinformatics, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, 215123, Suzhou, China
| | - Minghui Li
- Center for Systems Biology, Department of Bioinformatics, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, 215123, Suzhou, China.
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Rodrigues CHM, Pires DEV, Ascher DB. mmCSM-PPI: predicting the effects of multiple point mutations on protein-protein interactions. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:W417-W424. [PMID: 33893812 PMCID: PMC8262703 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Revised: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein-protein interactions play a crucial role in all cellular functions and biological processes and mutations leading to their disruption are enriched in many diseases. While a number of computational methods to assess the effects of variants on protein-protein binding affinity have been proposed, they are in general limited to the analysis of single point mutations and have been shown to perform poorly on independent test sets. Here, we present mmCSM-PPI, a scalable and effective machine learning model for accurately assessing changes in protein-protein binding affinity caused by single and multiple missense mutations. We expanded our well-established graph-based signatures in order to capture physicochemical and geometrical properties of multiple wild-type residue environments and integrated them with substitution scores and dynamics terms from normal mode analysis. mmCSM-PPI was able to achieve a Pearson's correlation of up to 0.75 (RMSE = 1.64 kcal/mol) under 10-fold cross-validation and 0.70 (RMSE = 2.06 kcal/mol) on a non-redundant blind test, outperforming existing methods. Our method is freely available as a user-friendly and easy-to-use web server and API at http://biosig.unimelb.edu.au/mmcsm_ppi.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carlos H M Rodrigues
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Systems and Computational Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Douglas E V Pires
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Systems and Computational Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - David B Ascher
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Systems and Computational Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Sequeiros-Borja CE, Surpeta B, Brezovsky J. Recent advances in user-friendly computational tools to engineer protein function. Brief Bioinform 2021; 22:bbaa150. [PMID: 32743637 PMCID: PMC8138880 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbaa150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Revised: 06/03/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Progress in technology and algorithms throughout the past decade has transformed the field of protein design and engineering. Computational approaches have become well-engrained in the processes of tailoring proteins for various biotechnological applications. Many tools and methods are developed and upgraded each year to satisfy the increasing demands and challenges of protein engineering. To help protein engineers and bioinformaticians navigate this emerging wave of dedicated software, we have critically evaluated recent additions to the toolbox regarding their application for semi-rational and rational protein engineering. These newly developed tools identify and prioritize hotspots and analyze the effects of mutations for a variety of properties, comprising ligand binding, protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions, and electrostatic potential. We also discuss notable progress to target elusive protein dynamics and associated properties like ligand-transport processes and allosteric communication. Finally, we discuss several challenges these tools face and provide our perspectives on the further development of readily applicable methods to guide protein engineering efforts.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Eduardo Sequeiros-Borja
- Laboratory of Biomolecular Interactions and Transport, Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University and the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Bartłomiej Surpeta
- Laboratory of Biomolecular Interactions and Transport, Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University and the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Jan Brezovsky
- Laboratory of Biomolecular Interactions and Transport, Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University and the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Fowler PW. How quickly can we predict trimethoprim resistance using alchemical free energy methods? Interface Focus 2020; 10:20190141. [PMID: 33178416 PMCID: PMC7653339 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of antimicrobial resistance threatens modern medicine and necessitates more personalized treatment of bacterial infections. Sequencing the whole genome of the pathogen(s) in a clinical sample offers one way to improve clinical microbiology diagnostic services, and has already been adopted for tuberculosis in some countries. A key weakness of a genetics clinical microbiology is it cannot return a result for rare or novel genetic variants and therefore predictive methods are required. Non-synonymous mutations in the S. aureus dfrB gene can be successfully classified as either conferring resistance (or not) by calculating their effect on the binding free energy of the antibiotic, trimethoprim. The underlying approach, alchemical free energy methods, requires large numbers of molecular dynamics simulations to be run. We show that a large number (N = 15) of binding free energies calculated from a series of very short (50 ps) molecular dynamics simulations are able to satisfactorily classify all seven mutations in our clinically derived testset. A result for a single mutation could therefore be returned in less than an hour, thereby demonstrating that this or similar methods are now sufficiently fast and reproducible for clinical use.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Philip W. Fowler
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
- National Institute of Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Yalcin GD, Danisik N, Baygin RC, Acar A. Systems Biology and Experimental Model Systems of Cancer. J Pers Med 2020; 10:E180. [PMID: 33086677 PMCID: PMC7712848 DOI: 10.3390/jpm10040180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2020] [Revised: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the past decade, we have witnessed an increasing number of large-scale studies that have provided multi-omics data by high-throughput sequencing approaches. This has particularly helped with identifying key (epi)genetic alterations in cancers. Importantly, aberrations that lead to the activation of signaling networks through the disruption of normal cellular homeostasis is seen both in cancer cells and also in the neighboring tumor microenvironment. Cancer systems biology approaches have enabled the efficient integration of experimental data with computational algorithms and the implementation of actionable targeted therapies, as the exceptions, for the treatment of cancer. Comprehensive multi-omics data obtained through the sequencing of tumor samples and experimental model systems will be important in implementing novel cancer systems biology approaches and increasing their efficacy for tailoring novel personalized treatment modalities in cancer. In this review, we discuss emerging cancer systems biology approaches based on multi-omics data derived from bulk and single-cell genomics studies in addition to existing experimental model systems that play a critical role in understanding (epi)genetic heterogeneity and therapy resistance in cancer.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Ahmet Acar
- Department of Biological Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Universiteler Mah. Dumlupınar Bulvarı 1, Çankaya, Ankara 06800, Turkey; (G.D.Y.); (N.D.); (R.C.B.)
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Myung Y, Rodrigues CHM, Ascher DB, Pires DEV. mCSM-AB2: guiding rational antibody design using graph-based signatures. Bioinformatics 2020; 36:1453-1459. [PMID: 31665262 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btz779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Revised: 10/07/2019] [Accepted: 10/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
MOTIVATION A lack of accurate computational tools to guide rational mutagenesis has made affinity maturation a recurrent challenge in antibody (Ab) development. We previously showed that graph-based signatures can be used to predict the effects of mutations on Ab binding affinity. RESULTS Here we present an updated and refined version of this approach, mCSM-AB2, capable of accurately modelling the effects of mutations on Ab-antigen binding affinity, through the inclusion of evolutionary and energetic terms. Using a new and expanded database of over 1800 mutations with experimental binding measurements and structural information, mCSM-AB2 achieved a Pearson's correlation of 0.73 and 0.77 across training and blind tests, respectively, outperforming available methods currently used for rational Ab engineering. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION mCSM-AB2 is available as a user-friendly and freely accessible web server providing rapid analysis of both individual mutations or the entire binding interface to guide rational antibody affinity maturation at http://biosig.unimelb.edu.au/mcsm_ab2. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yoochan Myung
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.,ACRF Facility for Innovative Cancer Drug Discovery, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.,Structural Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - Carlos H M Rodrigues
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.,ACRF Facility for Innovative Cancer Drug Discovery, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.,Structural Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
| | - David B Ascher
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.,ACRF Facility for Innovative Cancer Drug Discovery, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.,Structural Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| | - Douglas E V Pires
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.,ACRF Facility for Innovative Cancer Drug Discovery, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.,Structural Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia.,School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Munir A, Vedithi SC, Chaplin AK, Blundell TL. Genomics, Computational Biology and Drug Discovery for Mycobacterial Infections: Fighting the Emergence of Resistance. Front Genet 2020; 11:965. [PMID: 33101362 PMCID: PMC7498718 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2020] [Accepted: 07/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) and leprosy are mycobacterial infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae respectively. These diseases continue to be endemic in developing countries where the cost of new medicines presents major challenges. The situation is further exacerbated by the emergence of resistance to many front-line antibiotics. A priority now is to design new antimycobacterials that are not only effective in combatting the diseases but are also less likely to give rise to resistance. In both these respects understanding the structure of drug targets in M. tuberculosis and M. leprae is crucial. In this review we describe structure-guided approaches to understanding the impacts of mutations that give rise to antimycobacterial resistance and the use of this information in the design of new medicines.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Asma Munir
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | - Amanda K Chaplin
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Tom L Blundell
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Abstract
Mutations in protein-coding regions can lead to large biological changes and are associated with genetic conditions, including cancers and Mendelian diseases, as well as drug resistance. Although whole genome and exome sequencing help to elucidate potential genotype-phenotype correlations, there is a large gap between the identification of new variants and deciphering their molecular consequences. A comprehensive understanding of these mechanistic consequences is crucial to better understand and treat diseases in a more personalized and effective way. This is particularly relevant considering estimates that over 80% of mutations associated with a disease are incorrectly assumed to be causative. A thorough analysis of potential effects of mutations is required to correctly identify the molecular mechanisms of disease and enable the distinction between disease-causing and non-disease-causing variation within a gene. Here we present an overview of our integrative mutation analysis platform, which focuses on refining the current genotype-phenotype correlation methods by using the wealth of protein structural information.
Collapse
|
25
|
Zhu C, Miller M, Zeng Z, Wang Y, Mahlich Y, Aptekmann A, Bromberg Y. Computational Approaches for Unraveling the Effects of Variation in the Human Genome and Microbiome. Annu Rev Biomed Data Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biodatasci-030320-041014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
The past two decades of analytical efforts have highlighted how much more remains to be learned about the human genome and, particularly, its complex involvement in promoting disease development and progression. While numerous computational tools exist for the assessment of the functional and pathogenic effects of genome variants, their precision is far from satisfactory, particularly for clinical use. Accumulating evidence also suggests that the human microbiome's interaction with the human genome plays a critical role in determining health and disease states. While numerous microbial taxonomic groups and molecular functions of the human microbiome have been associated with disease, the reproducibility of these findings is lacking. The human microbiome–genome interaction in healthy individuals is even less well understood. This review summarizes the available computational methods built to analyze the effect of variation in the human genome and microbiome. We address the applicability and precision of these methods across their possible uses. We also briefly discuss the exciting, necessary, and now possible integration of the two types of data to improve the understanding of pathogenicity mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chengsheng Zhu
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08873, USA;,
| | - Maximilian Miller
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08873, USA;,
| | - Zishuo Zeng
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08873, USA;,
| | - Yanran Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08873, USA;,
| | - Yannick Mahlich
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08873, USA;,
| | - Ariel Aptekmann
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08873, USA;,
| | - Yana Bromberg
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08873, USA;,
- Department of Genetics, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Myung Y, Pires DEV, Ascher DB. mmCSM-AB: guiding rational antibody engineering through multiple point mutations. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:W125-W131. [PMID: 32432715 PMCID: PMC7319589 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Revised: 04/18/2020] [Accepted: 05/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
While antibodies are becoming an increasingly important therapeutic class, especially in personalized medicine, their development and optimization has been largely through experimental exploration. While there have been many efforts to develop computational tools to guide rational antibody engineering, most approaches are of limited accuracy when applied to antibody design, and have largely been limited to analysing a single point mutation at a time. To overcome this gap, we have curated a dataset of 242 experimentally determined changes in binding affinity upon multiple point mutations in antibody-target complexes (89 increasing and 153 decreasing binding affinity). Here, we have shown that by using our graph-based signatures and atomic interaction information, we can accurately analyse the consequence of multi-point mutations on antigen binding affinity. Our approach outperformed other available tools across cross-validation and two independent blind tests, achieving Pearson's correlations of up to 0.95. We have implemented our new approach, mmCSM-AB, as a web-server that can help guide the process of affinity maturation in antibody design. mmCSM-AB is freely available at http://biosig.unimelb.edu.au/mmcsm_ab/.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yoochan Myung
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Douglas E V Pires
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - David B Ascher
- Computational Biology and Clinical Informatics, Baker Institute, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Wang DD, Zhu M, Yan H. Computationally predicting binding affinity in protein-ligand complexes: free energy-based simulations and machine learning-based scoring functions. Brief Bioinform 2020; 22:5860693. [PMID: 32591817 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbaa107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Accurately predicting protein-ligand binding affinities can substantially facilitate the drug discovery process, but it remains as a difficult problem. To tackle the challenge, many computational methods have been proposed. Among these methods, free energy-based simulations and machine learning-based scoring functions can potentially provide accurate predictions. In this paper, we review these two classes of methods, following a number of thermodynamic cycles for the free energy-based simulations and a feature-representation taxonomy for the machine learning-based scoring functions. More recent deep learning-based predictions, where a hierarchy of feature representations are generally extracted, are also reviewed. Strengths and weaknesses of the two classes of methods, coupled with future directions for improvements, are comparatively discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Debby D Wang
- School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
| | - Mengxu Zhu
- Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong
| | - Hong Yan
- College of Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Wang DD, Ou-Yang L, Xie H, Zhu M, Yan H. Predicting the impacts of mutations on protein-ligand binding affinity based on molecular dynamics simulations and machine learning methods. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2020; 18:439-454. [PMID: 32153730 PMCID: PMC7052406 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Revised: 01/31/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose Mutation-induced variation of protein-ligand binding affinity is the key to many genetic diseases and the emergence of drug resistance, and therefore predicting such mutation impacts is of great importance. In this work, we aim to predict the mutation impacts on protein-ligand binding affinity using efficient structure-based, computational methods. Methods Relying on consolidated databases of experimentally determined data we characterize the affinity change upon mutation based on a number of local geometrical features and monitor such feature differences upon mutation during molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The differences are quantified according to average difference, trajectory-wise distance or time-vary differences. Machine-learning methods are employed to predict the mutation impacts using the resulting conventional or time-series features. Predictions based on estimation of energy and based on investigation of molecular descriptors were conducted as benchmarks. Results Our method (machine-learning techniques using time-series features) outperformed the benchmark methods, especially in terms of the balanced F1 score. Particularly, deep-learning models led to the best prediction performance with distinct improvements in balanced F1 score and a sustained accuracy. Conclusion Our work highlights the effectiveness of the characterization of affinity change upon mutations. Furthermore, deep-learning techniques are well designed for handling the extracted time-series features. This study can lead to a deeper understanding of mutation-induced diseases and resistance, and further guide the development of innovative drug design.
Collapse
Key Words
- CNN, convolutional neural network
- Deep learning
- HMM, hidden Markov model
- LSTM, long short-term memory
- Local geometrical features
- MD, molecular dynamics
- MM/GBSA, molecular mechanics/generalized born surface area
- MM/PBSA, molecular mechanics/Poisson-Boltzmann surface area
- Missense mutation
- Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations
- Mutation impact
- Protein-ligand binding affinity
- RF, random forest
- RMSD, root-mean-square deviation
- RNN, recurrent neural network
- SASA, solvent accessible surface area
- Time series features
- WTP, wildtype protein
- aacomp, amino acid composition descriptors
- const, constitutional descriptors
- ctd, composition transition and distribution descriptors
- kappa, Kappa shape indices
- paacomp, type 1 pseudo amino acid composition descriptors
- top, topological descriptors
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Debby D. Wang
- Institute of Medical Information Engineering, School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 516 Jungong Rd, Shanghai 200093, China
- Corresponding author at: Institute of Medical Information Engineering, School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 516 Jungong Rd, Shanghai 200093, China.
| | - Le Ou-Yang
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Intelligent Information Processing and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Media Security, College of Electronics and Information Engineering, Shenzhen University, 3688 Nanhai Ave, Shenzhen 518060, China
- Corresponding author at: Institute of Medical Information Engineering, School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 516 Jungong Rd, Shanghai 200093, China.
| | - Haoran Xie
- Department of Computing and Decision Sciences, Lingnan University, 8 Castle Peak Rd, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
| | - Mengxu Zhu
- Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Hong Yan
- Department of Electrical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Improvement in predicting drug sensitivity changes associated with protein mutations using a molecular dynamics based alchemical mutation method. Sci Rep 2020; 10:2161. [PMID: 32034220 PMCID: PMC7005789 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58877-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2019] [Accepted: 01/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
While molecular-targeted drugs have demonstrated strong therapeutic efficacy against diverse diseases such as cancer and infection, the appearance of drug resistance associated with genetic variations in individual patients or pathogens has severely limited their clinical efficacy. Therefore, precision medicine approaches based on the personal genomic background provide promising strategies to enhance the effectiveness of molecular-targeted therapies. However, identifying drug resistance mutations in individuals by combining DNA sequencing and in vitro analyses is generally time consuming and costly. In contrast, in silico computation of protein-drug binding free energies allows for the rapid prediction of drug sensitivity changes associated with specific genetic mutations. Although conventional alchemical free energy computation methods have been used to quantify mutation-induced drug sensitivity changes in some protein targets, these methods are often adversely affected by free energy convergence. In this paper, we demonstrate significant improvements in prediction performance and free energy convergence by employing an alchemical mutation protocol, MutationFEP, which directly estimates binding free energy differences associated with protein mutations in three types of a protein and drug system. The superior performance of MutationFEP appears to be attributable to its more-moderate perturbation scheme. Therefore, this study provides a deeper level of insight into computer-assisted precision medicine.
Collapse
|
30
|
A Comprehensive Computational Platform to Guide Drug Development Using Graph-Based Signature Methods. Methods Mol Biol 2020. [PMID: 32006280 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0270-6_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
High-throughput computational techniques have become invaluable tools to help increase the overall success, process efficiency, and associated costs of drug development. By designing ligands tailored to specific protein structures in a disease of interest, an understanding of molecular interactions and ways to optimize them can be achieved prior to chemical synthesis. This understanding can help direct crucial chemical and biological experiments by maximizing available resources on higher quality leads. Moreover, predicting molecular binding affinity within specific biological contexts, as well as ligand pharmacokinetics and toxicities, can aid in filtering out redundant leads early on within the process. We describe a set of computational tools which can aid in drug discovery at different stages, from hit identification (EasyVS) to lead optimization and candidate selection (CSM-lig, mCSM-lig, Arpeggio, pkCSM). Incorporating these tools along the drug development process can help ensure that candidate leads are chemically and biologically feasible to become successful and tractable drugs.
Collapse
|
31
|
Copoiu L, Torres PHM, Ascher DB, Blundell TL, Malhotra S. ProCarbDB: a database of carbohydrate-binding proteins. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:D368-D375. [PMID: 31598690 PMCID: PMC6943041 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Revised: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 10/05/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Carbohydrate-binding proteins play crucial roles across all organisms and viruses. The complexity of carbohydrate structures, together with inconsistencies in how their 3D structures are reported, has led to difficulties in characterizing the protein-carbohydrate interfaces. In order to better understand protein-carbohydrate interactions, we have developed an open-access database, ProCarbDB, which, unlike the Protein Data Bank (PDB), clearly distinguishes between the complete carbohydrate ligands and their monomeric units. ProCarbDB is a comprehensive database containing over 5200 3D X-ray crystal structures of protein-carbohydrate complexes. In ProCarbDB, the complete carbohydrate ligands are annotated and all their interactions are displayed. Users can also select any protein residue in the proximity of the ligand to inspect its interactions with the carbohydrate ligand and with other neighbouring protein residues. Where available, additional curated information on the binding affinity of the complex and the effects of mutations on the binding have also been provided in the database. We believe that ProCarbDB will be an invaluable resource for understanding protein-carbohydrate interfaces. The ProCarbDB web server is freely available at http://www.procarbdb.science/procarb.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liviu Copoiu
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, UK
| | - Pedro H M Torres
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, UK
| | - David B Ascher
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, UK,Department of Biochemistry, University of Melbourne, Flemington Road, Parkville, Australia
| | - Tom L Blundell
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, UK,To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +44 1223 333628;
| | - Sony Malhotra
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge, CB2 1GA, UK,Correspondence may also be addressed to Sony Malhotra.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Pandurangan AP, Blundell TL. Prediction of impacts of mutations on protein structure and interactions: SDM, a statistical approach, and mCSM, using machine learning. Protein Sci 2020; 29:247-257. [PMID: 31693276 PMCID: PMC6933854 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2019] [Revised: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 10/31/2019] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Next-generation sequencing methods have not only allowed an understanding of genome sequence variation during the evolution of organisms but have also provided invaluable information about genetic variants in inherited disease and the emergence of resistance to drugs in cancers and infectious disease. A challenge is to distinguish mutations that are drivers of disease or drug resistance, from passengers that are neutral or even selectively advantageous to the organism. This requires an understanding of impacts of missense mutations in gene expression and regulation, and on the disruption of protein function by modulating protein stability or disturbing interactions with proteins, nucleic acids, small molecule ligands, and other biological molecules. Experimental approaches to understanding differences between wild-type and mutant proteins are most accurate but are also time-consuming and costly. Computational tools used to predict the impacts of mutations can provide useful information more quickly. Here, we focus on two widely used structure-based approaches, originally developed in the Blundell lab: site-directed mutator (SDM), a statistical approach to analyze amino acid substitutions, and mutation cutoff scanning matrix (mCSM), which uses graph-based signatures to represent the wild-type structural environment and machine learning to predict the effect of mutations on protein stability. Here, we describe DUET that uses machine learning to combine the two approaches. We discuss briefly the development of mCSM for understanding the impacts of mutations on interfaces with other proteins, nucleic acids, and ligands, and we exemplify the wide application of these approaches to understand human genetic disorders and drug resistance mutations relevant to cancer and mycobacterial infections. STATEMENT FOR A BROADER AUDIENCE: Genetic or somatic changes in genes can lead to mutations in human proteins, which give rise to genetic disorders or cancer, or to genes of pathogens leading to drug resistance. Computer software described here, using statistical approaches or machine learning, uses the information from genome sequencing of humans and pathogens, together with experimental or modeled 3D structures of gene products, the proteins, to predict impacts of mutations in genetic disease, cancer and drug resistance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Arun Prasad Pandurangan
- Department of BiochemistryUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular BiologyCambridgeUK
| | - Tom L. Blundell
- Department of BiochemistryUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Esposito D, Weile J, Shendure J, Starita LM, Papenfuss AT, Roth FP, Fowler DM, Rubin AF. MaveDB: an open-source platform to distribute and interpret data from multiplexed assays of variant effect. Genome Biol 2019; 20:223. [PMID: 31679514 PMCID: PMC6827219 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-019-1845-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiplex assays of variant effect (MAVEs), such as deep mutational scans and massively parallel reporter assays, test thousands of sequence variants in a single experiment. Despite the importance of MAVE data for basic and clinical research, there is no standard resource for their discovery and distribution. Here, we present MaveDB ( https://www.mavedb.org ), a public repository for large-scale measurements of sequence variant impact, designed for interoperability with applications to interpret these datasets. We also describe the first such application, MaveVis, which retrieves, visualizes, and contextualizes variant effect maps. Together, the database and applications will empower the community to mine these powerful datasets.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Esposito
- Bioinformatics Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Jochen Weile
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jay Shendure
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Lea M Starita
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Anthony T Papenfuss
- Bioinformatics Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Bioinformatics and Cancer Genomics Laboratory, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Frederick P Roth
- The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - Douglas M Fowler
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Alan F Rubin
- Bioinformatics Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
- Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
- Bioinformatics and Cancer Genomics Laboratory, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Aldeghi M, Gapsys V, de Groot BL. Predicting Kinase Inhibitor Resistance: Physics-Based and Data-Driven Approaches. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2019; 5:1468-1474. [PMID: 31482130 PMCID: PMC6716344 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.9b00590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2019] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Resistance to small molecule drugs often emerges in cancer cells, viruses, and bacteria as a result of the evolutionary pressure exerted by the therapy. Protein mutations that directly impair drug binding are frequently involved in resistance, and the ability to anticipate these mutations would be beneficial in drug development and clinical practice. Here, we evaluate the ability of three distinct computational methods to predict ligand binding affinity changes upon protein mutation for the cancer target Abl kinase. These structure-based approaches rely on first-principle statistical mechanics, mixed physics- and knowledge-based potentials, and machine learning, and were able to estimate binding affinity changes and identify resistant mutations with remarkable accuracy. We expect that these complementary approaches will enable the routine prediction of resistance-causing mutations in a variety of other target proteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Aldeghi
- Computational Biomolecular Dynamics
Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical
Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Vytautas Gapsys
- Computational Biomolecular Dynamics
Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical
Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Bert L. de Groot
- Computational Biomolecular Dynamics
Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical
Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Malhotra S, Alsulami AF, Heiyun Y, Ochoa BM, Jubb H, Forbes S, Blundell TL. Understanding the impacts of missense mutations on structures and functions of human cancer-related genes: A preliminary computational analysis of the COSMIC Cancer Gene Census. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0219935. [PMID: 31323058 PMCID: PMC6641202 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Genomics and genome screening are proving central to the study of cancer. However, a good appreciation of the protein structures coded by cancer genes is also invaluable, especially for the understanding of functions, for assessing ligandability of potential targets, and for designing new drugs. To complement the wealth of information on the genetics of cancer in COSMIC, the most comprehensive database for cancer somatic mutations available, structural information obtained experimentally has been brought together recently in COSMIC-3D. Even where structural information is available for a gene in the Cancer Gene Census, a list of genes in COSMIC with substantial evidence supporting their impacts in cancer, this information is quite often for a single domain in a larger protein or for a single protomer in a multiprotein assembly. Here, we show that over 60% of the genes included in the Cancer Gene Census are predicted to possess multiple domains. Many are also multicomponent and membrane-associated molecular assemblies, with mutations recorded in COSMIC affecting such assemblies. However, only 469 of the gene products have a structure represented in the PDB, and of these only 87 structures have 90-100% coverage over the sequence and 69 have less than 10% coverage. As a first step to bridging gaps in our knowledge in the many cases where individual protein structures and domains are lacking, we discuss our attempts of protein structure modelling using our pipeline and investigating the effects of mutations using two of our in-house methods (SDM2 and mCSM) and identifying potential driver mutations. This allows us to begin to understand the effects of mutations not only on protein stability but also on protein-protein, protein-ligand and protein-nucleic acid interactions. In addition, we consider ways to combine the structural information with the wealth of mutation data available in COSMIC. We discuss the impacts of COSMIC missense mutations on protein structure in order to identify and assess the molecular consequences of cancer-driving mutations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sony Malhotra
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Ali F. Alsulami
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Yang Heiyun
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | - Harry Jubb
- Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Simon Forbes
- Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Tom L. Blundell
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Wang B, Yan C, Lou S, Emani P, Li B, Xu M, Kong X, Meyerson W, Yang YT, Lee D, Gerstein M. Building a Hybrid Physical-Statistical Classifier for Predicting the Effect of Variants Related to Protein-Drug Interactions. Structure 2019; 27:1469-1481.e3. [PMID: 31279629 DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2019.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2018] [Revised: 02/14/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
A key issue in drug design is how population variation affects drug efficacy by altering binding affinity (BA) in different individuals, an essential consideration for government regulators. Ideally, we would like to evaluate the BA perturbations of millions of single-nucleotide variants (SNVs). However, only hundreds of protein-drug complexes with SNVs have experimentally characterized BAs, constituting too small a gold standard for straightforward statistical model training. Thus, we take a hybrid approach: using physically based calculations to bootstrap the parameterization of a full model. In particular, we do 3D structure-based docking on ∼10,000 SNVs modifying known protein-drug complexes to construct a pseudo gold standard. Then we use this augmented set of BAs to train a statistical model combining structure, ligand and sequence features and illustrate how it can be applied to millions of SNVs. Finally, we show that our model has good cross-validated performance (97% AUROC) and can also be validated by orthogonal ligand-binding data.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bo Wang
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Chengfei Yan
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Shaoke Lou
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Prashant Emani
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Bian Li
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Min Xu
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Xiangmeng Kong
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - William Meyerson
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Yucheng T Yang
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Donghoon Lee
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Mark Gerstein
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Computer Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Rodrigues CHM, Myung Y, Pires DEV, Ascher DB. mCSM-PPI2: predicting the effects of mutations on protein-protein interactions. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 47:W338-W344. [PMID: 31114883 PMCID: PMC6602427 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 200] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2019] [Revised: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein-protein Interactions are involved in most fundamental biological processes, with disease causing mutations enriched at their interfaces. Here we present mCSM-PPI2, a novel machine learning computational tool designed to more accurately predict the effects of missense mutations on protein-protein interaction binding affinity. mCSM-PPI2 uses graph-based structural signatures to model effects of variations on the inter-residue interaction network, evolutionary information, complex network metrics and energetic terms to generate an optimised predictor. We demonstrate that our method outperforms previous methods, ranking first among 26 others on CAPRI blind tests. mCSM-PPI2 is freely available as a user friendly webserver at http://biosig.unimelb.edu.au/mcsm_ppi2/.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carlos H M Rodrigues
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- ACRF Facility for Innovative Cancer Drug Discovery, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Yoochan Myung
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- ACRF Facility for Innovative Cancer Drug Discovery, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Douglas E V Pires
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- ACRF Facility for Innovative Cancer Drug Discovery, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - David B Ascher
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- ACRF Facility for Innovative Cancer Drug Discovery, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Structural Biology and Bioinformatics, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Pires DEV, Ascher DB. mCSM-NA: predicting the effects of mutations on protein-nucleic acids interactions. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 45:W241-W246. [PMID: 28383703 PMCID: PMC5570212 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2017] [Accepted: 04/03/2017] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the past two decades, several computational methods have been proposed to predict how missense mutations can affect protein structure and function, either by altering protein stability or interactions with its partners, shedding light into potential molecular mechanisms giving rise to different phenotypes. Effectively and efficiently predicting consequences of mutations on protein–nucleic acid interactions, however, remained until recently a great and unmet challenge. Here we report an updated webserver for mCSM–NA, the only scalable method we are aware of capable of quantitatively predicting the effects of mutations in protein coding regions on nucleic acid binding affinities. We have significantly enhanced the original method by including a pharmacophore modelling and information of nucleic acid properties into our graph-based signatures, considering the reverse mutation and by using a refined, more reliable data set, based on a new release of the ProNIT database, which has significantly improved the reliability and applicability of the methodology. Our new predictive model was capable of achieving a correlation coefficient of up to 0.70 on cross-validation and 0.68 on blind-tests, outperforming its previous version. The server is freely available via a user-friendly web interface at: http://structure.bioc.cam.ac.uk/mcsm_na.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - David B Ascher
- Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Pandurangan AP, Ochoa-Montaño B, Ascher DB, Blundell TL. SDM: a server for predicting effects of mutations on protein stability. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 45:W229-W235. [PMID: 28525590 PMCID: PMC5793720 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 333] [Impact Index Per Article: 66.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/15/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Here, we report a webserver for the improved SDM, used for predicting the effects of mutations on protein stability. As a pioneering knowledge-based approach, SDM has been highlighted as the most appropriate method to use in combination with many other approaches. We have updated the environment-specific amino-acid substitution tables based on the current expanded PDB (a 5-fold increase in information), and introduced new residue-conformation and interaction parameters, including packing density and residue depth. The updated server has been extensively tested using a benchmark containing 2690 point mutations from 132 different protein structures. The revised method correlates well against the hypothetical reverse mutations, better than comparable methods built using machine-learning approaches, highlighting the strength of our knowledge-based approach for identifying stabilising mutations. Given a PDB file (a Protein Data Bank file format containing the 3D coordinates of the protein atoms), and a point mutation, the server calculates the stability difference score between the wildtype and mutant protein. The server is available at http://structure.bioc.cam.ac.uk/sdm2
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - David B Ascher
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Australia
| | - Tom L Blundell
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Empirical ways to identify novel Bedaquiline resistance mutations in AtpE. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0217169. [PMID: 31141524 PMCID: PMC6541270 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 05/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Clinical resistance against Bedaquiline, the first new anti-tuberculosis compound with a novel mechanism of action in over 40 years, has already been detected in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As a new drug, however, there is currently insufficient clinical data to facilitate reliable and timely identification of genomic determinants of resistance. Here we investigate the structural basis for M. tuberculosis associated bedaquiline resistance in the drug target, AtpE. Together with the 9 previously identified resistance-associated variants in AtpE, 54 non-resistance-associated mutations were identified through comparisons of bedaquiline susceptibility across 23 different mycobacterial species. Computational analysis of the structural and functional consequences of these variants revealed that resistance associated variants were mainly localized at the drug binding site, disrupting key interactions with bedaquiline leading to reduced binding affinity. This was used to train a supervised predictive algorithm, which accurately identified likely resistance mutations (93.3% accuracy). Application of this model to circulating variants present in the Asia-Pacific region suggests that current circulating variants are likely to be susceptible to bedaquiline. We have made this model freely available through a user-friendly web interface called SUSPECT-BDQ, StrUctural Susceptibility PrEdiCTion for bedaquiline (http://biosig.unimelb.edu.au/suspect_bdq/). This tool could be useful for the rapid characterization of novel clinical variants, to help guide the effective use of bedaquiline, and to minimize the spread of clinical resistance.
Collapse
|
41
|
Synthesis and Structure-Activity relationship of 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)piperazine analogues as inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis IMPDH. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 174:309-329. [PMID: 31055147 PMCID: PMC6990405 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.04.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Revised: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is a major infectious disease associated increasingly with drug resistance. Thus, new anti-tubercular agents with novel mechanisms of action are urgently required for the treatment of drug-resistant TB. In prior work, we identified compound 1 (cyclohexyl(4-(isoquinolin-5-ylsulfonyl)piperazin-1-yl)methanone) and showed that its anti-tubercular activity is attributable to inhibition of inosine-5′-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In the present study, we explored the structure–activity relationship around compound 1 by synthesizing and evaluating the inhibitory activity of analogues against M. tuberculosis IMPDH in biochemical and whole-cell assays. X-ray crystallography was performed to elucidate the mode of binding of selected analogues to IMPDH. We establish the importance of the cyclohexyl, piperazine and isoquinoline rings for activity, and report the identification of an analogue with IMPDH-selective activity against a mutant of M. tuberculosis that is highly resistant to compound 1. We also show that the nitrogen in urea analogues is required for anti-tubercular activity and identify benzylurea derivatives as promising inhibitors that warrant further investigation. Forty-eight analogues of 1-(5-isoquinolinesulfonyl)piperazine were synthesized. Biochemical, whole-cell, and X-ray studies were performed to elucidate the IMPDH inhibition. Piperazine and isoquinoline rings were essential for target-selective whole-cell activity. Compound 47 showed improved IC50 against the MtbIMPDH and maintained on-target whole-cell activity. Compound 21 showed activity against IMPDH in both wild type M. tuberculosis and a resistant mutant of compound 1.
Collapse
|
42
|
Pires DEV, Rodrigues CHM, Albanaz ATS, Karmakar M, Myung Y, Xavier J, Michanetzi EM, Portelli S, Ascher DB. Exploring Protein Supersecondary Structure Through Changes in Protein Folding, Stability, and Flexibility. Methods Mol Biol 2019; 1958:173-185. [PMID: 30945219 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9161-7_9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The ability to predict how mutations affect protein structure, folding, and flexibility can elucidate the molecular mechanisms leading to disruption of supersecondary structures, the emergence of phenotypes, as well guiding rational protein engineering. The advent of fast and accurate computational tools has enabled us to comprehensively explore the landscape of mutation effects on protein structures, prioritizing mutations for rational experimental validation.Here we describe the use of two complementary web-based in silico methods, DUET and DynaMut, developed to infer the effects of mutations on folding, stability, and flexibility and how they can be used to explore and interpret these effects on protein supersecondary structures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Douglas E V Pires
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. .,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
| | - Carlos H M Rodrigues
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Malancha Karmakar
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Yoochan Myung
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Joicymara Xavier
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Eleni-Maria Michanetzi
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Stephanie Portelli
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - David B Ascher
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Aldeghi M, Gapsys V, de Groot BL. Accurate Estimation of Ligand Binding Affinity Changes upon Protein Mutation. ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE 2018; 4:1708-1718. [PMID: 30648154 PMCID: PMC6311686 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.8b00717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
The design of proteins with novel ligand-binding functions holds great potential for application in biomedicine and biotechnology. However, our ability to engineer ligand-binding proteins is still limited, and current approaches rely primarily on experimentation. Computation could reduce the cost of the development process and would allow rigorous testing of our understanding of the principles governing molecular recognition. While computational methods have proven successful in the early stages of the discovery process, optimization approaches that can quantitatively predict ligand affinity changes upon protein mutation are still lacking. Here, we assess the ability of free energy calculations based on first-principles statistical mechanics, as well as the latest Rosetta protocols, to quantitatively predict such affinity changes on a challenging set of 134 mutations. After evaluating different protocols with computational efficiency in mind, we investigate the performance of different force fields. We show that both the free energy calculations and Rosetta are able to quantitatively predict changes in ligand binding affinity upon protein mutations, yet the best predictions are the result of combining the estimates of both methods. These closely match the experimentally determined ΔΔG values, with a root-mean-square error of 1.2 kcal/mol for the full benchmark set and of 0.8 kcal/mol for a subset of protein systems providing the most reproducible results. The currently achievable accuracy offers the prospect of being able to employ computation for the optimization of ligand-binding proteins as well as the prediction of drug resistance.
Collapse
|
44
|
Rodrigues CHM, Pires DEV, Ascher DB. DynaMut: predicting the impact of mutations on protein conformation, flexibility and stability. Nucleic Acids Res 2018; 46:W350-W355. [PMID: 29718330 PMCID: PMC6031064 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gky300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 649] [Impact Index Per Article: 108.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2018] [Revised: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 04/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Proteins are highly dynamic molecules, whose function is intrinsically linked to their molecular motions. Despite the pivotal role of protein dynamics, their computational simulation cost has led to most structure-based approaches for assessing the impact of mutations on protein structure and function relying upon static structures. Here we present DynaMut, a web server implementing two distinct, well established normal mode approaches, which can be used to analyze and visualize protein dynamics by sampling conformations and assess the impact of mutations on protein dynamics and stability resulting from vibrational entropy changes. DynaMut integrates our graph-based signatures along with normal mode dynamics to generate a consensus prediction of the impact of a mutation on protein stability. We demonstrate our approach outperforms alternative approaches to predict the effects of mutations on protein stability and flexibility (P-value < 0.001), achieving a correlation of up to 0.70 on blind tests. DynaMut also provides a comprehensive suite for protein motion and flexibility analysis and visualization via a freely available, user friendly web server at http://biosig.unimelb.edu.au/dynamut/.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carlos HM Rodrigues
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia
| | | | - David B Ascher
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, UK
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Rodrigues CHM, Ascher DB, Pires DEV. Kinact: a computational approach for predicting activating missense mutations in protein kinases. Nucleic Acids Res 2018; 46:W127-W132. [PMID: 29788456 PMCID: PMC6031004 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gky375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2018] [Revised: 04/15/2018] [Accepted: 04/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein phosphorylation is tightly regulated due to its vital role in many cellular processes. While gain of function mutations leading to constitutive activation of protein kinases are known to be driver events of many cancers, the identification of these mutations has proven challenging. Here we present Kinact, a novel machine learning approach for predicting kinase activating missense mutations using information from sequence and structure. By adapting our graph-based signatures, Kinact represents both structural and sequence information, which are used as evidence to train predictive models. We show the combination of structural and sequence features significantly improved the overall accuracy compared to considering either primary or tertiary structure alone, highlighting their complementarity. Kinact achieved a precision of 87% and 94% and Area Under ROC Curve of 0.89 and 0.92 on 10-fold cross-validation, and on blind tests, respectively, outperforming well established tools (P < 0.01). We further show that Kinact performs equally well on homology models built using templates with sequence identity as low as 33%. Kinact is freely available as a user-friendly web server at http://biosig.unimelb.edu.au/kinact/.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carlos HM Rodrigues
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne
| | - David B Ascher
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge
- Instituto René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
| | | |
Collapse
|
46
|
Fu D, Meiler J. RosettaLigandEnsemble: A Small-Molecule Ensemble-Driven Docking Approach. ACS OMEGA 2018; 3:3655-3664. [PMID: 29732444 PMCID: PMC5928483 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.7b02059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2017] [Accepted: 03/20/2018] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
RosettaLigand is a protein-small-molecule (ligand) docking software capable of predicting binding poses and is used for virtual screening of medium-sized ligand libraries. Structurally similar small molecules are generally found to bind in the same pose to one binding pocket, despite some prominent exceptions. To make use of this information, we have developed RosettaLigandEnsemble (RLE). RLE docks a superimposed ensemble of congeneric ligands simultaneously. The program determines a well-scoring overall pose for this superimposed ensemble before independently optimizing individual protein-small-molecule interfaces. In a cross-docking benchmark of 89 protein-small-molecule co-crystal structures across 20 biological systems, we found that RLE improved sampling efficiency in 62 cases, with an average change of 18%. In addition, RLE generated more consistent docking results within a congeneric series and was capable of rescuing the unsuccessful docking of individual ligands, identifying a nativelike top-scoring model in 10 additional cases. The improvement in RLE is driven by a balance between having a sizable common chemical scaffold and meaningful modifications to distal groups. The new ensemble docking algorithm will work well in conjunction with medicinal chemistry structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies to more accurately recapitulate protein-ligand interfaces. We also tested whether optimizing the rank correlation of RLE-binding scores to SAR data in the refinement step helps the high-resolution positioning of the ligand. However, no significant improvement was observed.
Collapse
|
47
|
Hawkey J, Ascher DB, Judd LM, Wick RR, Kostoulias X, Cleland H, Spelman DW, Padiglione A, Peleg AY, Holt KE. Evolution of carbapenem resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii during a prolonged infection. Microb Genom 2018; 4. [PMID: 29547094 PMCID: PMC5885017 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Acinetobacter baumannii is a common causative agent of hospital-acquired infections and a leading cause of infection in burns patients. Carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii is considered a major public-health threat and has been identified by the World Health Organization as the top priority organism requiring new antimicrobials. The most common mechanism for carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii is via horizontal acquisition of carbapenemase genes. In this study, we sampled 20 A. baumannii isolates from a patient with extensive burns, and characterized the evolution of carbapenem resistance over a 45 day period via Illumina and Oxford Nanopore sequencing. All isolates were multidrug resistant, carrying two genomic islands that harboured several antibiotic-resistance genes. Most isolates were genetically identical and represented a single founder genotype. We identified three novel non-synonymous substitutions associated with meropenem resistance: F136L and G288S in AdeB (part of the AdeABC efflux pump) associated with an increase in meropenem MIC to ≥8 µg ml−1; and A515V in FtsI (PBP3, a penicillin-binding protein) associated with a further increase in MIC to 32 µg ml−1. Structural modelling of AdeB and FtsI showed that these mutations affected their drug-binding sites and revealed mechanisms for meropenem resistance. Notably, one of the adeB mutations arose prior to meropenem therapy but following ciprofloxacin therapy, suggesting exposure to one drug whose resistance is mediated by the efflux pump can induce collateral resistance to other drugs to which the bacterium has not yet been exposed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jane Hawkey
- 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - David B Ascher
- 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Louise M Judd
- 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Ryan R Wick
- 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Xenia Kostoulias
- 2Infection and Immunity Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Heather Cleland
- 3Victorian Adult Burns Service, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.,4Department of Surgery, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
| | - Denis W Spelman
- 5Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.,6Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
| | - Alex Padiglione
- 5Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
| | - Anton Y Peleg
- 6Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia.,2Infection and Immunity Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.,5Department of Infectious Diseases, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
| | - Kathryn E Holt
- 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Fu DY, Meiler J. Predictive Power of Different Types of Experimental Restraints in Small Molecule Docking: A Review. J Chem Inf Model 2018; 58:225-233. [PMID: 29286651 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.7b00418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Incorporating experimental restraints is a powerful method of increasing accuracy in computational protein small molecule docking simulations. Different algorithms integrate distinct forms of biochemical data during the docking and/or scoring stages. These so-called hybrid methods make use of receptor-based information such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) restraints or small molecule-based information such as structure-activity relationships (SARs). A third class of methods directly interrogates contacts between the protein receptor and the small molecule. This work reviews the current state of using such restraints in docking simulations, evaluates their feasibility across broad systems, and identifies potential areas of algorithm development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Darwin Y Fu
- Department of Chemistry Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States
| | - Jens Meiler
- Department of Chemistry Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Fowler PW, Cole K, Gordon NC, Kearns AM, Llewelyn MJ, Peto TEA, Crook DW, Walker AS. Robust Prediction of Resistance to Trimethoprim in Staphylococcus aureus. Cell Chem Biol 2018; 25:339-349.e4. [PMID: 29307840 DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2017.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2017] [Revised: 10/24/2017] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
The rise of antibiotic resistance threatens modern medicine; to combat it new diagnostic methods are required. Sequencing the whole genome of a pathogen offers the potential to accurately determine which antibiotics will be effective to treat a patient. A key limitation of this approach is that it cannot classify rare or previously unseen mutations. Here we demonstrate that alchemical free energy methods, a well-established class of methods from computational chemistry, can successfully predict whether mutations in Staphylococcus aureus dihydrofolate reductase confer resistance to trimethoprim. We also show that the method is quantitatively accurate by calculating how much the most common resistance-conferring mutation, F99Y, reduces the binding free energy of trimethoprim and comparing predicted and experimentally measured minimum inhibitory concentrations for seven different mutations. Finally, by considering up to 32 free energy calculations for each mutation, we estimate its specificity and sensitivity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Philip W Fowler
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
| | - Kevin Cole
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton BN1 9PS, UK
| | - N Claire Gordon
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Angela M Kearns
- Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections Reference Unit, Public Health England, Colindale NW9 5EQ, UK
| | - Martin J Llewelyn
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton BN1 9PS, UK
| | - Tim E A Peto
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Derrick W Crook
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - A Sarah Walker
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
Pires DEV, Kaminskas LM, Ascher DB. Prediction and Optimization of Pharmacokinetic and Toxicity Properties of the Ligand. Methods Mol Biol 2018; 1762:271-284. [PMID: 29594777 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7756-7_14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
A crucial factor for the approval and success of any drug is how it behaves in the body. Many drugs, however, do not reach the market due to poor efficacy or unacceptable side effects. It is therefore important to take these into consideration early in the drug development process, both in the prioritization of potential hits, and optimization of lead compounds. In silico approaches offer a cost and time-effective approach to rapidly screen and optimize pharmacokinetic and toxicity properties. Here we demonstrate the use of the comprehensive analysis system pkCSM, to allow early identification of potential problems, prioritization of hits, and optimization of leads.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Lisa M Kaminskas
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - David B Ascher
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| |
Collapse
|