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Almeida ER, Goliatt PVZC, Dos Santos HF, Picaud F. Translocation Processes of Pt(II)-Based Drugs through Human Breast Cancer Cell Membrane: In Silico Experiments. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:6141-6155. [PMID: 37751589 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/28/2023]
Abstract
Breast cancer is one of the most frequent modalities of cancer worldwide, with notable mortality. The medication based on platinum drugs (cisplatin (cddp), carboplatin (cpx), and oxaliplatin (oxa)) is a conventional chemotherapy despite severe side effects and the development of drug resistance. In order to provide a deeper molecular description of the influx and efflux processes of platinum drugs through breast cancer tissues, this study focuses on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the passive translocation process through a realistic plasma membrane prototype of human breast cancer cell (c_memb). The results showed that the permeation events were mainly mediated by neutral lipids (DOPC, DOPE, and cholesterol), producing a low and temporary membrane deformation. The drug insertion in the region of polar heads was the most favorable stage of the translocation mechanism, especially for cddp and oxa with potential wells of -8.6 and -9.8 kcal mol-1, respectively. However, the potentials of mean force (PMF) revealed unfavorable kinetics for the permeation of these drugs through lipid tails, with energy barriers of 28.3 (cddp), 32.2 (cpx), and 30.4 kcal mol-1 (oxa). The low permeability coefficients (P) of cpx and oxa, which were 3 and 1 orders of magnitude inferior than for cddp, resulted from the high energy barriers for their traslocation processes through the membrane. The obtained results provide a more accurate picture of the permeation of Pt(II)-based drugs through breast cancer cells, which may be relevant for the design and evaluation of new platinum complexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo R Almeida
- Núcleo de Estudos em Química Computacional (NEQC), Departamento de Química, ICE, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Campus Universitário, Martelos, Juiz de Fora, MG 36036-330, Brazil
- Laboratoire de Nanomédecine, Imagerie et Thérapeutiques, EA 4662, Université de Franche-Comté, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Besançon, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besançon cedex, France
| | - Priscila V Z Capriles Goliatt
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Modelagem Computacional (PGMC), Departamento de Ciência da Computação, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Campus Universitário, Martelos, Juiz de Fora, MG 36036-330, Brazil
| | - Hélio F Dos Santos
- Núcleo de Estudos em Química Computacional (NEQC), Departamento de Química, ICE, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Campus Universitário, Martelos, Juiz de Fora, MG 36036-330, Brazil
| | - Fabien Picaud
- Laboratoire de Nanomédecine, Imagerie et Thérapeutiques, EA 4662, Université de Franche-Comté, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Besançon, 16 route de Gray, 25030 Besançon cedex, France
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2
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Biriukov D, Javanainen M. Efficient Simulations of Solvent Asymmetry Across Lipid Membranes Using Flat-Bottom Restraints. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:6332-6341. [PMID: 37651714 PMCID: PMC10537000 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
The routinely employed periodic boundary conditions complicate molecular simulations of physiologically relevant asymmetric lipid membranes together with their distinct solvent environments. Therefore, separating the extracellular fluid from its cytosolic counterpart has often been performed using a costly double-bilayer setup. Here, we demonstrate that the lipid membrane and solvent asymmetry can be efficiently modeled with a single lipid bilayer by applying an inverted flat-bottom potential to ions and other solute molecules, thereby restraining them to only interact with the relevant leaflet. We carefully optimized the parameters of the suggested method so that the results obtained using the flat-bottom and double-bilayer approaches become mutually indistinguishable. Then, we apply the flat-bottom approach to lipid bilayers with various compositions and solvent environments, covering ions and cationic peptides to validate the approach in a realistic use case. We also discuss the possible limitations of the method as well as its computational efficiency and provide a step-by-step guide on how to set up such simulations in a straightforward manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denys Biriukov
- Institute
of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the
Czech Republic, Flemingovo
nam. 2, Prague 6 CZ-16610, Czech Republic
- Central
European Institute of Technology, Masaryk
University, Kamenice
5, Brno CZ-62500, Czech Republic
| | - Matti Javanainen
- Institute
of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the
Czech Republic, Flemingovo
nam. 2, Prague 6 CZ-16610, Czech Republic
- Institute
of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki FI-00790, Finland
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3
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Bignucolo O, Bernèche S. The Voltage-Dependent Deactivation of the KvAP Channel Involves the Breakage of Its S4 Helix. Front Mol Biosci 2020; 7:162. [PMID: 32850956 PMCID: PMC7403406 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.00162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Voltage-gated potassium channels (Kv) allow ion permeation upon changes of the membrane electrostatic potential (Vm). Each subunit of these tetrameric channels is composed of six transmembrane helices, of which the anti-parallel helix bundle S1-S4 constitutes the voltage-sensor domain (VSD) and S5-S6 forms the pore domain. Here, using 82 molecular dynamics (MD) simulations involving 266 replicated VSDs, we report novel responses of the archaebacterial potassium channel KvAP to membrane polarization. We show that the S4 α-helix, which is straight in the experimental crystal structure solved under depolarized conditions (Vm ∼ 0), breaks into two segments when the cell membrane is hyperpolarized (Vm << 0), and reversibly forms a single straight helix following depolarization (Vm = 0). The outermost segment of S4 translates along the normal to the membrane, bringing new perspective to previously paradoxical accessibility experiments that were initially thought to imply the displacement of the whole VSD across the membrane. The novel model is applied through steered and unbiased MD simulations to the recently solved whole structure of KvAP. The simulations show that the resting state involves a re-orientation of the S5 α-helix by ∼ 5-6 degrees in respect to the normal of the bilayer, which could result in the constriction and closure of the selectivity filter. Our findings support the idea that the breakage of S4 under (hyper)polarization is a general feature of Kv channels with a non-swapped topology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier Bignucolo
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Basel/Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Simon Bernèche
- Biozentrum, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Basel/Lausanne, Switzerland
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Flood E, Boiteux C, Lev B, Vorobyov I, Allen TW. Atomistic Simulations of Membrane Ion Channel Conduction, Gating, and Modulation. Chem Rev 2019; 119:7737-7832. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00630] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Emelie Flood
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Céline Boiteux
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Bogdan Lev
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Igor Vorobyov
- Department of Physiology & Membrane Biology/Department of Pharmacology, University of California, Davis, 95616, United States
| | - Toby W. Allen
- School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
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5
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Trick JL, Chelvaniththilan S, Klesse G, Aryal P, Wallace EJ, Tucker SJ, Sansom MSP. Functional Annotation of Ion Channel Structures by Molecular Simulation. Structure 2016; 24:2207-2216. [PMID: 27866853 PMCID: PMC5145807 DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2016.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2016] [Revised: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/12/2016] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Ion channels play key roles in cell membranes, and recent advances are yielding an increasing number of structures. However, their functional relevance is often unclear and better tools are required for their functional annotation. In sub-nanometer pores such as ion channels, hydrophobic gating has been shown to promote dewetting to produce a functionally closed (i.e., non-conductive) state. Using the serotonin receptor (5-HT3R) structure as an example, we demonstrate the use of molecular dynamics to aid the functional annotation of channel structures via simulation of the behavior of water within the pore. Three increasingly complex simulation analyses are described: water equilibrium densities; single-ion free-energy profiles; and computational electrophysiology. All three approaches correctly predict the 5-HT3R crystal structure to represent a functionally closed (i.e., non-conductive) state. We also illustrate the application of water equilibrium density simulations to annotate different conformational states of a glycine receptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jemma L Trick
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
| | - Sivapalan Chelvaniththilan
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK; Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK
| | - Gianni Klesse
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK; Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK
| | - Prafulla Aryal
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK; Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK; OXION Initiative in Ion Channels and Disease, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Stephen J Tucker
- Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK; OXION Initiative in Ion Channels and Disease, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Mark S P Sansom
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK; OXION Initiative in Ion Channels and Disease, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
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Fowler P, Abad E, Beckstein O, Sansom MSP. Energetics of Multi-Ion Conduction Pathways in Potassium Ion Channels. J Chem Theory Comput 2013; 9:5176-5189. [PMID: 24353479 PMCID: PMC3864263 DOI: 10.1021/ct4005933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2013] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Potassium ion channels form pores in cell membranes, allowing potassium ions through while preventing the passage of sodium ions. Despite numerous high-resolution structures, it is not yet possible to relate their structure to their single molecule function other than at a qualitative level. Over the past decade, there has been a concerted effort using molecular dynamics to capture the thermodynamics and kinetics of conduction by calculating potentials of mean force (PMF). These can be used, in conjunction with the electro-diffusion theory, to predict the conductance of a specific ion channel. Here, we calculate seven independent PMFs, thereby studying the differences between two potassium ion channels, the effect of the CHARMM CMAP forcefield correction, and the sensitivity and reproducibility of the method. Thermodynamically stable ion-water configurations of the selectivity filter can be identified from all the free energy landscapes, but the heights of the kinetic barriers for potassium ions to move through the selectivity filter are, in nearly all cases, too high to predict conductances in line with experiment. This implies it is not currently feasible to predict the conductance of potassium ion channels, but other simpler channels may be more tractable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip
W. Fowler
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, United Kingdom
| | - Enrique Abad
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, United Kingdom
| | - Oliver Beckstein
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, United Kingdom
| | - Mark S. P. Sansom
- Department
of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, United Kingdom
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7
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Wee CL, Chetwynd A, Sansom MSP. Membrane insertion of a voltage sensor helix. Biophys J 2011; 100:410-9. [PMID: 21244837 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2010.12.3682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2009] [Revised: 11/30/2010] [Accepted: 12/02/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Most membrane proteins contain a transmembrane (TM) domain made up of a bundle of lipid-bilayer-spanning α-helices. TM α-helices are generally composed of a core of largely hydrophobic amino acids, with basic and aromatic amino acids at each end of the helix forming interactions with the lipid headgroups and water. In contrast, the S4 helix of ion channel voltage sensor (VS) domains contains four or five basic (largely arginine) side chains along its length and yet adopts a TM orientation as part of an independently stable VS domain. Multiscale molecular dynamics simulations are used to explore how a charged TM S4 α-helix may be stabilized in a lipid bilayer, which is of relevance in the context of mechanisms of translocon-mediated insertion of S4. Free-energy profiles for insertion of the S4 helix into a phospholipid bilayer suggest that it is thermodynamically favorable for S4 to insert from water to the center of the membrane, where the helix adopts a TM orientation. This is consistent with crystal structures of Kv channels, biophysical studies of isolated VS domains in lipid bilayers, and studies of translocon-mediated S4 helix insertion. Decomposition of the free-energy profiles reveals the underlying physical basis for TM stability, whereby the preference of the hydrophobic residues of S4 to enter the bilayer dominates over the free-energy penalty for inserting charged residues, accompanied by local distortion of the bilayer and penetration of waters. We show that the unique combination of charged and hydrophobic residues in S4 allows it to insert stably into the membrane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chze Ling Wee
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
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8
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Callenberg KM, Choudhary OP, de Forest GL, Gohara DW, Baker NA, Grabe M. APBSmem: a graphical interface for electrostatic calculations at the membrane. PLoS One 2010; 5. [PMID: 20949122 PMCID: PMC2947494 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2010] [Accepted: 08/18/2010] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Electrostatic forces are one of the primary determinants of molecular interactions. They help guide the folding of proteins, increase the binding of one protein to another and facilitate protein-DNA and protein-ligand binding. A popular method for computing the electrostatic properties of biological systems is to numerically solve the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation, and there are several easy-to-use software packages available that solve the PB equation for soluble proteins. Here we present a freely available program, called APBSmem, for carrying out these calculations in the presence of a membrane. The Adaptive Poisson-Boltzmann Solver (APBS) is used as a back-end for solving the PB equation, and a Java-based graphical user interface (GUI) coordinates a set of routines that introduce the influence of the membrane, determine its placement relative to the protein, and set the membrane potential. The software Jmol is embedded in the GUI to visualize the protein inserted in the membrane before the calculation and the electrostatic potential after completing the computation. We expect that the ease with which the GUI allows one to carry out these calculations will make this software a useful resource for experimenters and computational researchers alike. Three examples of membrane protein electrostatic calculations are carried out to illustrate how to use APBSmem and to highlight the different quantities of interest that can be calculated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keith M. Callenberg
- Carnegie Mellon-University of Pittsburgh Program in Computational Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Om P. Choudhary
- Carnegie Mellon-University of Pittsburgh Program in Computational Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Gabriel L. de Forest
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - David W. Gohara
- The Edward A. Doisy Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Nathan A. Baker
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, United States of America
| | - Michael Grabe
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Department of Computational and Systems Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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9
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Denning EJ, Crozier PS, Sachs JN, Woolf TB. From the gating charge response to pore domain movement: initial motions of Kv1.2 dynamics under physiological voltage changes. Mol Membr Biol 2010; 26:397-421. [PMID: 19883299 DOI: 10.3109/09687680903278539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Recent structures of the potassium channel provide an essential beginning point for explaining how the pore is gated between open and closed conformations by changes in membrane voltage. Yet, the molecular details of this process and the connections to transmembrane gradients are not understood. To begin addressing how changes within a membrane environment lead to the channel's ability to sense shifts in membrane voltage and to gate, we performed double-bilayer simulations of the Kv1.2 channel. These double-bilayer simulations enable us to simulate realistic voltage drops from resting potential conditions to depolarized conditions by changes in the bath conditions on each side of the bilayer. Our results show how the voltage sensor domain movement responds to differences in transmembrane potential. The initial voltage sensor domain movement, S4 in particular, is modulated by the gating charge response to changes in voltage and is initially stabilized by the lipid headgroups. We show this response is directly coupled to the initial stages of pore domain motion. Results presented here provide a molecular model for how the pre-gating process occurs in sequential steps: Gating charge response, movement and stabilization of the S4 voltage sensor domain, and movement near the base of the S5 region to close the pore domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth J Denning
- Department of Biophysics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA
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Manna M, Mukhopadhyay C. Cause and effect of melittin-induced pore formation: a computational approach. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2009; 25:12235-12242. [PMID: 19754202 DOI: 10.1021/la902660q] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Melittin embedded in a palmitoyl oleyl phosphatidylcholine bilayer at a high peptide/lipid ratio (1:30) was simulated in the presence of explicit water and ions. The simulation results indicate the incipience of an ion-permeable water pore through collective membrane perturbation by bound peptides. The positively charged residues of melittin not only act as "anchors" but also disrupt the membrane, leading to cell lysis. A detailed analysis of the lipid tail order parameter profile depicts localized membrane perturbation. The lipids in the vicinity of the aqueous cavity adopt a tilted conformation, which allows local bilayer thinning. The prepore thus formed can be considered as the melittin-induced structural defects in the bilayer membrane. Because of the strong cationic nature, the melittin-induced prepore exhibits selectivity toward anions over cations. As Cl(-) ions entered into the prepore, they are electrostatically entrapped by positively charged residues located at its wall. The confined motion of the Cl(-) ions in the membrane interior is obvious from calculated diffusion coefficients. Moreover, reorientation of the local lipids occurs in such a way that few lipid heads along with peptide helices can line the surface of the penetrating aqueous phase. The flipping of lipids argued in favor of melittin-induced toroidal pore over a barrel-stave mechanism. Thus, our result provides atomistic level details of the mechanism of membrane disruption by antimicrobial peptide melittin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moutusi Manna
- Department of Chemistry, University of Calcutta, 92, A. P. C. Road, Kolkata-700 009, India
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