1
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Favaro A, Sturlese M. A Novel NMR-Based Protocol to Screen Ultralow Molecular Weight Fragments. J Med Chem 2024; 67:3874-3884. [PMID: 38426508 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.3c02222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Fragment-based lead discovery has emerged as one of the most efficient screening strategies for finding hit molecules in drug discovery. Recently, a novel strategy based on a class of fragments characterized by an ultralow molecular weight (ULMW) has been proposed. These fragments bind to the target with a very low affinity, requiring reliable biophysical methods for detection. The most notable application of ULMW used a set of 81 fragments, named MiniFrags, and screened them by X-ray crystallography. We extended the utilization of this novel class of fragments to another gold standard technique for fragment-based screening: nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Here, we present a novel NMR protocol to detect and analyze such weak interactions in a challenging real-world scenario: a flexible target with a flat, water-exposed binding site. We identified a subset of 69 highly water-soluble MiniFrags that were screened against the antiapoptotic protein human Bfl-1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annagiulia Favaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
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2
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Cazzanelli G, Dalle Vedove A, Spagnolli G, Terruzzi L, Colasurdo E, Boldrini A, Patsilinakos A, Sturlese M, Grottesi A, Biasini E, Provenzani A, Quattrone A, Lolli G. Pliability in the m 6A-Binding Region Extends Druggability of YTH Domains. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:1682-1690. [PMID: 38417111 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c00051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/01/2024]
Abstract
Epitranscriptomic mRNA modifications affect gene expression, with their altered balance detected in various cancers. YTHDF proteins contain the YTH reader domain recognizing the m6A mark on mRNA and represent valuable drug targets. Crystallographic structures have been determined for all three family members; however, discrepancies are present in the organization of the m6A-binding pocket. Here, we present new crystallographic structures of the YTH domain of YTHDF1, accompanied by computational studies, showing that this domain can exist in different stable conformations separated by a significant energetic barrier. During the transition, additional conformations are explored, with peculiar druggable pockets appearing and offering new opportunities for the design of YTH-interfering small molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Cazzanelli
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology─CIBIO, University of Trento, via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
| | - Andrea Dalle Vedove
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology─CIBIO, University of Trento, via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
| | - Giovanni Spagnolli
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology─CIBIO, University of Trento, via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
| | - Luca Terruzzi
- Sibylla Biotech S.p.A, Via Lillo del Duca 10, 20091 Bresso, Milan, Italy
| | - Enrica Colasurdo
- Sibylla Biotech S.p.A, Via Lillo del Duca 10, 20091 Bresso, Milan, Italy
| | - Alberto Boldrini
- Sibylla Biotech S.p.A, Via Lillo del Duca 10, 20091 Bresso, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Mattia Sturlese
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | | | - Emiliano Biasini
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology─CIBIO, University of Trento, via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
| | - Alessandro Provenzani
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology─CIBIO, University of Trento, via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
| | - Alessandro Quattrone
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology─CIBIO, University of Trento, via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
| | - Graziano Lolli
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology─CIBIO, University of Trento, via Sommarive 9, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
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Budassi F, Marchioro C, Canton M, Favaro A, Sturlese M, Urbinati C, Rusnati M, Romagnoli R, Viola G, Mariotto E. Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 2,4-thiazolidinedione derivatives able to target the human BAG3 protein. Eur J Med Chem 2023; 261:115824. [PMID: 37783101 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2023.115824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Revised: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023]
Abstract
The Bcl-2-associated athanogene 3 (BAG3) protein plays multiple roles in controlling cellular homeostasis, and it has been reported to be deregulated in many cancers, leading tumor cell apoptosis escape. BAG3 protein is then an emerging target for its oncogenic activities in both leukemia and solid cancers, such as medulloblastoma. In this work a series of forty-four compounds were designed and successfully synthesized by the modification and optimization of a previously reported 2,4-thiazolidinedione derivative 28. Using an efficient cloning and transfection in human embryonic kidney HEK-293T cells, BAG3 was collected and purified by chromatographic techniques such as IMAC and SEC, respectively. Subsequently, through Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) all the compounds were evaluated for their binding ability to BAG3, highlighting the compound FB49 as the one having the greatest affinity for the protein (Kd = 45 ± 6 μM) also against the reference compound 28. Further analysis carried out by Saturation Transfer Difference (STD) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy further confirmed the highest affinity of FB49 for the protein. In vitro biological investigation showed that compound FB49 is endowed with an antiproliferative activity in the micromolar range in three human tumoral cell lines and more importantly is devoid of toxicity in human peripheral mononuclear cell deriving from healthy donors. Moreover, FB49 was able to block cell cycle in G1 phase and to induce apoptosis as well as autophagy in medulloblastoma HD-MB03 treated cells. In addition, FB49 demonstrated a synergistic effect when combined with a chemotherapy cocktail of Vincristine, Etoposide, Cisplatin, Cyclophosphamide (VECC). In conclusion we have demonstrated that FB49 is a new derivative able to bind human BAG3 with high affinity and could be used as BAG3 modulator in cancers correlated with overexpression of this protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Budassi
- Synthetic Chemistry, DDD, Aptuit an Evotec Company, Via Alessandro Fleming 4, 37135, Verona, Italy
| | - Chiara Marchioro
- Laboratory of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128, Padova, Italy
| | - Martina Canton
- Laboratory of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128, Padova, Italy
| | - Annagiulia Favaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Chiara Urbinati
- Experimental Oncology and Immunology, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Viale Europa11, 25121, Brescia, Italy
| | - Marco Rusnati
- Experimental Oncology and Immunology, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, Viale Europa11, 25121, Brescia, Italy
| | - Romeo Romagnoli
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Farmaceutiche e Agrarie, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, Via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Giampietro Viola
- Laboratory of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128, Padova, Italy; Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica (IRP), Corso Stati Uniti 4F, 35127, Padova, Italy.
| | - Elena Mariotto
- Laboratory of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128, Padova, Italy; Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica (IRP), Corso Stati Uniti 4F, 35127, Padova, Italy.
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4
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Dodaro A, Pavan M, Menin S, Salmaso V, Sturlese M, Moro S. Thermal titration molecular dynamics (TTMD): shedding light on the stability of RNA-small molecule complexes. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1294543. [PMID: 38028536 PMCID: PMC10679717 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1294543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Ribonucleic acids are gradually becoming relevant players among putative drug targets, thanks to the increasing amount of structural data exploitable for the rational design of selective and potent binders that can modulate their activity. Mainly, this information allows employing different computational techniques for predicting how well would a ribonucleic-targeting agent fit within the active site of its target macromolecule. Due to some intrinsic peculiarities of complexes involving nucleic acids, such as structural plasticity, surface charge distribution, and solvent-mediated interactions, the application of routinely adopted methodologies like molecular docking is challenged by scoring inaccuracies, while more physically rigorous methods such as molecular dynamics require long simulation times which hamper their conformational sampling capabilities. In the present work, we present the first application of Thermal Titration Molecular Dynamics (TTMD), a recently developed method for the qualitative estimation of unbinding kinetics, to characterize RNA-ligand complexes. In this article, we explored its applicability as a post-docking refinement tool on RNA in complex with small molecules, highlighting the capability of this method to identify the native binding mode among a set of decoys across various pharmaceutically relevant test cases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Bertagnin C, Messa L, Pavan M, Celegato M, Sturlese M, Mercorelli B, Moro S, Loregian A. A small molecule targeting the interaction between human papillomavirus E7 oncoprotein and cellular phosphatase PTPN14 exerts antitumoral activity in cervical cancer cells. Cancer Lett 2023; 571:216331. [PMID: 37532093 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2023.216331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/30/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023]
Abstract
Human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced cancers still represent a major health issue for worldwide population and lack specific therapeutic regimens. Despite substantial advancements in anti-HPV vaccination, the incidence of HPV-related cancers remains high, thus there is an urgent need for specific anti-HPV drugs. The HPV E7 oncoprotein is a major driver of carcinogenesis that acts by inducing the degradation of several host factors. A target is represented by the cellular phosphatase PTPN14 and its E7-mediated degradation was shown to be crucial in HPV oncogenesis. Here, by exploiting the crystal structure of E7 bound to PTPN14, we performed an in silico screening of small-molecule compounds targeting the C-terminal CR3 domain of E7 involved in the interaction with PTPN14. We discovered a compound able to inhibit the E7/PTPN14 interaction in vitro and to rescue PTPN14 levels in cells, leading to a reduction in viability, proliferation, migration, and cancer-stem cell potential of HPV-positive cervical cancer cells. Mechanistically, as a consequence of PTPN14 rescue, treatment of cancer cells with this compound altered the Yes-associated protein (YAP) nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling and downstream signaling. Notably, this compound was active against cervical cancer cells transformed by different high-risk (HR)-HPV genotypes indicating a potential broad-spectrum activity. Overall, our study reports the first-in-class inhibitor of E7/PTPN14 interaction and provides the proof-of-principle that pharmacological inhibition of this interaction by small-molecule compounds could be a feasible therapeutic strategy for the development of novel antitumoral drugs specific for HPV-associated cancers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Bertagnin
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Messa
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Marta Celegato
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | | | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Arianna Loregian
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua, Padua, Italy.
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Palazzotti D, Felicetti T, Sabatini S, Moro S, Barreca ML, Sturlese M, Astolfi A. Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance: Insights on How the Staphylococcus aureus NorA Efflux Pump Recognizes 2-Phenylquinoline Inhibitors by Supervised Molecular Dynamics (SuMD) and Molecular Docking Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:4875-4887. [PMID: 37515548 PMCID: PMC10428217 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c00516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023]
Abstract
The superbug Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) exhibits several resistance mechanisms, including efflux pumps, that strongly contribute to antimicrobial resistance. In particular, the NorA efflux pump activity is associated with S. aureus resistance to fluoroquinolone antibiotics (e.g., ciprofloxacin) by promoting their active extrusion from cells. Thus, since efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) are able to increase antibiotic concentrations in bacteria as well as restore their susceptibility to these agents, they represent a promising strategy to counteract bacterial resistance. Additionally, the very recent release of two NorA efflux pump cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures in complex with synthetic antigen-binding fragments (Fabs) represents a real breakthrough in the study of S. aureus antibiotic resistance. In this scenario, supervised molecular dynamics (SuMD) and molecular docking experiments were combined to investigate for the first time the molecular mechanisms driving the interaction between NorA and efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs), with the ultimate goal of elucidating how the NorA efflux pump recognizes its inhibitors. The findings provide insights into the dynamic NorA-EPI intermolecular interactions and lay the groundwork for future drug discovery efforts aimed at the identification of novel molecules to fight antimicrobial resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah Palazzotti
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Excellence 2018−2022, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo, 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Tommaso Felicetti
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Excellence 2018−2022, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo, 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Stefano Sabatini
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Excellence 2018−2022, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo, 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular
Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological
Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Maria Letizia Barreca
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Excellence 2018−2022, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo, 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular
Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological
Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Andrea Astolfi
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Excellence 2018−2022, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo, 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
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Gerratana L, Roncato R, Sturlese M, Davis AA, Velimirovic M, REDUZZI C, Clifton KK, Hensing WL, Shah AN, Dai CS, D’Amico P, Medford AJ, Franzoni A, Cucciniello L, Wehbe F, Wander SA, Belletti B, Gradishar W, Behdad A, Damante G, Ma C, Puglisi F, Bardia A, Cristofanilli M. Abstract PD10-01: PD10-01 Impact of ESR1 mutations on Selective Estrogen Receptor Degraders and Modulators: an integrated liquid-biopsy and pharmacodynamics approach. Cancer Res 2023. [DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.sabcs22-pd10-01] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Background: ESR1 hotspot mutations (HS) (i.e. 380, 536, 537, and 538) are important drivers of resistance to aromatase inhibitors, but the differential impact of genomic variants (HS vs non-HS) on response to endocrine therapies (ET) under clinical development, such as novel oral Selective Estrogen Receptor Degraders and Modulators (SERDs and SERMs), is not known. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of non-HS ESR1 mutations on the pharmacodynamics of SERDs and SERMs as an additional ET resistance mechanism. Materials and Methods: The study analyzed a multi-institutional cohort of 1008 patients with hormone receptor positive metastatic breast cancer characterized by circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). Pathway classification was defined based on previous work (i.e. RTK, RAS, RAF, MEK, NRF2, ER, WNT, MYC, p53, Cell Cycle, Notch, PI3K). Single nucleotide variations (SNVs) were annotated through OncoKB; co-occurrence was tested by Fisher’s exact test. A structure-based computational strategy was used to create 3D-models of ESR1 mutants and predict changes in binding affinity (dAff) across approved and experimental drugs. A positive dAff reflects a lower affinity of the drug for mutant ESR1 compared with wild type and thus a potential for a reduced response. Results: Among the total 680 detected ESR1 mutations, 633 were missense, and 631 were gain-of-function. The most frequent mutations were in codon 537 (N=305), followed by 538 (N=224). No significant MAF differences were observed across ESR1 variants (P=0.0829). The L391F mutation resulted in an increased binding affinity for Lasofoxifene (LAS) (dAff -0.34), Giredestrant (GIR) (dAff -0.18), Elacestrant (ELA) (dAff -0.08) and Amcenestrant (AMC) (dAff -0.41), while a decreased binding affinity was observed for 4OH-Tamoxifen (TAM) (dAff 0.01), Imlunestrant (IML) (dAff 0.15), Fulvestrant (FUL) (dAff 0.43), and Camizestrant (CAM) (dAff 0.02). V392F decreased binding affinity for TAM (dAff 0.05), LAS (dAff 0.13), IML (dAff 0.11), GIR (dAff 0.11), FUL (dAff 0.04), CAM (dAff 0.05), AMC (dAff 0.06) but not for ELA (dAff -0.01). F404L decreased binding affinity for FUL (dAff 0.07), ELA (dAff 0.73), and CAM (dAff 0.26), while it increased binding affinity for TAM (dAff -0.27), LAS (dAff -0.02), IML (dAff -0.05), GIR (dAff -0.69), and AMC (dAff -2.01). G415E increased binding affinity for LAS, (dAff -0.15) GIR (dAff -0.02) and ELA (dAff -0.08), while it decreased binding affinity for TAM (dAff 0.11), IML (dAff 0.09), FUL (dAff 0.29), CAM (dAff 0.19) and AMC (dAff 0.10). Mutations in codon 537 did not affect dAff for TAM, GIR, and ELA; a significant decrease in binding affinity was observed for FUL and AMC, whereas it was increased for LAS. Mutational co-occurrence was tested between ESR1 mutations in FUL docking sites and oncogenic pathways. Significant associations were observed for cell cycle SNVs (P=0.047), Notch SNVs (P=0.020), and ER SNVs (P< 0.001). Within these pathways, significant single-gene associations were observed for FBXW7 SNVs (P=0.020), ESR1 SNVs (P< 0.001), and GATA3 SNVs (P= 0.016). Given the highly significant co-occurrence of non-HS with other ESR1 mutations, combined models were examined. The Y537/F404 combination resulted in decreased binding affinity for FUL and increased binding affinity for LAS, while L536/F404 decreased binding affinity for TAM and increased binding affinity for IML, ELA, and AMC. Notably, L540/F404 restored the FUL-ESR1 interaction resulting in an increased binding affinity (dAff -2.1). Conclusions: The study suggests that genomic variability in drug targets detectable through ctDNA may modulate therapeutic response. Preclinical models are under development to investigate the combined endocrine resistance mechanism suggested by the significant co-occurrence between ESR1 mutations in SERDs/SERMs docking sites and ESR1 hotspot mutations and provide valuable additional insights for drug development and future treatment algorithms.
Citation Format: Lorenzo Gerratana, Rossana Roncato, Mattia Sturlese, Andrew A. Davis, Marko Velimirovic, Carolina REDUZZI, Katherine K. Clifton, Whitney L. Hensing, Ami N. Shah, Charles S. Dai, Paolo D’Amico, Arielle J. Medford, Alessandra Franzoni, Linda Cucciniello, Firas Wehbe, Seth A. Wander, Barbara Belletti, William Gradishar, Amir Behdad, Giuseppe Damante, Cynthia Ma, Fabio Puglisi, Aditya Bardia, Massimo Cristofanilli. PD10-01 Impact of ESR1 mutations on Selective Estrogen Receptor Degraders and Modulators: an integrated liquid-biopsy and pharmacodynamics approach. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr PD10-01.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Gerratana
- 1Department of Medical Oncology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO), IRCCS, Aviano
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Arielle J. Medford
- 12Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center/Dana Farber Cancer Institute
| | | | - Linda Cucciniello
- 14Unit of Medical Oncology and Cancer Prevention, Department of Medical Oncology, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO), IRCCS, Aviano
| | | | - Seth A. Wander
- 16Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Barbara Belletti
- 17Centro di Riferimento Oncologico di Aviano (CRO), IRCCS, Aviano
| | - William Gradishar
- 18Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
| | | | | | - Cynthia Ma
- 21Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
| | - Fabio Puglisi
- 22Department of Medicine (DAME), University of Udine, Udine, Italy and Department of Medical Oncology - CRO Aviano, National Cancer Institute, IRCCS, Aviano, Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
| | - Aditya Bardia
- 23Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, Massachusetts
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Favaro A, Bolcato G, Comini MA, Moro S, Bellanda M, Sturlese M. Drugging the Undruggable Trypanosoma brucei Monothiol Glutaredoxin 1. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28031276. [PMID: 36770941 PMCID: PMC9919793 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28031276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 01/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Trypanosoma brucei is a species of kinetoplastid causing sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in cows and horses. One of the peculiarities of this species of parasites is represented by their redox metabolism. One of the proteins involved in this redox machinery is the monothiol glutaredoxin 1 (1CGrx1) which is characterized by a unique disordered N-terminal extension exclusively conserved in trypanosomatids and other organisms. This region modulates the binding profile of the glutathione/trypanothione binding site, one of the functional regions of 1CGrx1. No endogenous ligands are known to bind this protein which does not present well-shaped binding sites, making it target particularly challenging to target. With the aim of targeting this peculiar system, we carried out two different screenings: (i) a fragment-based lead discovery campaign directed to the N-terminal as well as to the canonical binding site of 1CGrx1; (ii) a structure-based virtual screening directed to the 1CGrx1 canonical binding site. Here we report a small molecule that binds at the glutathione binding site in which the binding mode of the molecule was deeply investigated by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). This compound represents an important step in the attempt to develop a novel strategy to interfere with the peculiar Trypanosoma Brucei redox system, making it possible to shed light on the perturbation of this biochemical machinery and eventually to novel therapeutic possibilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annagiulia Favaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Giovanni Bolcato
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Marcelo A. Comini
- Laboratory Redox Biology of Trypanosomes, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Massimo Bellanda
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +39-049-8275081
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Pavan M, Bassani D, Sturlese M, Moro S. From the Wuhan-Hu-1 strain to the XD and XE variants: is targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein still a pharmaceutically relevant option against COVID-19? J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem 2022; 37:1704-1714. [PMID: 35695095 PMCID: PMC9196651 DOI: 10.1080/14756366.2022.2081847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 genome has undergone several mutations. The emergence of such variants has resulted in multiple pandemic waves, contributing to sustaining to date the number of infections, hospitalisations, and deaths despite the swift development of vaccines, since most of these mutations are concentrated on the Spike protein, a viral surface glycoprotein that is the main target for most vaccines. A milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic has been represented by the development of Paxlovid, the first orally available drug against COVID-19, which acts on the Main Protease (Mpro). In this article, we analyse the structural features of both the Spike protein and the Mpro of the recently reported SARS-CoV-2 variant XE, as well the closely related XD and XF ones, discussing their impact on the efficacy of existing treatments against COVID-19 and on the development of future ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Davide Bassani
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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10
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Pavan M, Bassani D, Sturlese M, Moro S. Investigating RNA-protein recognition mechanisms through supervised molecular dynamics (SuMD) simulations. NAR Genom Bioinform 2022; 4:lqac088. [PMID: 36458023 PMCID: PMC9706429 DOI: 10.1093/nargab/lqac088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) plays a key regulatory role within the cell, cooperating with proteins to control the genome expression and several biological processes. Due to its characteristic structural features, this polymer can mold itself into different three-dimensional structures able to recognize target biomolecules with high affinity and specificity, thereby attracting the interest of drug developers and medicinal chemists. One successful example of the exploitation of RNA's structural and functional peculiarities is represented by aptamers, a class of therapeutic and diagnostic tools that can recognize and tightly bind several pharmaceutically relevant targets, ranging from small molecules to proteins, making use of the available structural and conformational freedom to maximize the complementarity with their interacting counterparts. In this scientific work, we present the first application of Supervised Molecular Dynamics (SuMD), an enhanced sampling Molecular Dynamics-based method for the study of receptor-ligand association processes in the nanoseconds timescale, to the study of recognition pathways between RNA aptamers and proteins, elucidating the main advantages and limitations of the technique while discussing its possible role in the rational design of RNA-based therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Davide Bassani
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +39 0498275704; Fax: +39 0498275366;
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11
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Pavan M, Menin S, Bassani D, Sturlese M, Moro S. Qualitative Estimation of Protein-Ligand Complex Stability through Thermal Titration Molecular Dynamics Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2022; 62:5715-5728. [PMID: 36315402 PMCID: PMC9709921 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c00995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The prediction of ligand efficacy has long been linked to thermodynamic properties such as the equilibrium dissociation constant, which considers both the association and the dissociation rates of a defined protein-ligand complex. In the last 15 years, there has been a paradigm shift, with an increased interest in the determination of kinetic properties such as the drug-target residence time since they better correlate with ligand efficacy compared to other parameters. In this article, we present thermal titration molecular dynamics (TTMD), an alternative computational method that combines a series of molecular dynamics simulations performed at progressively increasing temperatures with a scoring function based on protein-ligand interaction fingerprints for the qualitative estimation of protein-ligand-binding stability. The protocol has been applied to four different pharmaceutically relevant test cases, including protein kinase CK1δ, protein kinase CK2, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 2, and SARS-CoV-2 main protease, on a variety of ligands with different sizes, structures, and experimentally determined affinity values. In all four cases, TTMD was successfully able to distinguish between high-affinity compounds (low nanomolar range) and low-affinity ones (micromolar), proving to be a useful screening tool for the prioritization of compounds in a drug discovery campaign.
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12
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Cozzaglio M, Ceschi S, Groaz E, Sturlese M, Sissi C. G-quadruplexes formation within the promoter of TEAD4 oncogene and their interaction with Vimentin. Front Chem 2022; 10:1008075. [PMID: 36186582 PMCID: PMC9520404 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2022.1008075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
G-quadruplexes (G4s) are nucleic acid secondary structures detected within human chromosomes, that cluster at gene promoters and enhancers. This suggests that G4s may play specific roles in the regulation of gene expression. Within a distinct subgroup of G-rich domains, the formation of two or more adjacent G4 units (G4-repeats) is feasible. Recently it was shown that Vimentin, a protein highly expressed within mesenchymal cells, selectively recognizes these arrangements. Putative G4-repeats have been searched within the human gene proximal promoters by the bioinformatics tool QPARSE and they resulted to be enriched at genes related to epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). This suggested that Vimentin binding at these sites might be relevant for the maintenance of the mesenchymal phenotype. Among all the identified sequences, in the present study we selected the one located within the promoter of the TEAD4 oncogene. TEAD4 codifies for a transcriptional enhancer factor, TEAD4, that actively promotes EMT, supporting, cell proliferation and migration. Moreover, in colorectal cancer cells TEAD4 directly enhances the expression of Vimentin. Thus, the possible interaction of Vimentin with TEAD4 promoter could highlight a positive feedback loop between these two factors, associated to important tumor metastasis related events. Here, we exploited spectroscopic and electrophoretic measurements under different conditions to address the folding behavior of the selected sequence. This allowed us to validate the folding of TEAD4 promoter into a G4-repeat able to interact with Vimentin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Cozzaglio
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Silvia Ceschi
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Groaz
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- KU Leuven, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven, Medicinal Chemistry, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Claudia Sissi
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- *Correspondence: Claudia Sissi,
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13
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Brischigliaro M, Cabrera‐Orefice A, Sturlese M, Elurbe DM, Frigo E, Fernandez‐Vizarra E, Moro S, Huynen MA, Arnold S, Viscomi C, Zeviani M. CG7630 is the
Drosophila melanogaster
homolog of the cytochrome
c
oxidase subunit COX7B. EMBO Rep 2022; 23:e54825. [PMID: 35699132 PMCID: PMC9346487 DOI: 10.15252/embr.202254825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Revised: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) is composed of four multiheteromeric enzyme complexes. According to the endosymbiotic origin of mitochondria, eukaryotic MRC derives from ancestral proteobacterial respiratory structures consisting of a minimal set of complexes formed by a few subunits associated with redox prosthetic groups. These enzymes, which are the “core” redox centers of respiration, acquired additional subunits, and increased their complexity throughout evolution. Cytochrome c oxidase (COX), the terminal component of MRC, has a highly interspecific heterogeneous composition. Mammalian COX consists of 14 different polypeptides, of which COX7B is considered the evolutionarily youngest subunit. We applied proteomic, biochemical, and genetic approaches to investigate the COX composition in the invertebrate model Drosophila melanogaster. We identified and characterized a novel subunit which is widely different in amino acid sequence, but similar in secondary and tertiary structures to COX7B, and provided evidence that this object is in fact replacing the latter subunit in virtually all protostome invertebrates. These results demonstrate that although individual structures may differ the composition of COX is functionally conserved between vertebrate and invertebrate species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alfredo Cabrera‐Orefice
- Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen The Netherlands
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova Padova Italy
| | - Dei M Elurbe
- Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen The Netherlands
| | - Elena Frigo
- Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Padova Padova Italy
| | - Erika Fernandez‐Vizarra
- Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Padova Padova Italy
- Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine Padova Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova Padova Italy
| | - Martijn A Huynen
- Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen The Netherlands
| | - Susanne Arnold
- Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen The Netherlands
- Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging‐Associated Diseases (CECAD) University of Cologne Cologne Germany
| | - Carlo Viscomi
- Department of Biomedical Sciences University of Padova Padova Italy
| | - Massimo Zeviani
- Veneto Institute of Molecular Medicine Padova Italy
- Department of Neurosciences University of Padova Padova Italy
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14
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Pavan M, Menin S, Bassani D, Sturlese M, Moro S. Implementing a Scoring Function Based on Interaction Fingerprint for Autogrow4: Protein Kinase CK1δ as a Case Study. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:909499. [PMID: 35874609 PMCID: PMC9301033 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.909499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
In the last 20 years, fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) has become a popular and consolidated approach within the drug discovery pipeline, due to its ability to bring several drug candidates to clinical trials, some of them even being approved and introduced to the market. A class of targets that have proven to be particularly suitable for this method is represented by kinases, as demonstrated by the approval of BRAF inhibitor vemurafenib. Within this wide and diverse set of proteins, protein kinase CK1δ is a particularly interesting target for the treatment of several widespread neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Computational methodologies, such as molecular docking, are already routinely and successfully applied in FBDD campaigns alongside experimental techniques, both in the hit-discovery and in the hit-optimization stage. Concerning this, the open-source software Autogrow, developed by the Durrant lab, is a semi-automated computational protocol that exploits a combination between a genetic algorithm and a molecular docking software for de novo drug design and lead optimization. In the current work, we present and discuss a modified version of the Autogrow code that implements a custom scoring function based on the similarity between the interaction fingerprint of investigated compounds and a crystal reference. To validate its performance, we performed both a de novo and a lead-optimization run (as described in the original publication), evaluating the ability of our fingerprint-based protocol to generate compounds similar to known CK1δ inhibitors based on both the predicted binding mode and the electrostatic and shape similarity in comparison with the standard Autogrow protocol.
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15
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Bassani D, Pavan M, Federico S, Spalluto G, Sturlese M, Moro S. The Multifaceted Role of GPCRs in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A New Therapeutic Perspective? Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:4504. [PMID: 35562894 PMCID: PMC9106011 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23094504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Revised: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerating disease involving the motor neurons, which causes a progressive loss of movement ability, usually leading to death within 2 to 5 years from the diagnosis. Much effort has been put into research for an effective therapy for its eradication, but still, no cure is available. The only two drugs approved for this pathology, Riluzole and Edaravone, are onlyable to slow down the inevitable disease progression. As assessed in the literature, drug targets such as protein kinases have already been extensively examined as potential drug targets for ALS, with some molecules already in clinical trials. Here, we focus on the involvement of another very important and studied class of biological entities, G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), in the onset and progression of ALS. This workaimsto give an overview of what has been already discovered on the topic, providing useful information and insights that can be used by scientists all around the world who are putting efforts into the fight against this very important neurodegenerating disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Bassani
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; (D.B.); (M.P.); (M.S.)
| | - Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; (D.B.); (M.P.); (M.S.)
| | - Stephanie Federico
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy; (S.F.); (G.S.)
| | - Giampiero Spalluto
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, 34127 Trieste, Italy; (S.F.); (G.S.)
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; (D.B.); (M.P.); (M.S.)
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy; (D.B.); (M.P.); (M.S.)
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16
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Abstract
Despite a huge effort by the scientific community to determine the animal reservoir of SARS-CoV-2, which led to the identification of several SARS-CoV-2-related viruses both in bats and in pangolins, the origin of SARS-CoV-2 is still not clear. Recently, Temmam et al. reported the discovery of bat coronaviruses with a high degree of genome similarity with SARS-CoV-2, especially concerning the RBDs of the S protein, which mediates the capability of such viruses to enter and therefore infect human cells through a hACE2-dependent pathway. These viruses, especially the one named BANAL-236, showed a higher affinity for the hACE2 compared to the original strain of SARS-CoV-2. In the present work, we analyse the similarities and differences between the 3CL protease (main protease, Mpro) of these newly reported viruses and SARS-CoV-2, discussing their relevance relative to the efficacy of existing therapeutic approaches against COVID-19, particularly concerning the recently approved orally available Paxlovid, and the development of future ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Davide Bassani
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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17
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El Khoury L, Jing Z, Cuzzolin A, Deplano A, Loco D, Sattarov B, Hédin F, Wendeborn S, Ho C, El Ahdab D, Jaffrelot Inizan T, Sturlese M, Sosic A, Volpiana M, Lugato A, Barone M, Gatto B, Macchia ML, Bellanda M, Battistutta R, Salata C, Kondratov I, Iminov R, Khairulin A, Mykhalonok Y, Pochepko A, Chashka-Ratushnyi V, Kos I, Moro S, Montes M, Ren P, Ponder JW, Lagardère L, Piquemal JP, Sabbadin D. Computationally driven discovery of SARS-CoV-2 M pro inhibitors: from design to experimental validation. Chem Sci 2022; 13:3674-3687. [PMID: 35432906 PMCID: PMC8966641 DOI: 10.1039/d1sc05892d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
We report a fast-track computationally driven discovery of new SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) inhibitors whose potency ranges from mM for the initial non-covalent ligands to sub-μM for the final covalent compound (IC50 = 830 ± 50 nM). The project extensively relied on high-resolution all-atom molecular dynamics simulations and absolute binding free energy calculations performed using the polarizable AMOEBA force field. The study is complemented by extensive adaptive sampling simulations that are used to rationalize the different ligand binding poses through the explicit reconstruction of the ligand–protein conformation space. Machine learning predictions are also performed to predict selected compound properties. While simulations extensively use high performance computing to strongly reduce the time-to-solution, they were systematically coupled to nuclear magnetic resonance experiments to drive synthesis and for in vitro characterization of compounds. Such a study highlights the power of in silico strategies that rely on structure-based approaches for drug design and allows the protein conformational multiplicity problem to be addressed. The proposed fluorinated tetrahydroquinolines open routes for further optimization of Mpro inhibitors towards low nM affinities. The dominant binding mode of the QUB-00006-Int-07 main protease inhibitor during absolute binding free energy simulations.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Léa El Khoury
- Qubit Pharmaceuticals, Incubateur Paris Biotech Santé 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint Jacques 75014 Paris France
| | - Zhifeng Jing
- Qubit Pharmaceuticals, Incubateur Paris Biotech Santé 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint Jacques 75014 Paris France
| | - Alberto Cuzzolin
- Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A, Nuovo Centro Ricerche Largo Belloli 11a 43122 Parma Italy
| | - Alessandro Deplano
- Pharmacelera, Torre R, 4a planta Despatx A05, Parc Cientific de Barcelona, Baldiri Reixac 8 08028 Barcelona Spain
| | - Daniele Loco
- Qubit Pharmaceuticals, Incubateur Paris Biotech Santé 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint Jacques 75014 Paris France
| | - Boris Sattarov
- Qubit Pharmaceuticals, Incubateur Paris Biotech Santé 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint Jacques 75014 Paris France
| | - Florent Hédin
- Qubit Pharmaceuticals, Incubateur Paris Biotech Santé 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint Jacques 75014 Paris France
| | - Sebastian Wendeborn
- University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, School of LifeSciences Hofackerstrasse 30 CH-4132 Muttenz Switzerland
| | - Chris Ho
- Qubit Pharmaceuticals, Incubateur Paris Biotech Santé 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint Jacques 75014 Paris France
| | - Dina El Ahdab
- Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, UMR 7616 CNRS 75005 Paris France
| | - Theo Jaffrelot Inizan
- Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, UMR 7616 CNRS 75005 Paris France
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua via F. Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Alice Sosic
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Martina Volpiana
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Angela Lugato
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Marco Barone
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Barbara Gatto
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Maria Ludovica Macchia
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Massimo Bellanda
- Department of Chemistry, University of Padova via Marzolo 1 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Roberto Battistutta
- Department of Chemistry, University of Padova via Marzolo 1 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Cristiano Salata
- Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padua via Gabelli 63 35121 Padova Italy
| | | | - Rustam Iminov
- Enamine Ltd 78 Chervonotkats'ka Str. Kyiv 02094 Ukraine
| | | | | | | | | | - Iaroslava Kos
- Enamine Ltd 78 Chervonotkats'ka Str. Kyiv 02094 Ukraine
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua via F. Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Matthieu Montes
- Laboratoire GBCM, EA7528, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Hesam Université 2 Rue Conte 75003 Paris France
| | - Pengyu Ren
- University of Texas at Austin, Department of Biomedical Engineering TX 78712 USA
| | - Jay W Ponder
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University in Saint Louis MO 63130 USA.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine MO 63110 USA
| | - Louis Lagardère
- Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, UMR 7616 CNRS 75005 Paris France
| | - Jean-Philip Piquemal
- Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, UMR 7616 CNRS 75005 Paris France .,Institut Universitaire de France 75005 Paris France
| | - Davide Sabbadin
- Qubit Pharmaceuticals, Incubateur Paris Biotech Santé 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint Jacques 75014 Paris France
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Bassani D, Pavan M, Sturlese M, Moro S. Sodium or Not Sodium: Should Its Presence Affect the Accuracy of Pose Prediction in Docking GPCR Antagonists? Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2022; 15:ph15030346. [PMID: 35337144 PMCID: PMC8950631 DOI: 10.3390/ph15030346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Revised: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The function of the allosteric sodium ion in stabilizing the inactive form of GPCRs has been extensively described in the past decades. Its presence has been reported to be essential for the binding of antagonist molecules in the orthosteric site of these very important therapeutical targets. Among the GPCR–antagonist crystal structures available, in most cases, the sodium ion could not be experimentally resolved, obliging computational scientists using GPCRs as targets for virtual screening to ask: “Should the sodium ion affect the accuracy of pose prediction in docking GPCR antagonists?” In the present study, we examined the performance of three orthogonal docking programs in the self-docking of GPCR antagonists to try to answer this question. The results of the present work highlight that if the sodium ion is resolved in the crystal structure used as the target, it should also be taken into account during the docking calculations. If the crystallographic studies were not able to resolve the sodium ion then no advantage would be obtained if this is manually inserted in the virtual target. The outcomes of the present analysis are useful for researchers exploiting molecular docking-based virtual screening to efficiently identify novel GPCR antagonists.
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19
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Bolcato G, Pavan M, Bassani D, Sturlese M, Moro S. Ribose and Non-Ribose A2A Adenosine Receptor Agonists: Do They Share the Same Receptor Recognition Mechanism? Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10020515. [PMID: 35203724 PMCID: PMC8962312 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10020515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Adenosine receptors have been a promising class of targets for the development of new therapies for several diseases. In recent years, a renewed interest in this field has risen, thanks to the implementation of a novel class of agonists that lack the ribose moiety, once considered essential for the agonistic profile. Recently, an X-ray crystal structure of the A2A adenosine receptor has been solved, providing insights about the receptor activation from this novel class of agonists. Starting from this structural information, we have performed supervised molecular dynamics (SuMD) simulations to investigate the binding pathway of a non-nucleoside adenosine receptor agonist as well as one of three classic agonists. Furthermore, we analyzed the possible role of water molecules in receptor activation.
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20
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Fornasier E, Macchia ML, Giachin G, Sosic A, Pavan M, Sturlese M, Salata C, Moro S, Gatto B, Bellanda M, Battistutta R. A new inactive conformation of SARS-CoV-2 main protease. Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol 2022; 78:363-378. [PMID: 35234150 PMCID: PMC8900819 DOI: 10.1107/s2059798322000948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The SARS‐CoV‐2 main protease (Mpro) has a pivotal role in mediating viral genome replication and transcription of the coronavirus, making it a promising target for drugs against the COVID‐19 pandemic. Here, a crystal structure is presented in which Mpro adopts an inactive state that has never been observed before, called new‐inactive. It is shown that the oxyanion loop, which is involved in substrate recognition and enzymatic activity, adopts a new catalytically incompetent conformation and that many of the key interactions of the active conformation of the enzyme around the active site are lost. Solvation/desolvation energetic contributions play an important role in the transition from the inactive to the active state, with Phe140 moving from an exposed to a buried environment and Asn142 moving from a buried environment to an exposed environment. In new‐inactive Mpro a new cavity is present near the S2′ subsite, and the N‐terminal and C‐terminal tails, as well as the dimeric interface, are perturbed, with partial destabilization of the dimeric assembly. This novel conformation is relevant both for comprehension of the mechanism of action of Mpro within the catalytic cycle and for the successful structure‐based drug design of antiviral drugs.
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21
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Bassani D, Pavan M, Bolcato G, Sturlese M, Moro S. Re-Exploring the Ability of Common Docking Programs to Correctly Reproduce the Binding Modes of Non-Covalent Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Protease Mpro. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2022; 15:ph15020180. [PMID: 35215293 PMCID: PMC8878732 DOI: 10.3390/ph15020180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
In the latest few decades, molecular docking has imposed itself as one of the most used approaches for computational drug discovery. Several docking benchmarks have been published, comparing the performance of different algorithms in respect to a molecular target of interest, usually evaluating their ability in reproducing the experimental data, which, in most cases, comes from X-ray structures. In this study, we elucidated the variation of the performance of three docking algorithms, namely GOLD, Glide, and PLANTS, in replicating the coordinates of the crystallographic ligands of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). Through the comparison of the data coming from docking experiments and the values derived from the calculation of the solvent exposure of the crystallographic ligands, we highlighted the importance of this last variable for docking performance. Indeed, we underlined how an increase in the percentage of the ligand surface exposed to the solvent in a crystallographic complex makes it harder for the docking algorithms to reproduce its conformation. We further validated our hypothesis through molecular dynamics simulations, showing that the less stable protein–ligand complexes (in terms of root-mean-square deviation and root-mean-square fluctuation) tend to be derived from the cases in which the solvent exposure of the ligand in the starting system is higher.
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Ferrari F, Bissaro M, Fabbian S, De Almeida Roger J, Mammi S, Moro S, Bellanda M, Sturlese M. HT-SuMD: making molecular dynamics simulations suitable for fragment-based screening. A comparative study with NMR. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem 2021; 36:1-14. [PMID: 33115279 PMCID: PMC7598995 DOI: 10.1080/14756366.2020.1838499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Revised: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Fragment-based lead discovery (FBLD) is one of the most efficient methods to develop new drugs. We present here a new computational protocol called High-Throughput Supervised Molecular Dynamics (HT-SuMD), which makes it possible to automatically screen up to thousands of fragments, representing therefore a new valuable resource to prioritise fragments in FBLD campaigns. The protocol was applied to Bcl-XL, an oncological protein target involved in the regulation of apoptosis through protein-protein interactions. Initially, HT-SuMD performances were validated against a robust NMR-based screening, using the same set of 100 fragments. These independent results showed a remarkable agreement between the two methods. Then, a virtual screening on a larger library of additional 300 fragments was carried out and the best hits were validated by NMR. Remarkably, all the in silico selected fragments were confirmed as Bcl-XL binders. This represents, to date, the largest computational fragments screening entirely based on MD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Ferrari
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Simone Fabbian
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Jessica De Almeida Roger
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Mammi
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Massimo Bellanda
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Hassankalhori M, Bolcato G, Bissaro M, Sturlese M, Moro S. Shedding Light on the Molecular Recognition of Sub-Kilodalton Macrocyclic Peptides on Thrombin by Supervised Molecular Dynamics. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8:707661. [PMID: 34532343 PMCID: PMC8438215 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.707661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Macrocycles are attractive structures for drug development due to their favorable structural features, potential in binding to targets with flat featureless surfaces, and their ability to disrupt protein–protein interactions. Moreover, large novel highly diverse libraries of low-molecular-weight macrocycles with therapeutically favorable characteristics have been recently established. Considering the mentioned facts, having a validated, fast, and accurate computational protocol for studying the molecular recognition and binding mode of this interesting new class of macrocyclic peptides deemed to be helpful as well as insightful in the quest of accelerating drug discovery. To that end, the ability of the in-house supervised molecular dynamics protocol called SuMD in the reproduction of the X-ray crystallography final binding state of a macrocyclic non-canonical tetrapeptide—from a novel library of 8,988 sub-kilodalton macrocyclic peptides—in the thrombin active site was successfully validated. A comparable binding mode with the minimum root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) of 1.4 Å at simulation time point 71.6 ns was achieved. This method validation study extended the application domain of the SuMD sampling method for computationally cheap, fast but accurate, and insightful macrocycle–protein molecular recognition studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahdi Hassankalhori
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Giovanni Bolcato
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Bolcato G, Cescon E, Pavan M, Bissaro M, Bassani D, Federico S, Spalluto G, Sturlese M, Moro S. A Computational Workflow for the Identification of Novel Fragments Acting as Inhibitors of the Activity of Protein Kinase CK1δ. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22189741. [PMID: 34575906 PMCID: PMC8471300 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22189741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Revised: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 09/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Fragment-Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) has become, in recent years, a consolidated approach in the drug discovery process, leading to several drug candidates under investigation in clinical trials and some approved drugs. Among these successful applications of the FBDD approach, kinases represent a class of targets where this strategy has demonstrated its real potential with the approved kinase inhibitor Vemurafenib. In the Kinase family, protein kinase CK1 isoform δ (CK1δ) has become a promising target in the treatment of different neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In the present work, we set up and applied a computational workflow for the identification of putative fragment binders in large virtual databases. To validate the method, the selected compounds were tested in vitro to assess the CK1δ inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Bolcato
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy; (G.B.); (M.P.); (M.B.); (D.B.); (M.S.)
| | - Eleonora Cescon
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgeri 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy; (E.C.); (S.F.); (G.S.)
| | - Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy; (G.B.); (M.P.); (M.B.); (D.B.); (M.S.)
| | - Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy; (G.B.); (M.P.); (M.B.); (D.B.); (M.S.)
| | - Davide Bassani
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy; (G.B.); (M.P.); (M.B.); (D.B.); (M.S.)
| | - Stephanie Federico
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgeri 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy; (E.C.); (S.F.); (G.S.)
| | - Giampiero Spalluto
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgeri 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy; (E.C.); (S.F.); (G.S.)
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy; (G.B.); (M.P.); (M.B.); (D.B.); (M.S.)
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy; (G.B.); (M.P.); (M.B.); (D.B.); (M.S.)
- Correspondence:
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25
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Pavan M, Bolcato G, Bassani D, Sturlese M, Moro S. Supervised Molecular Dynamics (SuMD) Insights into the mechanism of action of SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitor PF-07321332. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem 2021; 36:1646-1650. [PMID: 34289752 PMCID: PMC8300928 DOI: 10.1080/14756366.2021.1954919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The chemical structure of PF-07321332, the first orally available Covid-19 clinical candidate, has recently been revealed by Pfizer. No information has been provided about the interaction pattern between PF-07321332 and its biomolecular counterpart, the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro). In the present work, we exploited Supervised Molecular Dynamics (SuMD) simulations to elucidate the key features that characterise the interaction between this drug candidate and the protease, emphasising similarities and differences with other structurally related inhibitors such as Boceprevir and PF-07304814. The structural insights provided by SuMD will hopefully be able to inspire the rational discovery of other potent and selective protease inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Giovanni Bolcato
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Davide Bassani
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Besada P, Viña D, Costas T, Costas-Lago MC, Vila N, Torres-Terán I, Sturlese M, Moro S, Terán C. Pyridazinones containing dithiocarbamoyl moieties as a new class of selective MAO-B inhibitors. Bioorg Chem 2021; 115:105203. [PMID: 34371375 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2021.105203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
A novel class of potential MAO-B inhibitors was designed and synthesized in good yield by combining the pyridazinone moiety with the dithiocarbamate framework, two relevant pharmacophores for drug discovery. The biological results obtained for the different pyridazinone/dithiocarbamate hybrids (compounds 8-14) indicated that most of them reversibly and selectively inhibit the hMAO-B in vitro with IC50 values in the µM range and exhibit not significant cellular toxicity. The analogues 9a1, 11a1, 12a2, 12b1 and 12b2, which present the dithiocarbamate fragment derivatized with a piperidin-1-yl or pyrrolidin-1-yl group and placed at C3 or C4 of the diazine ring, were the most attractive compounds of these series. Molecular modeling studies were performed to analyze the binding mode to the enzyme and the structure activity relationships of the titled compounds, as well as to predict their drug-like properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Besada
- Universidade de Vigo, Departamento de Química Orgánica, 36310 Vigo, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur, Hospital Álvaro Cunqueiro, 36213 Vigo, Spain
| | - Dolores Viña
- Centro de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS) Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Departamento de Farmacología, Farmacia y Tecnología Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Tamara Costas
- Universidade de Vigo, Departamento de Química Orgánica, 36310 Vigo, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur, Hospital Álvaro Cunqueiro, 36213 Vigo, Spain
| | - María Carmen Costas-Lago
- Universidade de Vigo, Departamento de Química Orgánica, 36310 Vigo, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur, Hospital Álvaro Cunqueiro, 36213 Vigo, Spain
| | - Noemí Vila
- Universidade de Vigo, Departamento de Química Orgánica, 36310 Vigo, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur, Hospital Álvaro Cunqueiro, 36213 Vigo, Spain
| | - Iria Torres-Terán
- Centro de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS) Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Departamento de Farmacología, Farmacia y Tecnología Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Carmen Terán
- Universidade de Vigo, Departamento de Química Orgánica, 36310 Vigo, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur, Hospital Álvaro Cunqueiro, 36213 Vigo, Spain.
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Bissaro M, Bolcato G, Pavan M, Bassani D, Sturlese M, Moro S. Front Cover: Inspecting the Mechanism of Fragment Hits Binding on SARS‐CoV‐2 M
pro
by Using Supervised Molecular Dynamics (SuMD) Simulations (ChemMedChem 13/2021). ChemMedChem 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202100444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS) Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Giovanni Bolcato
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS) Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS) Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Davide Bassani
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS) Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS) Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS) Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
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Bissaro M, Bolcato G, Pavan M, Bassani D, Sturlese M, Moro S. Inspecting the Mechanism of Fragment Hits Binding on SARS-CoV-2 M pro by Using Supervised Molecular Dynamics (SuMD) Simulations. ChemMedChem 2021; 16:2075-2081. [PMID: 33797868 PMCID: PMC8250706 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202100156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Computational approaches supporting the early characterization of fragment molecular recognition mechanism represent a valuable complement to more expansive and low‐throughput experimental techniques. In this retrospective study, we have investigated the geometric accuracy with which high‐throughput supervised molecular dynamics simulations (HT‐SuMD) can anticipate the experimental bound state for a set of 23 fragments targeting the SARS‐CoV‐2 main protease. Despite the encouraging results herein reported, in line with those previously described for other MD‐based posing approaches, a high number of incorrect binding modes still complicate HT‐SuMD routine application. To overcome this limitation, fragment pose stability has been investigated and integrated as part of our in‐silico pipeline, allowing us to prioritize only the more reliable predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Giovanni Bolcato
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Davide Bassani
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
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Di Marco G, Vallese F, Jourde B, Bergsdorf C, Sturlese M, De Mario A, Techer-Etienne V, Haasen D, Oberhauser B, Schleeger S, Minetti G, Moro S, Rizzuto R, De Stefani D, Fornaro M, Mammucari C. A High-Throughput Screening Identifies MICU1 Targeting Compounds. Cell Rep 2021; 30:2321-2331.e6. [PMID: 32075766 PMCID: PMC7034061 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.01.081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2019] [Revised: 01/08/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake depends on the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) complex, a highly selective channel of the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM). Here, we screen a library of 44,000 non-proprietary compounds for their ability to modulate mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake. Two of them, named MCU-i4 and MCU-i11, are confirmed to reliably decrease mitochondrial Ca2+ influx. Docking simulations reveal that these molecules directly bind a specific cleft in MICU1, a key element of the MCU complex that controls channel gating. Accordingly, in MICU1-silenced or deleted cells, the inhibitory effect of the two compounds is lost. Moreover, MCU-i4 and MCU-i11 fail to inhibit mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake in cells expressing a MICU1 mutated in the critical amino acids that forge the predicted binding cleft. Finally, these compounds are tested ex vivo, revealing a primary role for mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake in muscle growth. Overall, MCU-i4 and MCU-i11 represent leading molecules for the development of MICU1-targeting drugs. An HTS identifies MCU-i4 and MCU-i11 as negative modulators of the MCU MCU-i4 and MCU-i11 bind MICU1 MICU1 is required for the activity of MCU-i4 and MCU-i11 MCU-i4 and MCU-i11 impair muscle cell growth
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Di Marco
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Francesca Vallese
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Benjamin Jourde
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Christian Bergsdorf
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Agnese De Mario
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | | | - Dorothea Haasen
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Berndt Oberhauser
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Simone Schleeger
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Giulia Minetti
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Rosario Rizzuto
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Diego De Stefani
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy
| | - Mara Fornaro
- Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Novartis Campus, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Cristina Mammucari
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padua, 35131 Padua, Italy.
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Bolcato G, Bissaro M, Pavan M, Sturlese M, Moro S. Targeting the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: computational insights into the mechanism of action of the protease inhibitors lopinavir, ritonavir and nelfinavir. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20927. [PMID: 33262359 PMCID: PMC7708625 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77700-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is a recently discovered single-stranded RNA betacoronavirus, responsible for a severe respiratory disease known as coronavirus disease 2019, which is rapidly spreading. Chinese health authorities, as a response to the lack of an effective therapeutic strategy, started to investigate the use of lopinavir and ritonavir, previously optimized for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS viral infection. Despite the clinical use of these two drugs, no information regarding their possible mechanism of action at the molecular level is still known for SARS-CoV-2. Very recently, the crystallographic structure of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), also known as C30 Endopeptidase, was published. Starting from this essential structural information, in the present work we have exploited supervised molecular dynamics, an emerging computational technique that allows investigating at an atomic level the recognition process of a ligand from its unbound to the final bound state. In this research, we provided molecular insight on the whole recognition pathway of Lopinavir, Ritonavir, and Nelfinavir, three potential C30 Endopeptidase inhibitors, with the last one taken into consideration due to the promising in-vitro activity shown against the structurally related SARS-CoV protease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Bolcato
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Matteo Pavan
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy.
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Pineux F, Federico S, Klotz KN, Kachler S, Michiels C, Sturlese M, Prato M, Spalluto G, Moro S, Bonifazi D. Targeting G Protein-Coupled Receptors with Magnetic Carbon Nanotubes: The Case of the A 3 Adenosine Receptor. ChemMedChem 2020; 15:1909-1920. [PMID: 32706529 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.202000466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The A3 adenosine receptor (AR) is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) overexpressed in the membrane of specific cancer cells. Thus, the development of nanosystems targeting this receptor could be a strategy to both treat and diagnose cancer. Iron-filled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are an optimal platform for theranostic purposes, and the use of a magnetic field can be exploited for cancer magnetic cell sorting and thermal therapy. In this work, we have conjugated an A3 AR ligand on the surface of iron-filled CNTs with the aim of targeting cells overexpressing A3 ARs. In particular, two conjugates bearing PEG linkers of different length were designed. A docking analysis of A3 AR showed that neither CNT nor linker interferes with ligand binding to the receptor; this was confirmed by in vitro preliminary radioligand competition assays on A3 AR. Encouraged by this result, magnetic cell sorting was applied to a mixture of cells overexpressing or not the A3 AR in which our compound displayed indiscriminate binding to all cells. Despite this, it is the first time that a GPCR ligand has been anchored to a magnetic nanosystem, thus it opens the door to new applications for cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florent Pineux
- Department of Chemistry and Namur Research College (NARC), University of Namur, Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000, Namur, Belgium
| | - Stephanie Federico
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via L.Giorgeri 1, 34127, Trieste, Italy
| | - Karl-Norbert Klotz
- Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie, Universität Würzburg, Versbacher Straße 9, 97078, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Sonja Kachler
- Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie, Universität Würzburg, Versbacher Straße 9, 97078, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Carine Michiels
- Namur Research Institute for Life Science (NARILIS), Unité de Recherche en Biologie Cellulaire (URBC), University of Namur, 5000, Namur, Belgium
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Università degli Studi di Padova, Via F. Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Maurizio Prato
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via L.Giorgeri 1, 34127, Trieste, Italy.,Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (CIC biomaGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Paseo de Miramón 182, 20014, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.,Basque Foundation for Science, Ikerbasque, 48013, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Giampiero Spalluto
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Farmaceutiche, Università degli Studi di Trieste, Via L.Giorgeri 1, 34127, Trieste, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Università degli Studi di Padova, Via F. Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Davide Bonifazi
- Institut für Organische Chemie, Universität Wien, Währinger Str. 38, 1090, Wien, Austria
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Rodríguez-Enríquez F, Costas-Lago MC, Besada P, Alonso-Pena M, Torres-Terán I, Viña D, Fontenla JÁ, Sturlese M, Moro S, Quezada E, Terán C. Novel coumarin-pyridazine hybrids as selective MAO-B inhibitors for the Parkinson's disease therapy. Bioorg Chem 2020; 104:104203. [PMID: 32932120 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2020.104203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The 3-pyridazinylcoumarin scaffold was previously reported as an efficient core for the discovery of reversible and selective inhibitors of MAO-B, a validated drug target for PD therapy which also plays an important role in the AD progress. Looking for its structural optimization, novel compounds of hybrid structure coumarin-pyridazine, differing in polarizability and lipophilicity properties, were synthesized and tested against the two MAO isoforms, MAO-A and MAO-B (compounds 17a-f and 18a-f). All the designed compounds selectively inhibited the MAO-B isoenzyme, exhibiting many of them IC50 values ranging from sub-micromolar to nanomolar grade and lacking neuronal toxicity. The 7-bromo-3-(6-bromopyridazin-3-yl)coumarin (18c), the most potent compound of these series (IC50 = 60 nM), was subjected to further in vivo studies in a reserpine-induced mouse PD model. The obtained results suggest a promising potential for 18c as antiparkinsonian agent. Molecular modeling studies also provided valuable information about the enzyme-drug interactions and the potential pharmacokinetic profile of the novel compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernanda Rodríguez-Enríquez
- Centro de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS) Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Departamento de Farmacología, Farmacia y Tecnología Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - María Carmen Costas-Lago
- Departamento de Química Orgánica e Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur (IISGS), Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Pedro Besada
- Departamento de Química Orgánica e Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur (IISGS), Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Miguel Alonso-Pena
- Departamento de Química Orgánica e Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur (IISGS), Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Iria Torres-Terán
- Centro de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS) Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Departamento de Farmacología, Farmacia y Tecnología Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Dolores Viña
- Centro de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS) Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Departamento de Farmacología, Farmacia y Tecnología Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - José Ángel Fontenla
- Departamento de Farmacología, Farmacia y Tecnología Farmacéutica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Elias Quezada
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Carmen Terán
- Departamento de Química Orgánica e Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Galicia Sur (IISGS), Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain.
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Bissaro M, Sturlese M, Moro S. The rise of molecular simulations in fragment-based drug design (FBDD): an overview. Drug Discov Today 2020; 25:1693-1701. [PMID: 32592867 PMCID: PMC7314695 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2020.06.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Revised: 05/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) is an innovative approach, progressively more applied in the academic and industrial context, to enhance hit identification for previously considered undruggable biological targets. In particular, FBDD discovers low-molecular-weight (LMW) ligands (<300Da) able to bind to therapeutically relevant macromolecules in an affinity range from the micromolar (μM) to millimolar (mM). X-ray crystallography (XRC) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy are commonly the methods of choice to obtain 3D information about the bound ligand-protein complex, but this can occasionally be problematic, mainly for early, low-affinity fragments. The recent development of computational fragment-based approaches provides a further strategy for improving the identification of fragment hits. In this review, we summarize the state of the art of molecular dynamics simulations approaches used in FBDD, and discuss limitations and future perspectives for these approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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Monti A, Sturlese M, Caporale A, Roger JDA, Mascanzoni F, Ruvo M, Doti N. Design, synthesis, structural analysis and biochemical studies of stapled AIF(370-394) analogues as ligand of CypA. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2020; 1864:129717. [PMID: 32861757 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2020.129717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2020] [Revised: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The neuronal apoptotic process requires the nuclear translocation of Apoptosis Inducing Factor (AIF) in complex with Cyclophilin A (CypA) with consequent chromatin condensation and DNA degradation events. Targeting CypA by delivering an AIF-blocking peptide (AIF(370-394)) provides a significant neuroprotection, demonstrating the biological relevance of the AIF/CypA complex. To date pharmaceutical compounds targeting this complex are missing. METHODS We designed and synthesized a set of mono and bicyclic AIF(370-394) analogs containing both disulfide and 1,2,3-triazole bridges, in the attempt to both stabilize the peptide conformation and improve its binding affinity to CypA. Peptide structures in solution and in complex with CypA have been studied by circular dichroism (CD), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and molecular modeling. The ability of stapled peptides to interact with CypA was evaluated by using Epic Corning label free technique and Isothermal Titration Calorimetry experiments. RESULTS We identified a stapled peptide analogue of AIF(370-394) with a ten-fold improved affinity for CypA. Molecular modeling studies reveal that the new peptide acquires β-turn/β-fold structures and shares with the parent molecule the same binding region on CypA. CONCLUSIONS Data obtained provide invaluable assistance in designing new ligand of CypA for therapeutic approaches in neurodegenerative diseases. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE Due to the crucial role of AIF/CypA complex formation in neurodegeneration, identification of selective inhibitors is of high importance for targeted therapies. We describe new bicyclic peptide inhibitors with improved affinity for CypA, investigating the kinetic, thermodynamic and structural effects of conformational constraints on the protein-ligand interaction, and their utility for drug design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Monti
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini-CNR; Via Mezzocannone, 16, 80134 Napoli, Italy; DISTABIF, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Via Vivaldi 43, 81100 Caserta, CE, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section, Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università di Padova, via F. Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Andrea Caporale
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini-CNR; Via Mezzocannone, 16, 80134 Napoli, Italy
| | - Jessica De Almeida Roger
- Molecular Modeling Section, Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università di Padova, via F. Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Fabiola Mascanzoni
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini-CNR; Via Mezzocannone, 16, 80134 Napoli, Italy
| | - Menotti Ruvo
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini-CNR; Via Mezzocannone, 16, 80134 Napoli, Italy
| | - Nunzianna Doti
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini-CNR; Via Mezzocannone, 16, 80134 Napoli, Italy.
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Cescon E, Bolcato G, Federico S, Bissaro M, Valentini A, Ferlin MG, Spalluto G, Sturlese M, Moro S. Scaffold Repurposing of in-House Chemical Library toward the Identification of New Casein Kinase 1 δ Inhibitors. ACS Med Chem Lett 2020; 11:1168-1174. [PMID: 32550997 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.0c00028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have highlighted the key role of Casein kinase 1 δ (CK1δ) in the development of several neurodegenerative pathologies, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). So far, CK1δ inhibitors are noncovalent ATP competitive ligands and no drugs are currently available for this molecular target, hence the interest in developing new CK1δ inhibitors. The study aims to identify new inhibitors able to bind the enzyme; by a dual approach in silico/in vitro, the virtual screening has been performed on an in-house chemical library, which was previously designed and synthesized for other targets. The work can, therefore, be seen in the scaffold repurposing logic. The proposed strategy has led to the identification of two hits, having a novel scaffold in the landscape of CK1δ inhibitors and with an activity in the micromolar range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora Cescon
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Piazzale Europa,1 34127 Trieste, Italia
| | - Giovanni Bolcato
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stephanie Federico
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Piazzale Europa,1 34127 Trieste, Italia
| | - Maicol Bissaro
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Alice Valentini
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Maria Grazia Ferlin
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Gianpiero Spalluto
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Piazzale Europa,1 34127 Trieste, Italia
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
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Bissaro M, Sturlese M, Moro S. Exploring the RNA-Recognition Mechanism Using Supervised Molecular Dynamics (SuMD) Simulations: Toward a Rational Design for Ribonucleic-Targeting Molecules? Front Chem 2020; 8:107. [PMID: 32175307 PMCID: PMC7057144 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2020.00107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2019] [Accepted: 02/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Although proteins have represented the molecular target of choice in the development of new drug candidates, the pharmaceutical importance of ribonucleic acids has gradually been growing. The increasing availability of structural information has brought to light the existence of peculiar three-dimensional RNA arrangements, which can, contrary to initial expectations, be recognized and selectively modulated through small chemical entities or peptides. The application of classical computational methodologies, such as molecular docking, for the rational development of RNA-binding candidates is, however, complicated by the peculiarities characterizing these macromolecules, such as the marked conformational flexibility, the singular charges distribution, and the relevant role of solvent molecules. In this work, we have thus validated and extended the applicability domain of SuMD, an all-atoms molecular dynamics protocol that allows to accelerate the sampling of molecular recognition events on a nanosecond timescale, to ribonucleotide targets of pharmaceutical interest. In particular, we have proven the methodological ability by reproducing the binding mode of viral or prokaryotic ribonucleic complexes, as well as that of artificially engineered aptamers, with an impressive degree of accuracy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padua, Italy
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Palazzotti D, Bissaro M, Bolcato G, Astolfi A, Felicetti T, Sabatini S, Sturlese M, Cecchetti V, Barreca ML, Moro S. Deciphering the Molecular Recognition Mechanism of Multidrug Resistance Staphylococcus aureus NorA Efflux Pump Using a Supervised Molecular Dynamics Approach. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:E4041. [PMID: 31430864 PMCID: PMC6719125 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20164041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Revised: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
The use and misuse of antibiotics has resulted in critical conditions for drug-resistant bacteria emergency, accelerating the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In this context, the co-administration of an antibiotic with a compound able to restore sufficient antibacterial activity may be a successful strategy. In particular, the identification of efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) holds promise for new antibiotic resistance breakers (ARBs). Indeed, bacterial efflux pumps have a key role in AMR development; for instance, NorA efflux pump contributes to Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) resistance against fluoroquinolone antibiotics (e.g., ciprofloxacin) by promoting their active extrusion from the cells. Even though NorA efflux pump is known to be a potential target for EPIs development, the absence of structural information about this protein and the little knowledge available on its mechanism of action have strongly hampered rational drug discovery efforts in this area. In the present work, we investigated at the molecular level the substrate recognition pathway of NorA through a Supervised Molecular Dynamics (SuMD) approach, using a NorA homology model. Specific amino acids were identified as playing a key role in the efflux pump-mediated extrusion of its substrate, paving the way for a deeper understanding of both the mechanisms of action and the inhibition of such efflux pumps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah Palazzotti
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, “Department of excellence 2018-2022”, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Giovanni Bolcato
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Andrea Astolfi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, “Department of excellence 2018-2022”, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Tommaso Felicetti
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, “Department of excellence 2018-2022”, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Stefano Sabatini
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, “Department of excellence 2018-2022”, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Violetta Cecchetti
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, “Department of excellence 2018-2022”, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Maria Letizia Barreca
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, “Department of excellence 2018-2022”, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo 1, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
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Bissaro M, Bolcato G, Deganutti G, Sturlese M, Moro S. Revisiting the Allosteric Regulation of Sodium Cation on the Binding of Adenosine at the Human A 2A Adenosine Receptor: Insights from Supervised Molecular Dynamics (SuMD) Simulations. Molecules 2019; 24:E2752. [PMID: 31362426 PMCID: PMC6695830 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24152752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2019] [Revised: 07/23/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the most intriguing findings highlighted from G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) crystallography is the presence, in many members of class A, of a partially hydrated sodium ion in the middle of the seven transmembrane helices (7TM) bundle. In particular, the human adenosine A2A receptor (A2A AR) is the first GPCR in which a monovalent sodium ion was crystallized in a distal site from the canonical orthosteric one, corroborating, from a structural point of view, its role as a negative allosteric modulator. However, the molecular mechanism by which the sodium ion influences the recognition of the A2A AR agonists is not yet fully understood. In this study, the supervised molecular dynamics (SuMD) technique was exploited to analyse the sodium ion recognition mechanism and how its presence influences the binding of the endogenous agonist adenosine. Due to a higher degree of flexibility of the receptor extracellular (EC) vestibule, we propose the sodium-bound A2A AR as less efficient in stabilizing the adenosine during the different steps of binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maicol Bissaro
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Giovanni Bolcato
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Deganutti
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy.
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Bolcato G, Cuzzolin A, Bissaro M, Moro S, Sturlese M. Can We Still Trust Docking Results? An Extension of the Applicability of DockBench on PDBbind Database. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20143558. [PMID: 31330841 PMCID: PMC6679043 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20143558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2019] [Revised: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 07/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The number of entries in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) has doubled in the last decade, and it has increased tenfold in the last twenty years. The availability of an ever-growing number of structures is having a huge impact on the Structure-Based Drug Discovery (SBDD), allowing investigation of new targets and giving the possibility to have multiple structures of the same macromolecule in a complex with different ligands. Such a large resource often implies the choice of the most suitable complex for molecular docking calculation, and this task is complicated by the plethora of possible posing and scoring function algorithms available, which may influence the quality of the outcomes. Here, we report a large benchmark performed on the PDBbind database containing more than four thousand entries and seventeen popular docking protocols. We found that, even in protein families wherein docking protocols generally showed acceptable results, certain ligand-protein complexes are poorly reproduced in the self-docking procedure. Such a trend in certain protein families is more pronounced, and this underlines the importance in identification of a suitable protein–ligand conformation coupled to a well-performing docking protocol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Bolcato
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Alberto Cuzzolin
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
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Bortolozzi R, Carta D, Prà MD, Antoniazzi G, Mattiuzzo E, Sturlese M, Di Paolo V, Calderan L, Moro S, Hamel E, Quintieri L, Ronca R, Viola G, Ferlin MG. Evaluating the effects of fluorine on biological properties and metabolic stability of some antitubulin 3-substituted 7-phenyl-pyrroloquinolinones. Eur J Med Chem 2019; 178:297-314. [PMID: 31195171 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.05.092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2019] [Revised: 05/31/2019] [Accepted: 05/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
A small number of fluorinated 7-phenyl-pyrroloquinolinone (7-PPyQ) derivatives was synthesized in an attempt to improve the metabolic stability of 3N-ethyl-7-PPyQ and 3N-benzoyl-7-PPyQ. The possible impacts of the fluorine-hydrogen isosterism on both biological activity and metabolic stability were evaluated. Introduction of a fluorine atom in the 2 or 3 position of the 7-phenyl ring yielded the 7-PPyQ derivatives 12, 13 and 15, which showed potent cytotoxicity (low micromolar and sub-nanomolar GI50s) both in human leukemic and solid tumor cell lines. None of them induced significant cell death in quiescent and proliferating human lymphocytes. Moreover, 12, 13 and 15 exhibited remarkable cytotoxic activity in the multidrug-resistant cell line CEMVbl100, suggesting that they are not substrates for P-glycoprotein. All compounds inhibited tubulin assembly and the binding of [3H]colchicine to tubulin, with the best activity occurring with compound 15. Mechanistic studies carried out on compound 12 indicated that it caused (a) a strong G2/M arrest; (b) apoptosis in a time- and concentration-dependent manner; (c) a significant production of ROS (in good agreement with the observed mitochondrial depolarization); (d) caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase activation; and (e) a decrease in the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins. In vivo experiments in a murine syngeneic tumor model demonstrated that compounds 12 and 15 significantly reduced tumor mass at doses four times lower than that required for the reference compound combretastatin A-4 phosphate. Neither monofluorination of the 7-phenyl ring of 3N-ethyl-7-PPyQ nor replacement of the benzoyl function of 3N-benzoyl-7-PPyQ with a 2-fluorobenzoyl moiety led to any improvement in the metabolic stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Bortolozzi
- Department of Woman's and Child's Health, University of Padova, Laboratory of Oncohematology, 35128, Padova, Italy
| | - Davide Carta
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Matteo Dal Prà
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Antoniazzi
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Elena Mattiuzzo
- Department of Woman's and Child's Health, University of Padova, Laboratory of Oncohematology, 35128, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Veronica Di Paolo
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Laura Calderan
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Ernest Hamel
- Screening Technologies Branch, Developmental Therapeutics Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | - Luigi Quintieri
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Roberto Ronca
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Oncology and Immunology Section, University of Brescia, 29881, Brescia, Italy
| | - Giampietro Viola
- Department of Woman's and Child's Health, University of Padova, Laboratory of Oncohematology, 35128, Padova, Italy
| | - Maria Grazia Ferlin
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, 35131, Padova, Italy.
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Panday SK, Sturlese M, Salmaso V, Ghosh I, Moro S. Coupling Supervised Molecular Dynamics (SuMD) with Entropy Estimations To Shine Light on the Stability of Multiple Binding Sites. ACS Med Chem Lett 2019; 10:444-449. [PMID: 30996777 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.8b00490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2018] [Accepted: 02/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Exploring at the molecular level, all possible ligand-protein approaching pathways and, consequently, identifying the energetically favorable binding sites is considered crucial to depict a clear picture of the whole scenario of ligand-protein binding. In fact, a ligand can recognize a protein in multiple binding sites, adopting multiple conformations in every single binding site and inducing protein modifications upon binding. In the present work, we would like to present how it is possible to couple a supervised molecular dynamics (SuMD) approach to explore, from an unbound state, the most energetically favorable recognition pathways of the ligand to its protein, with an enthalpic and entropic characterization of the most stable ligand-protein bound states, using the protein kinase CK2α as a prototype study. We identified two accessory binding pockets surrounding the ATP-binding site having a strong enthalpic contribution but a different configurational entropy contribution, suggesting that they play a different role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shailesh Kumar Panday
- School of Computational and Integrative Sciences (SCIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
| | - Veronica Salmaso
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
| | - Indira Ghosh
- School of Computational and Integrative Sciences (SCIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
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Bissaro M, Federico S, Salmaso V, Sturlese M, Spalluto G, Moro S. Targeting Protein Kinase CK1δ with Riluzole: Could It Be One of the Possible Missing Bricks to Interpret Its Effect in the Treatment of ALS from a Molecular Point of View? ChemMedChem 2018; 13:2601-2605. [PMID: 30359484 DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201800632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Riluzole, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1995, is the most widespread oral treatment for the fatal neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The drug, whose mechanism of action is still obscure, mitigates progression of the illness, but unfortunately with only limited improvements. Herein we report the first demonstration, using a combination of computational and in vitro studies, that riluzole is an ATP-competitive inhibitor of the protein kinase CK1 isoform δ, with an IC50 value of 16.1 μm. This allows us to rewrite its possible molecular mechanism of action in the treatment of ALS. The inhibition of CK1δ catalytic activity indeed links the two main pathological hallmarks of ALS: transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43) proteinopathy and glutamate excitotoxicity, exacerbated by the loss of expression of glial excitatory amino acid transporter-2 (EAAT2).
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Affiliation(s)
- Maicol Bissaro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Stephanie Federico
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgeri 1, 34127, Trieste, Italy
| | - Veronica Salmaso
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Giampiero Spalluto
- Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, Via Licio Giorgeri 1, 34127, Trieste, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
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43
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Sturlese M, Manta B, Bertarello A, Bonilla M, Lelli M, Zambelli B, Grunberg K, Mammi S, Comini MA, Bellanda M. The lineage-specific, intrinsically disordered N-terminal extension of monothiol glutaredoxin 1 from trypanosomes contains a regulatory region. Sci Rep 2018; 8:13716. [PMID: 30209332 PMCID: PMC6135854 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31817-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2018] [Accepted: 08/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Glutaredoxins (Grx) are small proteins conserved throughout all the kingdoms of life that are engaged in a wide variety of biological processes and share a common thioredoxin-fold. Among them, class II Grx are redox-inactive proteins involved in iron-sulfur (FeS) metabolism. They contain a single thiol group in their active site and use low molecular mass thiols such as glutathione as ligand for binding FeS-clusters. In this study, we investigated molecular aspects of 1CGrx1 from the pathogenic parasite Trypanosoma brucei brucei, a mitochondrial class II Grx that fulfills an indispensable role in vivo. Mitochondrial 1CGrx1 from trypanosomes differs from orthologues in several features including the presence of a parasite-specific N-terminal extension (NTE) whose role has yet to be elucidated. Previously we have solved the structure of a truncated form of 1CGrx1 containing only the conserved glutaredoxin domain but lacking the NTE. Our aim here is to investigate the effect of the NTE on the conformation of the protein. We therefore solved the NMR structure of the full-length protein, which reveals subtle but significant differences with the structure of the NTE-less form. By means of different experimental approaches, the NTE proved to be intrinsically disordered and not involved in the non-redox dependent protein dimerization, as previously suggested. Interestingly, the portion comprising residues 65–76 of the NTE modulates the conformational dynamics of the glutathione-binding pocket, which may play a role in iron-sulfur cluster assembly and delivery. Furthermore, we disclosed that the class II-strictly conserved loop that precedes the active site is critical for stabilizing the protein structure. So far, this represents the first communication of a Grx containing an intrinsically disordered region that defines a new protein subgroup within class II Grx.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Sturlese
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 1, 35131, Padova, Italy.,Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 5, Padova, Italy
| | - Bruno Manta
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay.,Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica Biológica, Instituto de Química Biológica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Igua 4425, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay.,New England Biolabs, 240 County Road, Ipswich, MA, 01938, USA
| | - Andrea Bertarello
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 1, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Mariana Bonilla
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Moreno Lelli
- Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff", University of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy.,Magnetic Resonance Center (CERM), University of Florence, Via L. Sacconi 6, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy.,Centre de RMN à Très Hauts Champs, Institut des Sciences Analytiques (UMR 5280 - CNRS, ENS Lyon, UCB Lyon 1), Université de Lyon, 5 rue de la Doua, 69100, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Barbara Zambelli
- Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Viale Giuseppe Fanin 40, 40127, Bologna, Italy
| | - Karin Grunberg
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Stefano Mammi
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 1, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Marcelo A Comini
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Mataojo 2020, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Massimo Bellanda
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, via Marzolo 1, 35131, Padova, Italy.
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Cuzzolin A, Deganutti G, Salmaso V, Sturlese M, Moro S. Cover Feature: AquaMMapS: An Alternative Tool to Monitor the Role of Water Molecules During Protein-Ligand Association (ChemMedChem 6/2018). ChemMedChem 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201800125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Cuzzolin
- Molecular Modeling Section, MMS, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences; University of Padova; via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Giuseppe Deganutti
- Molecular Modeling Section, MMS, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences; University of Padova; via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Veronica Salmaso
- Molecular Modeling Section, MMS, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences; University of Padova; via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section, MMS, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences; University of Padova; via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section, MMS, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences; University of Padova; via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
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Manta B, Bonilla M, Fiestas L, Sturlese M, Salinas G, Bellanda M, Comini MA. Polyamine-Based Thiols in Trypanosomatids: Evolution, Protein Structural Adaptations, and Biological Functions. Antioxid Redox Signal 2018; 28:463-486. [PMID: 29048199 DOI: 10.1089/ars.2017.7133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
SIGNIFICANCE Major pathogenic enterobacteria and protozoan parasites from the phylum Euglenozoa, such as trypanosomatids, are endowed with glutathione (GSH)-spermidine (Sp) derivatives that play important roles in signaling and metal and thiol-redox homeostasis. For some Euglenozoa lineages, the GSH-Sp conjugates represent the main redox cosubstrates around which entire new redox systems have evolved. Several proteins underwent molecular adaptations to synthesize and utilize the new polyamine-based thiols. Recent Advances: The genomes of closely related organisms have recently been sequenced, which allows mining and analysis of gene sequences that belong to these peculiar redox systems. Similarly, the three-dimensional structures of several of these proteins have been solved, which allows for comparison with their counterparts in classical redox systems that rely on GSH/glutaredoxin and thioredoxin. CRITICAL ISSUES The evolutionary and structural aspects related to the emergence and use of GSH-Sp conjugates in Euglenozoa are reviewed focusing on unique structural specializations that proteins developed to use N1,N8-bisglutathionylspermidine (trypanothione) as redox cosubstrate. An updated overview on the biochemical and biological significance of the major enzymatic activities is also provided. FUTURE DIRECTIONS A thiol-redox system strictly dependent on trypanothione is a feature unique to trypanosomatids. The physicochemical properties of the polyamine-GSH conjugates were a major driving force for structural adaptation of proteins that use these thiols as ligand and redox cofactor. In fact, the structural differences of indispensable components of this system can be exploited toward selective drug development. Future research should clarify whether additional cellular processes are regulated by the trypanothione system. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 28, 463-486.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Manta
- 1 Laboratory Redox Biology of Trypanosomes, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo , Montevideo, Uruguay .,2 Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica Biológica, Instituto de Química Biológica , Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Mariana Bonilla
- 1 Laboratory Redox Biology of Trypanosomes, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo , Montevideo, Uruguay .,2 Laboratorio de Fisicoquímica Biológica, Instituto de Química Biológica , Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Lucía Fiestas
- 1 Laboratory Redox Biology of Trypanosomes, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo , Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- 3 Department of Chemical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Padova , Padova, Italy
| | - Gustavo Salinas
- 4 Worm Biology Lab, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo , Montevideo, Uruguay .,5 Departamento de Biociencias, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República , Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Massimo Bellanda
- 3 Department of Chemical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Padova , Padova, Italy
| | - Marcelo A Comini
- 1 Laboratory Redox Biology of Trypanosomes, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo , Montevideo, Uruguay
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46
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Cuzzolin A, Deganutti G, Salmaso V, Sturlese M, Moro S. AquaMMapS: An Alternative Tool to Monitor the Role of Water Molecules During Protein-Ligand Association. ChemMedChem 2018; 13:522-531. [DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201700564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2017] [Revised: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Cuzzolin
- Molecular Modeling Section, MMS, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences; University of Padova; via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Giuseppe Deganutti
- Molecular Modeling Section, MMS, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences; University of Padova; via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Veronica Salmaso
- Molecular Modeling Section, MMS, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences; University of Padova; via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section, MMS, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences; University of Padova; via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section, MMS, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences; University of Padova; via Marzolo 5 35131 Padova Italy
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Abstract
Supervised MD (SuMD) is a computational method that enables the exploration of ligand-receptor recognition pathway in a reduced timescale. The performance speedup is due to the incorporation of a tabu-like supervision algorithm on the ligand-receptor approaching distance into a classic molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. SuMD enables the investigation of ligand-receptor binding events independently from the starting position, chemical structure of the ligand (small molecules or peptides), and also from its receptor-binding affinity. The application of SuMD highlights an appreciable capability of the technique to reproduce the crystallographic structures of several ligand-protein complexes and can provide high-quality protein-ligand models of for which yet experimental confirmation of binding mode is not available.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Veronica Salmaso
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences , University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences , University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences , University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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48
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Malvacio I, Cuzzolin A, Sturlese M, Vera DMA, Moyano EL, Moro S. Synthesis and preliminary structure-activity relationship study of 2-aryl-2H-pyrazolo[4,3-c]quinolin-3-ones as potential checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) inhibitors. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem 2017; 33:171-183. [PMID: 29210298 PMCID: PMC6010083 DOI: 10.1080/14756366.2017.1404592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The serine-threonine checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) plays a critical role in the cell cycle arrest in response to DNA damage. In the last decade, Chk1 inhibitors have emerged as a novel therapeutic strategy to potentiate the anti-tumour efficacy of cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. In the search for new Chk1 inhibitors, a congeneric series of 2-aryl-2 H-pyrazolo[4,3-c]quinolin-3-one (PQ) was evaluated by in-vitro and in-silico approaches for the first time. A total of 30 PQ structures were synthesised in good to excellent yields using conventional or microwave heating, highlighting that 14 of them are new chemical entities. Noteworthy, in this preliminary study two compounds 4e2 and 4h2 have shown a modest but significant reduction in the basal activity of the Chk1 kinase. Starting from these preliminary results, we have designed the second generation of analogous in this class and further studies are in progress in our laboratories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Malvacio
- a Department of Organic Chemistry, INFIQC, School of Chemical Sciences , National University of Cordoba , Cordoba , Argentina.,b Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche , Università degli Studi di Padova , via Marzolo, Padova , Italy
| | - Alberto Cuzzolin
- b Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche , Università degli Studi di Padova , via Marzolo, Padova , Italy
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- b Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche , Università degli Studi di Padova , via Marzolo, Padova , Italy
| | - D Mariano A Vera
- c Department of Chemistry, QUIAMM-INBIOTEC, School of Exact and Natural Sciences , National University of Mar del Plata , Mar del Plata , Buenos Aires , Argentina
| | - E Laura Moyano
- a Department of Organic Chemistry, INFIQC, School of Chemical Sciences , National University of Cordoba , Cordoba , Argentina
| | - Stefano Moro
- b Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche , Università degli Studi di Padova , via Marzolo, Padova , Italy
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Abstract
In silico three-dimensional (3D) molecular modeling tools based upon the receptor/enzyme-ligand docking simulation in protein crystal structures and/or homology modeling of receptors have been reliably used in pharmacological research and development for decades. Molecular docking methodologies are helpful for revealing facets of activation and inactivation, thus improving mechanistic understanding and predicting molecular ligand binding activity, and they can have a high level of accuracy, and have also been explored and applied in chemical risk assessment. This computational approach is, however, only applicable for chemical hazard identification situations where the specific target receptor for a given chemical is known and the crystal structure/homology model of the receptor is available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Moro
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy.
| | - Mattia Sturlese
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Antonella Ciancetta
- Molecular Modeling Section (MMS), Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università Padova, via Marzolo 5, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Matteo Floris
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Sassari, v.le San Pietro 43/C, 07100, Sassari, Italy
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50
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Bertini S, Ghilardi E, Asso V, Minutolo F, Rapposelli S, Digiacomo M, Saccomanni G, Salmaso V, Sturlese M, Moro S, Macchia M, Manera C. Sulfonamido-derivatives of unsubstituted carbazoles as BACE1 inhibitors. Bioorg Med Chem Lett 2017; 27:4812-4816. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bmcl.2017.09.058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2017] [Revised: 09/25/2017] [Accepted: 09/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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