Biomedical subjects

Kaushik Raha

Publications and source records attributed to Kaushik Raha.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Quantum mechanics in structure-based drug design.

In principle, quantum mechanics provides a more accurate representation of molecular systems than other modeling approaches. While this notion is not a matter of dispute, it has not yet been definitively demonstrated within the realm of structure-based drug design that the use of quantum mechanical methods over the use of classical modeling approaches is justified in consideration of the increase in expense associated with quantum mechanical methods. Demonstrating that quantum mechanics-based methods can be superior to simpler models, and resolving problems relating to estimating the effects of conformational entropy, will provide key areas of interest in the coming years for in silico structure-based drug design. Recent applications using quantum mechanical methods in structure-based drug design are reviewed herein, and applications ranging from scoring receptor-ligand interactions using quantum mechanics to the generation of quantitative structure-activity relationships using quantum mechanics-derived descriptors are discussed.

Drug Design↗

PubMed2005

Large-scale validation of a quantum mechanics based scoring function: predicting the binding affinity and the binding mode of a diverse set of protein-ligand complexes.

Computational methods to calculate binding affinity in protein-ligand interaction are of immense interest because of obvious practical applications in structure-based drug design. Scoring functions attempt to calculate the variation in binding affinity of ligands-inhibitors bound to protein targets at various levels of theory. In this study we use semiempirical quantum mechanics to design a scoring function that can calculate the electrostatic interactions and solvation free energy expected during complexation. This physically based approach has the ability to capture binding affinity trends in a diverse range of protein-ligand complexes. We also show the predictive power of this scoring function within protein targets and its ability to score ligand poses docked to a protein target. We also demonstrate the ability of this scoring function to discriminate between native and decoy poses and highlight the crucial role played by electrostatic interactions in molecular recognition. Finally we compare the performance of our scoring function with other available scoring functions in the literature.

HIV Protease↗

PubMed2005

Pairwise decomposition of residue interaction energies using semiempirical quantum mechanical methods in studies of protein-ligand interaction.

Pairwise decomposition of the interaction energy between molecules is shown to be a powerful tool that can increase our understanding of macromolecular recognition processes. Herein we calculate the pairwise decomposition of the interaction energy between the protein human carbonic anhydrase II (HCAII) and the fluorine-substituted ligand N-(4-sulfamylbenzoyl)benzylamine (SBB) using semiempirical quantum mechanics based methods. We dissect the interaction between the ligand and the protein by dividing the ligand and the protein into subsystems to understand the structure-activity relationships as a result of fluorine substitution. In particular, the off-diagonal elements of the Fock matrix that is composed of the interaction between the ionic core and the valence electrons and the exchange energy between the subsystems or atoms of interest is examined in detail. Our analysis reveals that the fluorine-substituted benzylamine group of SBB does not directly affect the binding energy. Rather, we find that the strength of the interaction between Thr199 of HCAII and the sulfamylbenzoyl group of SBB affects the binding affinity between the protein and the ligand. These observations underline the importance of the sulfonamide group in binding affinity as shown by previous experiments (Maren, T. H.; Wiley: C. E. J. Med. Chem. 1968, 11, 228-232). Moreover, our calculations qualitatively agree with the structural aspects of these protein-ligand complexes as determined by X-ray crystallography.

Benzylamines↗

PubMed2004

Pose scoring by NMR.

Recently, we have developed a fast approach to calculate NMR chemical shifts using the divide and conquer method at the semiempirical level. To demonstrate the utility of this approach for characterizing protein-ligand interactions, we used the deviation of calculated chemical shift perturbations from experiment to determine the orientation of a ligand (GPI-1046) in the binding pocket of the FK506 binding protein (FKBP12). Moreover, we were able to select the native state of the ligand from a collection of decoy poses. A key hydrogen bond between O1 and HN in Ile56 was also identified. Our results suggest that ligand-induced chemical shift perturbations can be used to refine protein/ligand structures.

Binding Sites↗

PubMed2004

A quantum mechanics-based scoring function: study of zinc ion-mediated ligand binding.

In this communication, we report the development of a novel quantum mechanics-based scoring function to predict free energy of ligand binding in the zinc metalloenzymes carbonic anhydrase (CA) and carboxypeptidase A (CPA). In particular, the AM1 method is used in conjunction with solvation modeling to predict the relative binding affinities of 18 CA and 5 CPA inhibitors. The effect of metal-ligand charge transfer is also discussed and shown to be different in CPA and CA, providing a further challenge to computing metalloenzyme binding affinities.

Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors↗