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Miglustat (NB-DNJ) works as a chaperone for mutated acid beta-glucosidase in cells transfected with several Gaucher disease mutations.

Gaucher disease (GD) is a disorder of glycosphinglipid metabolism caused by deficiency of lysosomal acid beta-glucosidase (GC), resulting in progressive deposition of glucosylceramide in macrophages. The glucose analogue, N-butyl-deoxynojirimycin (NB-DNJ, Miglustat), is an inhibitor of the ceramide-specific glucosyltransferase (CSG) which catalyzes the first step of glycosphingolipids biosynthesis and is currently approved for the oral treatment of type 1 GD. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we constructed plasmids containing wild-type and several mutations in glucocerebrosidase (GBA) gene. The plasmids were transfected into COS-7 cells and stable transfected cell lines were obtained by geneticin (G418) selection. Cells were cultured during 6 days with medium with or without 10 microM NB-DNJ. The addition of NB-DNJ to COS-7 cell medium leads to 1.3-, 2.1-, 2.3-, 3.6-, and 9.9-fold increase in the activity of S364R, wild-type, N370S, V15M, and M123T GC, respectively. However, no significant changes were observed in the activity of the L444P, L336P, and S465del mutated proteins, but a small decrease in the rare P266L variant was observed. These results suggest that NB-DNJ, in addition to the inhibitory effect on CSG, also works as a "chemical chaperone", increasing the activity of acid beta-glucosidase of wild-type and several GC mutated proteins, including the most frequent N370S mutation. The specific location of the Miglustat binding site in GC is unknown. Potential binding sites in the enzyme have been searched for using computational molecular docking. The searching strategy identified three potential GC binding sites for Miglustat, one being the substrate-binding site of the enzyme, which was the best-ranked site by AutoDock program. Therefore, it is possible that Miglustat exerts its chaperoning activity on acid beta-glucosidase by acting as an inhibitor bound at the active site. This increase on the activity of the acid beta-glucosidase would imply that Miglustat is not only a substrate reducer but also an inhibitor of the GC degradation, with very promising clinical implications for the treatment of GD patients.

1-Deoxynojirimycin↗

Low-resolution structure refinement in electron microscopy.

A real-space structure refinement method, originally developed for macromolecular X-ray crystallography, has been applied to protein structure analysis by electron microscopy (EM). This method simultaneously optimizes the fit of an atomic model to a density map and the stereo-chemical properties of the model by minimizing an energy function. The performance of this method is characterized at different resolution and signal-to-noise ratio conditions typical for EM electron density maps. A multi-resolution scheme is devised to improve the convergence of the refinement on the global energy minimum. Applications of the method to various model systems are demonstrated here. The first case is the arrangement of FlgE molecules in the helical filament of flagellar hook, in which refinement with segmented rigid bodies improves the density correlation and reduces severe van der Waals contacts among the symmetry-related subunits. The second case is a conformational analysis of the NSF AAA ATPase in which a multi-conformer model is used in the refinement to investigate the arrangement of the two ATPase domains in the molecule. The third case is a docking simulation in which the crystal structure of actin and the NOE data from NMR experiments on the dematin headpiece are combined with a low-resolution EM density map to generate an atomic model of the F-actin-dematin headpiece structure.

Actins↗

Modeling side-chains using molecular dynamics improve recognition of binding region in CAPRI targets.

The CAPRI-II experiment added an extra level of complexity to the problem of predicting protein-protein interactions by including 5 targets for which participants had to build or complete the 3-dimensional (3D) structure of either the receptor or ligand based on the structure of a close homolog. In this article, we describe how modeling key side-chains using molecular dynamics (MD) in explicit solvent improved the recognition of the binding region of a free energy- based computational docking method. In particular, we show that MD is able to predict with relatively high accuracy the rotamer conformation of the anchor side-chains important for molecular recognition as suggested by Rajamani et al. (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004;101:11287-11292). As expected, the conformations are some of the most common rotamers for the given residue, while latch side-chains that undergo induced fit upon binding are forced into less common conformations. Using these models as starting conformations in conjunction with the rigid-body docking server ClusPro and the flexible docking algorithm SmoothDock, we produced valuable predictions for 6 of the 9 targets in CAPRI-II, missing only the 3 targets that underwent significant structural rearrangements upon binding. We also show that our free energy- based scoring function, consisting of the sum of van der Waals, Coulombic electrostatic with a distance-dependent dielectric, and desolvation free energy successfully discriminates the nativelike conformation of our submitted predictions. The latter emphasizes the critical role that thermodynamics plays on our methodology, and validates the generality of the algorithm to predict protein interactions.

Algorithms↗

Flexible docking of an acetoxyethoxymethyl derivative of thiosemicarbazone into three different species of dihydrofolate reductase.

Dihydrofolate reductases (DHFR) of human, Candida albicans and E coli were docked with their original ligands of X-ray crystal complex using QXP (Quick eXPlore), a docking program. Conditions to reproduce the crystal structures within the root mean square deviation (rmsd) of 2.00 A were established. Applying these conditions, binding modes and species-specificities of a novel antibacterial compound, N4-(2-acetoxyethoxymethyl)-2-acetylpyridine thiosemicarbazone (AATSC), were studied. As the results, the docking program reproduced the crystal structures with average rmsd of six ligands as 0.91 A ranging from 0.49 to 1.45 A. The interactions including the numbers of hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions were the same as the crystal structures and superposition of the crystal and docked structures almost coincided with each other. For AATSC, the results demonstrated that it could bind to either the substrate or coenzyme sites of DHFR in all three species with different degrees of affinity. It confirms the experimentally determined kinetic behavior of uncompetitive inhibition against either the inhibitor or the coenzyme. The docked AATSC overlapped well with the original ligands and major interactions were consistent with the ones in the crystal complexes. The information generated from this work should be useful for future development of antibacterial and antifungal agents.

Binding Sites↗

Crystal structure of Paracoccus denitrificans electron transfer flavoprotein: structural and electrostatic analysis of a conserved flavin binding domain.

The crystal structure of electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) from Paracoccus denitrificans was determined and refined to an R-factor of 19.3% at 2.6 A resolution. The overall fold is identical to that of the human enzyme, with the exception of a single loop region. Like the human structure, the structure of the P. denitrificans ETF is comprised of three distinct domains, two contributed by the alpha-subunit and the third from the beta-subunit. Close analysis of the structure reveals that the loop containing betaI63 is in part responsible for conferring the high specificity of AMP binding by the ETF protein. Using the sequence and structures of the human and P. denitrificans enzymes as models, a detailed sequence alignment has been constructed for several members of the ETF family, including sequences derived for the putative FixA and FixB proteins. From this alignment, it is evident that in all members of the ETF family the residues located in the immediate vicinity of the FAD cofactor are identical, with the exception of the substitution of serine and leucine residues in the W3A1 ETF protein for the human residues alphaT266 and betaY16, respectively. Mapping of ionic differences between the human and P. denitrificans ETF onto the structure identifies a surface that is electrostatically very similar between the two proteins, thus supporting a previous docking model between human ETF and pig medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD). Analysis of the ionic strength dependence of the electron transfer reaction between either human or P. denitrificans ETF and MCAD demonstrates that the human ETF functions optimally at low ( approximately 10 mequiv) ionic strength, while P. denitrificans ETF is a better electron acceptor at higher (>75 mequiv) ionic strength. This suggests that the electrostatic surface potential of the two proteins is very different and is consistent with the difference in isoelectric points between the proteins. Analysis of the electrostatic potentials of the human and P. denitrificans ETFs reveals that the P. denitrificans ETF is more negatively charged. This excess negative charge may contribute to the difference in redox potentials between the two ETF flavoproteins and suggests an explanation for the opposing ionic strength dependencies for the reaction of MCAD with the two ETFs. Furthermore, by analysis of a model of the previously described human-P. denitrificans chimeric ETF protein, it is possible to identify one region of ETF that participates in docking with ETF-ubiquinone oxidoreductase, the physiological electron acceptor for ETF.

Adenosine Monophosphate↗

Are L-adenosine and its derivatives substrates for S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase?

Moffatt oxidation of 2',3'-O-isopropylidene-L-adenosine and treatment of the resulting crude 5'-aldehyde with hydroxylamine followed by deprotection gave L-adenosine 5'-carboxaldehyde oximes, whose enantiomers are known to be potent inhibitors of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine (AdoHcy) hydrolase. The L-adenosine and its 5'-aldehyde oxime derivatives were found to be inactive as inhibitors of AdoHcy hydrolase. Docking calculations showed that binding of L-adenosine to AdoHcy hydrolase is weaker (higher energy) and less specific (larger number of clusters) compared to D-Ado.

Adenosine↗

Curculin, a sweet-tasting and taste-modifying protein, is a non-functional mannose-binding lectin.

A three-dimensional model of curculin, a sweet-tasting and taste-modifying protein from the fruits of Curculigo latifolia, was built from the X-ray coordinates of GNA, a mannose-binding lectin from snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis). The three mannose-binding sites present in GNA were found in curculin but are devoid of mannose-binding activity as shown by docking experiments performed with mannose. Some regions well exposed on the surface of the three-dimensional model of curculin could act as epitopes responsible for the sweet-tasting properties of this protein.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A docking analysis of the statistical physics of protein-protein recognition.

We describe protein-protein recognition within the frame of the random energy model of statistical physics. We simulate, by docking the component proteins, the process of association of two proteins that form a complex. We obtain the energy spectrum of a set of protein-protein complexes of known three-dimensional structure by performing docking in random orientations and scoring the models thus generated. We use a coarse protein representation where each amino acid residue is replaced by its Voronoï cell, and derive a scoring function by applying the evolutionary learning program ROGER to a set of parameters measured on that representation. Taking the scores of the docking models to be interaction energies, we obtain energy spectra for the complexes and fit them to a Gaussian distribution, from which we derive physical parameters such as a glass transition temperature and a specificity transition temperature.

Biophysics↗

Molecular modeling of the human vasopressin V2 receptor/agonist complex.

The V2 vasopressin renal receptor (V2R), which controls antidiuresis in mammals, is a member of the large family of heptahelical transmembrane (7TM) G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Using the automated GPCR modeling facility available via Internet (http:/(/)expasy.hcuge.ch/swissmod/SWISS-MODEL.+ ++html) for construction of the 7TM domain in accord with the bovine rhodopsin (RD) footprint, and the SYBYL software for addition of the intra- and extracellular domains, the human V2R was modeled. The structure was further refined and its conformational variability tested by the use of a version of the Constrained Simulated Annealing (CSA) protocol developed in this laboratory. An inspection of the resulting structure reveals that the V2R (likewise any GPCR modeled this way) is much thicker and accordingly forms a more spacious TM cavity than most of the hitherto modeled GPCR constructs do, typically based on the structure of bacteriorhodopsin (BRD). Moreover, in this model the 7TM helices are arranged differently than they are in any BRD-based model. Thus, the topology and geometry of the TM cavity, potentially capable of receiving ligands, is in this model quite different than it is in the earlier models. In the subsequent step, two ligands, the native [arginine8]vasopressin (AVP) and the selective agonist [D-arginine8]vasopressin (DAVP) were inserted, each in two topologically non-equivalent ways, into the TM cavity and the resulting structures were equilibrated and their conformational variabilities tested using CSA as above. The best docking was selected and justified upon consideration of ligand-receptor interactions and structure-activity data. Finally, the amino acid residues were indicated, mainly in TM helices 3-7, as potentially important in both AVP and DAVP docking. Among those Cys112, Val115-Lys116, Gln119, Met123 in helix 3; Glu174 in helix 4; Val206, Ala210, Val213-Phe214 in helix 5; Trp284, Phe287-Phe288, Gln291 in helix 6; and Phe307, Leu310, Ala314 and Asn317 in helix 7 appeared to be the most important ones. Many of these residues are invariant for either the GPCR superfamily or the neurophyseal (vasopressin V2R, V1aR and V1bR and oxytocin OR) subfamily of receptors. Moreover, some of the equivalent residues in V1aR have already been found critical for the ligand affinity.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Inhibition of trypsin and thrombin by amino(4-amidinophenyl)methanephosphonate diphenyl ester derivatives: X-ray structures and molecular models.

X-ray structures of trypsin from bovine pancreas inactivated by diphenyl [N-(benzyloxycarbonyl)amino](4-amidinophenyl)methanephosphonate [Z-(4-AmPhGly)P(OPh)2] were determined at 113 and 293 K to 1.8 angstrom resolution and refined to R factors of 0.211 (113 K) and 0. 178 (293 K). The structures reveal a tetrahedral phosphorus covalently bonded to the O gamma of the active site serine. Covalent bond formation is accompanied by the loss of both phenoxy groups. The D-stereoisomer of Z-(4-AmPhGly)P-(OPh)2 is not observed in the complex. The L-stereoisomer of the inhibitor forms contacts with several residues in the trypsin active site. One of the phosphonate oxygens is inserted into the oxyanion hole and forms hydrogen bonds to the amides of Gly193, Asp194, and Ser195. The second phosphonate oxygen forms hydrogen bonds to N epsilon 2 of His 57. The p-amidinophenylglycine moiety binds into the trypsin primary specificity pocket, interacting with Asp189. The amide forms a hydrogen bond to the carbonyl oxygen atom of Ser214. The inhibitor moiety, from the 113 K structure of trypsin inactivated by the reaction product of Z-(4-AmPhGly)P(OPh)2, was docked into human thrombin [Bode, W., Mayr, I., Baumann, U., Huber, R., Stone, S. R., & Hofsteenge, J. (1989) EMBO J. 8, 3467-3475] and energy minimized. The inhibitor fits well into the thrombin active site, forming favorable contacts similar to those in the trypsin complex with no bad contacts.

Animals↗

Substrate binding and catalytic mechanism in phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus: a molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics study.

For the first time a consistent catalytic mechanism of phospholipase C from Bacillus cereus is reported based on molecular mechanics calculations. We have identified the position of the nucleophilic water molecule, which is directly involved in the hydrolysis of the natural substrate phosphatidylcholine, in phospholipase C. This catalytically essential water molecule, after being activated by an acidic residue (Asp55), performs the nucleophilic attack on the phosphorus atom in the substrate, leading to a trigonal bipyramidal pentacoordinated intermediate (and structurally similar transition state). The subsequent collapse of the intermediate, regeneration of the enzyme, and release of the products has to involve a not yet identified second water molecule. The catalytic mechanism reported here is based on a series of molecular mechanics calculations. First, the x-ray structure of phospholipase C from B cereus including a docked substrate molecule was subjected to a stepwise molecular mechanics energy minimization. Second, the location of the nucleophilic water molecule in the active site of the fully relaxed enzyme-substrate complex was determined by evaluation of nonbonded interaction energies between the complex and a water molecule. The nucleophilic water molecule is positioned at a distance (3.8 A) from the phosphorus atom in the substrate, which is in good agreement with experimentally observed distances. Finally, the stability of the complex between phospholipase C, the substrate, and the nucleophilic water molecule was verified during a 100 ps molecular dynamics simulation. During the simulation the substrate undergoes a conformational change, but retains its localization in the active site. The contacts between the enzyme, the substrate, and the nucleophilic water molecule display some fluctuations, but remain within reasonable limits, thereby confirming the stability of the enzyme-substrate-water complex. The protocol developed for energy minimization of phospholipase C containing three zinc ions located closely together at the bottom of the active site cleft is reported in detail. In order to handle the strong electrostatic interactions in the active site realistically during energy minimization, delocalization of the charges from the three zinc ions was considered. Therefore, quantum mechanics calculations on the zinc ions and the zinc-coordinating residues were carried out prior to the molecular mechanics calculations, and two different sets of partial atomic charges (MNDO-Mulliken and AMI-ESP) were applied. After careful assignment of partial atomic charges, a complete energy minimization of the protein was carried out by a stepwise procedure without explicit solvent molecules. Energy minimization with either set of charges yielded structures, which were very similar both to the x-ray structure and to each other, although using AMI-ESP partial atomic charges and a dielectric constant of 4, yielded the best protein structure.

Bacillus cereus↗

Docking study of enantiomeric fonofos oxon bound to the active site of Torpedo californica acetylcholinesterase.

Molecular interaction between enantiomeric fonofos oxon (O-ethyl S-phenyl ethylphosphonothiolate) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) of Torpedo californica was evaluated by using the Cerius2 program. It was suggested that the difference in the inhibitory activity of the two enantiomers of fonofos oxon on AChE is due to the steric hindrance in binding to the AChE active site.

Acetylcholinesterase↗

Docking-based CoMFA and CoMSIA studies of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors of the pyridinone derivative type.

Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) were performed on a set of pyridinone derivatives. A molecular alignment obtained by docking of compounds into the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor binding site of HIV-1 was used. Good correlations between the calculated binding free energies and experimental inhibitory activities suggest that the binding conformations of these inhibitors are reasonable. Robust and predictive 3D-QSAR models were obtained with q2 values of 0.706 and 0.723 for CoMFA and CoMSIA, respectively. The models were validated by an external test set obtaining r2 pred values of 0.720 and 0.750 for CoMFA and CoMSIA, respectively. The CoMFA, CoMSIA and docking results help to understand the type of interactions that occur between pyridinone derivatives with the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor binding pocket, and explain the viral resistance to pyridinone derivatives upon mutation of amino acids Tyr181 and Tyr188. The results obtained provide information for a better understanding of the drug resistant mechanisms. The 3D-QSAR models derived will be used to guide the design of pyridinone derivatives active against mutant strains of reverse transcriptase.

Computer Simulation↗

Flexible ligand docking using evolutionary algorithms: investigating the effects of variation operators and local search hybrids.

The docking of ligands to proteins can be formulated as a computational problem where the task is to find the most favorable energetic conformation among the large space of possible protein-ligand complexes. Stochastic search methods such as evolutionary algorithms (EAs) can be used to sample large search spaces effectively and is one of the commonly used methods for flexible ligand docking. During the last decade, several EAs using different variation operators have been introduced, such as the ones provided with the AutoDock program. In this paper we evaluate the performance of different EA settings such as choice of variation operators, population size, and usage of local search. The comparison is performed on a suite of six docking problems previously used to evaluate the performance of search algorithms provided with the AutoDock program package. The results from our investigation confirm that the choice of variation operators has an impact on the search-capabilities of EAs. The introduced DockEA using the best settings found obtained the overall best docking solutions compared to the Lamarckian GA (LGA) provided with AutoDock. Furthermore, the DockEA proved to be more robust than the LGA (in terms of reproducing the results in several runs) on the more difficult problems with a high number of flexible torsion angles.

Algorithms↗

Screening drug-like compounds by docking to homology models: a systematic study.

In the absence of an experimentally solved structure, a homology model of a protein target can be used instead for virtual screening of drug candidates by docking and scoring. This approach poses a number of questions regarding the choice of the template to use in constructing the model, the accuracy of the screening results, and the importance of allowing for protein flexibility. The present study addresses such questions with compound screening calculations for multiple homology models of five drug targets. A central result is that docking to homology models frequently yields enrichments of known ligands as good as that obtained by docking to a crystal structure of the actual target protein. Interestingly, however, standard measures of the similarity of the template used to build the homology model to the targeted protein show little correlation with the effectiveness of the screening calculations, and docking to the template itself often is as successful as docking to the corresponding homology model. Treating key side chains as mobile produces a modest improvement in the results. The reasons for these sometimes unexpected results, and their implications for future methodologic development, are discussed.

Computer Simulation↗

Computational elucidation of the structural basis of ligand binding to the dopamine 3 receptor through docking and homology modeling.

The dopamine subtype 3 receptor (D3) is a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of cocaine addiction, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, and other disorders, but little is known about the binding of ligands to D3 at the atomic level. In the present study, binding of 29 known ligands to the D3 receptor was modeled computationally using four D3 receptor models which were obtained from homology modeling. The predicted binding models were validated with experimental data from site-directed mutagenesis, structure-activity relationship studies, and affinity labeling studies. Docking scores calculated for these 29 ligands correlate reasonably well with the experimentally determined binding affinities. A pharmacophore model is proposed that describes the binding of ligands at a single D3 receptor binding site and offers insights into the binding of structurally diverse D3 ligands to this receptor.

Binding Sites↗

Molecular recognition of human angiogenin by placental ribonuclease inhibitor--an X-ray crystallographic study at 2.0 A resolution.

Human placental RNase inhibitor (hRI), a leucine-rich repeat protein, binds the blood vessel-inducing protein human angiogenin (Ang) with extraordinary affinity (Ki <1 fM). Here we report a 2.0 A resolution crystal structure for the hRI-Ang complex that, together with extensive mutagenesis data from earlier studies, reveals the molecular features of this tight interaction. The hRI-Ang binding interface is large and encompasses 26 residues from hRI and 24 from Ang, recruited from multiple domains of both proteins. However, a substantial fraction of the energetically important contacts involve only a single region of each: the C-terminal segment 434-460 of hRI and the ribonucleolytic active centre of Ang, most notably the catalytic residue Lys40. Although the overall docking of Ang resembles that observed for RNase A in the crystal structure of its complex with the porcine RNase inhibitor, the vast majority of the interactions in the two complexes are distinctive, indicating that the broad specificity of the inhibitor for pancreatic RNase superfamily proteins is based largely on its capacity to recognize features unique to each of them. The implications of these findings for the development of small, hRI-based inhibitors of Ang for therapeutic use are discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Interaction of human leukocyte elastase with a N-aryl azetidinone suicide substrate: Conformational analyses based on the mechanism of action of serine proteinases.

The three-dimensional interaction of the enzyme-activated (suicide) inhibitor AA 231-1 [N-(2-chloromethyl)-3, 3-difluoro-azetidin-2-one] with human leukocyte elastase has been studied using computer graphics and molecular mechanics. Systematic conformational analyses and energy minimizations have been performed for the inhibitor AA 231-1 and its presumed complexes formed during the enzymatic process of inactivation, i.e., the Michaelis complex, the acyl-enzyme, and the inactivated enzyme with the covalently bound inhibitor. The beta-lactam ring characteristics of modeled AA 231-1 were in agreement with crystallographic data of related structures. Lowest energy conformations were found when the angle between the planes of the beta-lactam ring and that of its phenyl substituent was about -60 or 60 degrees. To study the interaction with the enzyme, the enzyme-inhibitor complexes were constructed by docking the inhibitor in the active site using enzyme coordinates from an X-ray crystallographic structure. The whole enzyme structure was used for conformational analyses and energy mechanics. Favorable conformations for the Michaelis complex have been obtained in which the carbonyl oxygen of the inhibitor was located in the oxyanion hole and the hydroxyl of Ser195 was in position to interact with the beta-lactam carbonyl carbon on the alpha face of AA 231-1. Simulations of the approach of the benzylic carbon by the nucleophilic amino acid His40 or His57 through an SN2 displacement on the halomethyl group of AA 231-1 were performed. The results agreed with the alkylation of the imidazole nitrogen N epsilon 2 of His57 leading to the inactivated enzyme (bis-adduct form).

Azetidines↗