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Structure and mechanism of action of a cofactor-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase homolog from Bacillus stearothermophilus with broad specificity phosphatase activity.

The crystal structure of Bacillus stearothermophilus PhoE (originally termed YhfR), a broad specificity monomeric phosphatase with a molecular mass of approximately 24 kDa, has been solved at 2.3 A resolution in order to investigate its structure and function. PhoE, already identified as a homolog of a cofactor-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase, shares with the latter an alpha/beta/alpha sandwich structure spanning, as a structural excursion, a smaller subdomain composed of two alpha-helices and one short beta-strand. The active site contains residues from both the alpha/beta/alpha sandwich and the sub-domain. With the exception of the hydrophilic catalytic machinery conserved throughout the cofactor-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase family, the active-site cleft is strikingly hydrophobic. Docking studies with two diverse, favored substrates show that 3-phosphoglycerate may bind to the catalytic core, while alpha-napthylphosphate binding also involves the hydrophobic portion of the active-site cleft. Combining a highly favorable phospho group binding site common to these substrate binding modes and data from related enzymes, a catalytic mechanism can be proposed that involves formation of a phosphohistidine intermediate on His10 and likely acid-base behavior of Glu83. Other structural factors contributing to the broad substrate specificity of PhoE can be identified. The dynamic independence of the subdomain may enable the active-site cleft to accommodate substrates of different sizes, although similar motions are present in simulations of cofactor-dependent phosphoglycerate mutases, perhaps favoring a more general functional role. A significant number of entries in protein sequence databases, particularly from unfinished microbial genomes, are more similar to PhoE than to cofactor-dependent phosphoglycerate mutases or to fructose-2,6-bisphosphatases. This PhoE structure will therefore serve as a valuable basis for inference of structural and functional characteristics of these proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A molecular docking study of estrogenically active compounds with 1,2-diarylethane and 1,2-diarylethene pharmacophores.

Numerous selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) have been synthesized and assayed in recent years. The focus of this study is to apply coarse-grain molecular docking procedures coupled with fine-grain all-atom force field optimization strategies to shed light on the binding mechanisms of currently available estrogen receptor-active compounds. Although the mechanics of ligand binding in estrogen receptors is generally well understood, there is room for surprises. In this paper computational evidence corroborating the experimentally observed type I agonistic binding mode for estradiol (E2) and diethylstilbesterol (DES) and the type II antagonistic binding mode for 4-hydroxytamoxifen and raloxifen is presented. Included in this type I agonistic mode are the DES derivatives, transstilbene and 1,2-diaryldiaminoethane. In addition, a novel 'type II agonistic' binding mode for 2,3-diarylimidazolines, 4,5-diarylimidazoles, 2,3-diarylpiperazines is introduced. This mode is stabilized by suggesting alternative hydrogen bond anchor points in the ligand binding domain as potential leads for future drug design.

Computer Simulation↗

Screened charge electrostatic model in protein-protein docking simulations.

A new method for considering solvation when calculating electrostatics for protein docking is proposed. The solvent-exposed charges are attenuated by induced solvent polarization charges. Modified charges are pre-calculated and the correction doesn't affect the speed of the actual simulation. The new Screened Charge Electrostatic Model (SChEM) results in an improved discrimination of near-native solutions from false positives in docking simulations as compared to conventional 'non-solvated' charge assignment. A series of protein-protein complexes were analyzed by running automated rigid-body Monte-Carlo docking simulations using the 3-D coordinates of the unbound components. In all but one case, the use of solvation screened charges for electrostatic calculations helped to improve the rank of the near-native solution after rigid-body simulations. The SChEM also drastically improved the results of the subsequent refinement of the interface side-chains. In all cases the final lowest energy solution was found within 3.0 A r.m.s.d. of the crystal structure.

Animals↗

Dynamics of proteins in different solvent systems: analysis of essential motion in lipases.

We have investigated the effect of different solvents on the dynamics of Rhizomucor miehei lipase. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed in water, methyl hexanoate, and cyclohexane. Analysis of the 400-ps trajectories showed that the solvent has a pronounced effect on the geometrical properties of the protein. The radius of gyration and total accessibility surface decrease in organic solvents, whereas the number of hydrogen bonds increases. The essential motions of the protein in different solvents can be described in a low-dimensional "essential subspace," and the dynamic behavior in this subspace correlates with the polarity of the solvent. Methyl hexanoate, which is a substrate for R. miehei lipase, significantly increases the fluctuations in the active-site loop. During the simulation, a methyl hexanoate entered the active-site groove. This observation provides insight into the possible docking mechanism of the substrate.

Fungal Proteins↗

MIAX: a system for assessment of macromolecular interaction. 3) A parallel hybrid GA for flexible protein docking.

We propose a parallel hybrid genetic algorithm for flexible protein-protein docking in order to improve the conventional rigid-body models to manipulate protein-protein interactions. The proposed hybrid algorithm is a combination of an evolutionary algorithm with a simulated annealing one, yielding a powerful protein-complex conformation-searching engine. Parallelization of the procedure makes possible to reach high algorithm performance, in both, execution times and size of treated monomers and complexes. Knowledge on side chain flexibility is extracted by means of an exhaustive analysis of crystallographic data on proteins and protein complexes. Results demonstrate the competency of the algorithm since comparison of calculated and crystallographic data accounts for a maximum of 2.5A in RMS difference, including side chain conformation. The system allows routine analysis of this fundamental molecular biology problem important to elucidate bio-macromolecular function in biophysical and biochemical mechanisms involving molecular recognition and interaction, yielding simultaneously clues for designing new proteins and enzymes directed to different purposes.

Algorithms↗

Molecular engineering of proteins with predefined function. Part I: Design of a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier.

Molecular engineering refers to a collection of complex, computer-based methods used to study molecular structures and properties. These methods include ones for determining properties as well as for accessing prior knowledge about them. Applying these methods, one can generate, manipulate and calculate the energy involved with the three-dimensional conformation of a given molecule. These computational tools were utilized in this study, to design cross-linking reagents for cell-free Hb, for the purpose of O(2)-carriers development. Hb, when removed from the red blood cell, misses some of its functional characteristics required. Yet, these characteristics can be rebuilt into the Hb molecule by appropriate chemical modifications. These modifications have been devised to prevent dimer formation, increase the retention time in circulation, and decrease the high oxygen affinity of free Hb. The reagent reported in this study, namely, oxidized-NAD (o-NAD), has been designed to fulfill both criteria of retention time and oxygen affinity, in a single package. Feasibility of the cross-linking reaction of o-NAD with Hb was assessed by studying the docking process of o-NAD within the 2,3-DPG pocket of Hb. In this study, we provide an insight into how the overall factors involved with the potential energy calculations contribute to the hydrogen bonding network, formed within the complex. Conformational search analysis has shown a high proximity, of functional moieties on the Hb molecule, to reactive groups on the o-NAD molecule suggested. This is an important step in the design and later synthesis of O(2)-carrying materials to be used as blood substitutes.

2,3-Diphosphoglycerate↗

Identification of the basic residues of cytochrome f responsible for electrostatic docking interactions with plastocyanin in vitro: relevance to the electron transfer reaction in vivo.

The prominent basic patch seen in the atomic structure of the lumen-side domain of turnip cytochrome f, consisting of Arg209 and Lys187, 58, 65, and 66, was proposed to be an electrostatically complementary docking site for its physiological electron acceptor, plastocyanin [Martinez, S. E., Huang, D., Szczepaniak, A., Cramer, W. A., and Smith, J. L. (1994) Structure 2, 95-105]. This proposal agrees with solution studies on the cytochrome f/plastocyanin electron-transfer reaction that showed a major contribution of electrostatic interactions to the docking, but not with studies on the oxidation rate of cyt f in vivo using mutants in which the basic patch of cyt f was neutralized. The apparent contradiction might be explained by an unknown electron acceptor protein for cyt f. However, (i) flash-induced oxidation of cyt f is absent in a PC-deficient mutant. (ii) Lys58, 65, and 66 in the large domain and Lys188 and 189 in the small domain are major contributors to the ionic strength dependence of the electron-transfer reaction in solution. Replacement of Lys58 and 65 by neutral residues and of Lys66 by the acidic residue Glu66 resulted in a >10-fold decrease in the rate of electron transfer in solution and complete loss of its ionic strength dependence. Replacement of Lys188 and Lys189 in the small domain of cyt f resulted in a 3-4-fold decrease in the second-order rate constant and a smaller dependence of the overall rate of electron transfer on ionic strength, corresponding to a loss of two positive charges. (iii) Acidification of the thylakoid lumen cannot explain the absence of electrostatic interactions. (iv) Changing the five lysines to acidic residues did not result in any significant retardation of the rate of cyt f oxidation in vivo. If the docking of cyt f and plastocyanin in vivo is mediated by basic residues of cyt f, they are different from those that mediate electron transfer in vitro or that are implicated by simulations of electrostatic interactions of the docking. Alternatively, docking of cyt f/PC in vivo is limited by spatial constraints or release of PC from P700 that precludes a rate-limiting mediation of the cyt f/PC reaction by specific electrostatic interactions. The cyt f/PC system in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is the first electron-transfer couple for which the role of electrostatics in mediating the docking reaction has been studied both in vitro and in vivo.

Animals↗

Prediction of new serine proteinase inhibitors.

We describe here the use of a rapid computational method to predict the relative binding strengths of a series of small-molecule ligands for the serine proteinase trypsin. Flexible molecular models of the ligands were docked to the proteinase using an all-atom potential set, without cutoff limits for the non-bonded and electrostatic energies. The binding-strength calculation is done directly in terms of a molecular mechanics potential. The binding of eighteen different compounds, including non-binding controls, has been successfully predicted. The measured Ki is correlated with the predicted energy. The correctness of the theoretical calculations is demonstrated with both kinetics measurements and X-ray structure determination of six enzyme-inhibitor complexes.

Computer Simulation↗

A 3D model for the human hepatic asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGP-R).

The human hepatic Asialoglycoprotein Receptor (ASGP-R) consists of two different types of liver specific membrane glycoproteins that bind to terminal galactose and N-acetylgalactosamine residues of serum glycoproteins. The two different polypeptide chains are referred to as two receptor subunits, HH1 and HH2, which are both involved in the activity of the functional receptor. This receptor has served as a model for understanding receptor-mediated endocytosis and carbohydrate mediated recognition phenomena. Here models for the C-terminal extracellular region of both HH1 and HH2 subunit are presented. The standard homology building procedure was modified in order to make it suitable for the modeling problem at hand. The models for the extracellular regions of HH1 and HH2 were initially constructed by exploiting several fragments, belonging to proteins of known 3D structure, and showing high local sequence similarity with respect to the glycoproteins of interest. Putative binding sites were first hypothesized on the basis of the comparison with other complexes of lectins, the crystal structure of which was available in the Protein Data Bank. A model for the complex involving the HH2 subunit and the typical high affinity ligand N-acetylgalactosamine (NacGal) was refined as the first by a suitable combination of MD simulations and Energy Minimization calculations, since it seemed to quickly converge to a plausible structure. An intermediate model for HH1 was then rebuilt on the basis of the refined model for HH2. It was then submitted to a sequence of molecular dynamics simulations with templates which took into account the secondary structure prediction for a final refinement. The structures of small regions of the models, located around the binding sites, were compared with more recent crystallographic data regarding a complex involving the mutant of Mannose Binding Protein QPDWGH (1BCH entry in the Protein Data Bank) and NacGal. This mutant shows high local sequence similarity with HH1 and HH2 at the binding sites. On the basis of the above comparison, different locations of the binding sites were also considered. In addition to other expected interactions, two hydrophobic interactions were observed in the models with Trp residues (positions 243 in HH1 and 181 or 267 in HH2 respectively) and His residues (positions 256 in HHI and 184 in HH2.respectively). The quality of the models was evaluated by the Procheck program and they seemed plausible. This observation together with analogies found between binding sites of the models and IBCH supported the validity of the models. A further validation element arose by comparison between experimental binding data available in the literature about the homologous rat receptor subunits and theoretical interaction energies evaluated, by means of the DOCK 3.5 program, in models for the rat subunits obtained from the corresponding human ones. The new modeling procedure used here appears to be a well-suited method for structural analysis of small regions, located around the ligands, in proteins of unknown 3D structure.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Geometry-based flexible and symmetric protein docking.

We present a set of geometric docking algorithms for rigid, flexible, and cyclic symmetry docking. The algorithms are highly efficient and have demonstrated very good performance in CAPRI Rounds 3-5. The flexible docking algorithm, FlexDock, is unique in its ability to handle any number of hinges in the flexible molecule, without degradation in run-time performance, as compared to rigid docking. The algorithm for reconstruction of cyclically symmetric complexes successfully assembles multimolecular complexes satisfying C(n) symmetry for any n in a matter of minutes on a desktop PC. Most of the algorithms presented here are available at the Tel Aviv University Structural Bioinformatics Web server (http://bioinfo3d.cs.tau.ac.il/).

Algorithms↗

Trends in virtual combinatorial library design.

Recent developments in combinatorial molecular design using virtual screening methods are summarised. These include similarity-based compound clustering techniques, structure-based docking and scoring, and fragment-based de novo design. Three major trends have been identified: i) the design of small target-focused compound libraries yielding activity-enriched sets of molecules; ii) advanced prediction methods for "drug-like" molecular properties complement activity predictions in the library design process, forming a multi-dimensional objective function; iii) "cherry picking" of selected products is increasingly used in lead generation and optimisation compared to purely educt-driven library design methods aiming at maximising structural diversity.

Algorithms↗

Automated docking of flexible ligands: applications of AutoDock.

AutoDock is a suite of C programs used to predict the bound conformations of a small, flexible ligand to a macromolecular target of known structure. The technique combines simulated annealing for conformation searching with a rapid grid-based method of energy evaluation. This paper reviews recent applications of the technique and describes the enhancements included in the current release.

Carrier Proteins↗

Information-based methods in the development of antiparasitic drugs.

The discovery and optimization of antiparasitic compounds has profited by information-based methods newly emerged in the modern drug development process. The generation of computer models enables the cost-efficient and fast computational screening of virtual compound libraries for biologically active molecules. Two sources of information are available: structure-based drug design utilizes information about the disease target. We describe two different computational approaches, realized as the fast, flexible docking program FlexX and as the de novo design program LUDI. Ligand-based drug design, on the other hand, requires the structures and experimental data from biologically active compounds. Parasitic targets and antiparasitic compounds studied by various information-based methods include trypanosomal trypanothione reductase, antiprotozoal bisphosphonates, and trypanosomal glycosomal glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.

Animals↗

Identification of a putative binding site for 5-alkyl-benzothiadiazides in the AMPA receptor dimer interface.

Crystal structures of three different allosteric modulators co-crystallized with the iGluR2 ligand-binding domain are currently available. The modulators, cyclothiazide, aniracetam and CX614, bind at overlapping binding sites in the dimer interface between two iGluR2 subunits. However, pharmacological data indicate that there are one or more additional binding sites for this class of compounds. Based on differences in structure-activity relationship data we show that 5-alkyl-benzothiadiazide (5ABTD) modulators and a series of close analogs of cyclothiazide, despite having a common core structure, do not have the same binding site. In the present work, a new potential binding site for allosteric modulators has been identified in the dimer interface of the iGluR2 ligand-binding domain. By comparing different iGluR2 crystal structures including different co-crystallized agonists, this cavity is shown to be a structurally conserved part of the dimer interface. The cavity is characterized with respect to shape and potential favorable interactions with ligands and docking is used to find a reasonable binding mode for the core structure of the 5ABTDs. The extensive structure-activity data available for this series of compounds are in agreement with the proposed binding mode, supporting the conclusion that the identified cavity most likely is the binding site for the 5ABTDs.

Allosteric Site↗

Library design using BCUT chemistry-space descriptors and multiple four-point pharmacophore fingerprints: simultaneous optimization and structure-based diversity.

New applications of fingerprints of multiple potential 4-point three-dimensional (3D) pharmacophores in combinatorial library design and virtual screening are presented. Preliminary results demonstrating the feasibility of a simulated annealing process for combinatorial reagent selection that concurrently optimizes product diversity in BCUT chemistry space and in terms of unique 4-point pharmacophores are discussed, and the advantage of using a customized chemistry-space derived for the library design is demonstrated. In addition, an extension to the multiple pharmacophore method for structure-based design that uses the shape of the target site as an additional constraint is presented. This development enables the docking process to be quantified in terms of the number and identities of the pharmacophoric hypotheses that can be matched by a compound or a library of compounds. The design of an example combinatorial library based on the Ugi condensation reaction and a serine protease active site is described.

Binding Sites↗

Crucial amino acid residues of mouse CD1d for glycolipid ligand presentation to V(alpha)14 NKT cells.

A novel lymphocyte, NKT cells bearing an invariant V(alpha)14 antigen receptor, specifically recognizes alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer) exclusively presented by mouse CD1d (mCD1d). However, the precise molecular interaction remains unclear. For the basis of functional analyses, a docking model of alpha-GalCer with the crystal structure of mCD1d was constructed. Possible residues involved in the alpha-GalCer--mCD1d interaction were found to be Arg79, Glu83 and Asp80 for carbohydrate recognition, and Asp153 for interaction with the amide group on the fatty acyl chain. The alpha-GalCer-presenting ability of various transfectants expressing mutant mCD1d was completely abrogated if a single amino acid mutation was induced at positions 79, 80, 83 or 153, suggesting that the polar amino acids above the F' pocket are crucial for alpha-GalCer presentation to activate V(alpha)14 NKT cells. The possibility that Glu83 is a contact site for the NKT cell receptor is also discussed.

Amino Acids↗

Improving conformational searches by geometric screening.

MOTIVATION: Conformational searches in molecular docking are a time-consuming process with wide range of applications. Favorable conformations of the ligands that successfully bind with receptors are sought to form stable ligand-receptor complexes. Usually a large number of conformations are generated and their binding energies are examined. We propose adding a geometric screening phase before an energy minimization procedure so that only conformations that geometrically fit in the binding site will be prompted for energy calculation. RESULTS: Geometric screening can drastically reduce the number of conformations to be examined from millions (or higher) to thousands (or lower). The method can also handle cases when there are more variables than geometric constraints. An early-stage implementation is able to finish the geometric filtering of conformations for molecules with up to nine variables in 1 min. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time such results are reported deterministically. CONTACT: mzhang@mdanderson.org.

Algorithms↗

Computer modeling of electrostatic steering and orientational effects in antibody-antigen association.

Brownian dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the role of long-range electrostatic forces in the association of the monoclonal antibody HyHEL-5 with hen egg lysozyme. The electrostatic field of the antibody is obtained from a solution of the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann using the x-ray crystal coordinates of this protein. The lysozyme is represented as an asymmetric dumbell consisting of two spheres of unequal size, an arrangement that allows for the modeling of the orientational requirements for docking. Calculations are done with the wild-type antibody and several point mutants at different ionic strengths. Changes in the charge distribution of the lysozyme are also considered. Results are compared with experiment and a simpler model in which the lysozyme is approximately by a single charged sphere.

Animals↗