Molecular dynamics study of iduronate ring conformation

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the conformation of the iduronate ring in a methyl glycoside and as the central residue in a trisaccharide have been carried out. Separate simulations were carried out with initial ¹C₄, ²S₀, and ⁴C₁ iduronate ring conformations. Simulations were followed by observing the time development of the Cremer–Pople ring puckering parameters θ,?₂. Starting with chair geometries gave trajectories showing only ring oscillations close to the initial geometry. Simulations were performed with a ²S₀ starting geometry using explicit water and in vacuum with dielectric constants (ε) of 1 and 80, as well as with distance-dependent dielectric functions of 2r and 4r. In both the explicit water simulation and the vacuum (ε = 80) simulations, extensive pseudorotational motion was observed in which boat and twist-boat ring conformers interconvert. The overall range of ?₂2 variation in the trisaccharide was about half of that observed in the methyl glycoside. The Haasnoot procedure for calculating H-H coupling constants in saccharides was applied to structures obtained from MD trajectories. Using MD time averaged couplings along with experimental data allowed the relative fractions of chair and boat/twist-boat forms to be derived. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Stereoselectivity of phosphotriesterase with paraoxon derivatives: a computational study

The bacterial enzyme phosphotriesterase (PTE) exhibits stereoselectivity toward hydrolysis of chiral substrates with a preference for the S_p enantiomer. In this work, docking analysis and two explicit-solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to characterize and differentiate the structural dynamics of PTE bound to the S_p and R_p paraoxon derivative enantiomers (R_p-1 and S_p-1) hydrolyzed with distinct catalytic efficiencies. Comparative analysis of the molecular trajectories for PTE bound to R_p-1 and S_p-1 suggested that substrate binding induced conformational changes in the loops near the active site. After 100 ns of MD simulation, the Zn β²⁺ metal ion formed hexacoordinated- and tetracoordinated geometries in the S_p-1-PTE and R_p-1-PTE ensembles, respectively. Simulation results further showed that the hydrogen bond between Asp301 and His254 occurred with a higher probability after S_p-1 binding to PTE (47.5%) than that after R_p-1 binding (22.2%). These results provide a qualitative and molecular-level explanation for the 10 orders of magnitude increase in the catalytic efficiency of PTE toward the S_p enantiomer of paraoxon.     

3D-QSAR,molecular docking and molecular dynamics studies of a series of RORγt inhibitors

The discovery of clinically relevant inhibitors of retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor-gamma-t (RORγt) for autoimmune diseases therapy has proven to be a challenging task. In the present work, to find out the structural features required for the inhibitory activity, we show for the first time a three-dimensional quantitative structure–activity relationship (3D-QSAR), molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for a series of novel thiazole/thiophene ketone amides with inhibitory activity at the RORγt receptor. The optimum CoMFA and CoMSIA models, derived from ligand-based superimposition I, exhibit leave-one-out cross-validated correlation coefficient (R²_cv) of .859 and .805, respectively. Furthermore, the external predictive abilities of the models were evaluated by a test set, producing the predicted correlation coefficient (R²_pred) of .7317 and .7097, respectively. In addition, molecular docking analysis was applied to explore the binding modes between the inhibitors and the receptor. MD simulation and MM/PBSA method were also employed to study the stability and rationality of the derived conformations, and the binding free energies in detail. The QSAR models and the results of molecular docking, MD simulation, binding free energies corroborate well with each other and further provide insights regarding the development of novel RORγt inhibitors with better activity.     

Preferences of AAA/AAG codon recognition by modified nucleosides, τm5s2U34 and t6A37 present in tRNALys

Deficiency of 5-taurinomethyl-2-thiouridine, τm⁵s²U at the 34th ‘wobble’ position in tRNA^Lys causes MERRF (Myoclonic Epilepsy with Ragged Red Fibers), a neuromuscular disease. This modified nucleoside of mt tRNA^Lys, recognizes AAA/AAG codons during protein biosynthesis process. Its preference to identify cognate codons has not been studied at the atomic level. Hence, multiple MD simulations of various molecular models of anticodon stem loop (ASL) of mt tRNA^Lys in presence and absence of τm⁵s²U₃₄ and N⁶-threonylcarbamoyl adenosine (t⁶A₃₇) along with AAA and AAG codons have been accomplished. Additional four MD simulations of multiple ASL mt tRNA^Lys models in the context of ribosomal A-site residues have also been performed to investigate the role of A-site in recognition of AAA/AAG codons. MD simulation results show that, ASL models in presence of τm⁵s²U₃₄ and t⁶A₃₇ with codons AAA/AAG are more stable than the ASL lacking these modified bases. MD trajectories suggest that τm⁵s²U recognizes the codons initially by ‘wobble’ hydrogen bonding interactions, and then tRNA^Lys might leave the explicit codon by a novel ‘single’ hydrogen bonding interaction in order to run the protein biosynthesis process smoothly. We propose this model as the ‘Foot-Step Model’ for codon recognition, in which the single hydrogen bond plays a crucial role. MD simulation results suggest that, tRNA^Lys with τm⁵s²U and t⁶A recognizes AAA codon more preferably than AAG. Thus, these results reveal the consequences of τm⁵s²U and t⁶A in recognition of AAA/AAG codons in mitochondrial disease, MERRF.     

Internal mobility of the ologonucleotide duplexes d(TCGCG)2 and d(CGCGCG)2 in aqueous solution from molecular dynamics simulations

Summary In this paper we present longitudinal relaxation times, order parameters and effective correlation times for the base and sugar carbons in both strands of the oligonucleotide duplexes d(TCGCG)₂ and d(CGCGCG)₂, as calculated from 400 ps molecular dynamics trajectories in aqueous solution. The model-free approach (Lipari and Szabo, 1982) was used to determine the amplitudes and time scales of the internal motion. Comparisons were made with NMR relaxation measurements (Borer et al., 1994). The order parameters could acceptably be reproduced, and the effective correlation times were found to be lower than the experimental estimates. Reasonable T₁ relaxation times were obtained in comparison with experiment for the nonterminal nucleosides. The T₁ relaxation times were found to depend mainly on the order parameters and overall rotational correlation time.Abbreviations MD molecular dynamics - CSA chemical shift anisotropy To whom correspondence should be addressed.     

The 3D structures of G-Quadruplexes of HIV-1 integrase inhibitors: molecular dynamics simulations in aqueous solution and in the gas phase

The unimolecular G-quadruplex structures of d(GGGTGGGTGGGTGGGT) (G1) and d(GTGGTGGGTGGGTGGGT) (G2) are known as the potent nanomolar HIV-1 integrase inhibitors, thus investigating the 3D structures of the two sequences is significant for structure-based rational anti-HIV drug design. In this research, based on the experimental data of circular dichroism (CD) spectropolarimetry and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), the initial models of G1 and G2 were constructed by molecular modeling method. The modeling structures of G1 and G2 are intramolecular parallel-stranded quadruplex conformation with three guanine tetrads. Particularly, the structure of G2 possesses a T loop residue between the first and the second G residues that are the component of two adjacent same-stranded G-tetrad planes. This structure proposed by us has a very novel geometry and is different from all reported G-quadruplexes. The extended (35 ns) molecular dynamic (MD) simulations for the models indicate that the G-quadruplexes maintain their structures very well in aqueous solution whether the existence of K⁺ or NH₄⁺ in the central channel. Furthermore, we perform 500 ns MD simulations for the models in the gas phase. The results show that all the ion-G-quadruplex complexes are maintained during the whole simulations, despite the large magnitude of phosphate-phosphate repulsions. The gas phase MD simulations provide a good explanation to ESI-MS experiments. Our 3D structures for G1 and G2 will assist in understanding geometric formalism of G-quadruplex folding and may be helpful as a platform for rational anti-HIV drug design.     

The new program OPAL for molecular dynamics simulations and energy refinements of biological macromolecules

Summary A new program for molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and energy refinement of biological macromolecules, OPAL, is introduced. Combined with the supporting program TRAJEC for the analysis of MD trajectories, OPAL affords high efficiency and flexibility for work with diferent force fields, and offers a user-friendly interface and extensive trajectory analysis capabilities. Salient features are computational speeds of up to 1.5 GFlops on vector supercomputers such as the NEC SX-3, ellipsoidal boundaries to reduce the system size for studies in explicit solvents, and natural treatment of the hydrostatic pressure. Practical applications of OPAL are illustrated with MD simulations of pure water, energy minimization of the NMR structure of the mixed disulfide of a mutant E. coli glutaredoxin with glutathione in different solvent models, and MD simulations of a small protein, pheromone Er-2, using either instantaneous or time-averaged NMR restraints, or no restraints.Abbreviations D diffusion constant in cm²/s - Er-2 pheromone 2 from Euplotes raikovi - GFlop one billion floating point operations per second - Grx(C14S)-SG mixed disulfide between a mutant E. coli glutaredoxin, with Cys¹⁴ replaced by Ser, and glutathione - MD molecular dynamics - NOE nuclear Overhauser enhancement - rmsd root-mean-square deviation - density in g/cm³     

Molecular dynamics simulation of drug uptake by polymer

Drug uptake by polymer was modeled using a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation technique. Three drugs—doxorubicin (water soluble), silymarin (sparingly water soluble) and gliclazide (water insoluble)—and six polymers with varied functional groups—alginic acid, sodium alginate, chitosan, Gantrez AN119 (methyl-vinyl–ether-co-malic acid based), Eudragit L100 and Eudragit RSPO (both acrylic acid based)—were selected for the study. The structures were modeled and minimized using molecular mechanics force field (MM+). MD simulation (Gromacs-forcefield, 300 ps, 300 K) of the drug in the vicinity of the polymer molecule in the presence of water molecules was performed, and the interaction energy (IE) between them was calculated. This energy was evaluated with respect to electric-dipole, van der Waals and hydrogen bond forces. A good linear correlation was observed between IE and our own previous data on drug uptake^* [R ² = 0.65, R_adj² = 0.65,R_pre² = 0.56, {\hbox{R}}_{\rm{adj}}^2 = 0.65,{\hbox{R}}_{\rm{pre}}^2 = 0.56, and a F ratio of 30.25, P < 0.001; Devarajan et al. (2005) J Biomed Nanotechnol 1:1–9]. Maximum drug uptake by the polymeric nanoparticles (NP) was achieved in water as the solvent environment. Hydrophilic interaction between NP and water was inversely correlated with drug uptake. The MD simulation method provides a reasonable approximation of drug uptake that will be useful in developing polymer-based drug delivery systems.     

On the similarity of properties in solution or in the crystalline state: A molecular dynamics study of hen lysozyme

As protein crystals generally possess a high water content, it is assumed that the behaviour of a protein in solution and in crystal environment is very similar. This assumption can be investigated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of proteins in the different environments. Two 2ns simulations of hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) in crystal and solution environment are compared to one another and to experimental data derived from both X-ray and NMR experiments, such as crystallographic B-factors, NOE atom–atom distance bounds, ³J_{H N}-coupling constants, and ¹H-¹⁵N bond vector order parameters. Both MD simulations give very similar results. The crystal simulation reproduces X-ray and NMR data slightly better than the solution simulation.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of novel zanamivir derivatives as potent neuraminidase inhibitors

Neuraminidase (NA) is an important antiviral drug target. Zanamivir is one of the most potent NA inhibitors. In this paper, a series of zanamivir derivatives as potential NA inhibitors were studied by combination of molecular modeling techniques including 3D-QSAR, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The results show that the best CoMFA (comparative molecular field analysis) model has q²?=?0.728 and r²?=?0.988, and the best CoMSIA (comparative molecular similarity indices analysis) model has q²?=?0.750 and r²?=?0.981, respectively. The built 3D-QSAR models show significant statistical quality and excellent predictive ability. Seven new NA inhibitors were designed and predicted. 20?ns of MD simulations were carried out and their binding free energies were calculated. Two designed compounds were selected to be synthesized and biologically evaluated by NA inhibition and virus inhibition assays. One compound (IC₅₀?=?0.670?µM, SI?>?149) exhibits excellent antiviral activity against A/WSN/33 H1N1, which is superior to the reference drug zanamivir (IC₅₀?=?0.873?µM, SI?>?115). The theoretical and experimental results may provide reference for development of new anti-influenza drugs.     

Investigation of the conformational dynamics of the A2A adenosine receptor by molecular dynamics simulation

The structural behavior of the ligand-free form of adenosine receptor A_2A in an explicit membrane-mimicking environment was investigated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Principal components analysis was applied to the series of MD snapshots and to a collection of X-ray structures of the A_2A receptor. The resulting charts revealed a correlation in the dynamic behavior of the receptor observed in the MD trajectories and in the experimental dataset. The most pronounced structural dynamics in the A_2A receptor were observed in the intracellular part: TM 5 and 6 with the connecting loop, just as generally recognized in crystallographic studies and attributed to receptor activation. There are grounds for supposing that this pattern of intramolecular motions ensues directly from the spatial architecture (fold) of the A_2A receptor.     

Global fold of human cannabinoid type 2 receptor probed by solid‐state 13C‐, 15N‐MAS NMR and molecular dynamics simulations

The global fold of human cannabinoid type 2 (CB₂) receptor in the agonist‐bound active state in lipid bilayers was investigated by solid‐state ¹³C‐ and ¹⁵N magic‐angle spinning (MAS) NMR, in combination with chemical‐shift prediction from a structural model of the receptor obtained by microsecond‐long molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Uniformly ¹³C‐ and ¹⁵N‐labeled CB₂ receptor was expressed in milligram quantities by bacterial fermentation, purified, and functionally reconstituted into liposomes. ¹³C MAS NMR spectra were recorded without sensitivity enhancement for direct comparison of C_α, C_β, and C?O bands of superimposed resonances with predictions from protein structures generated by MD. The experimental NMR spectra matched the calculated spectra reasonably well indicating agreement of the global fold of the protein between experiment and simulations. In particular, the ¹³C chemical shift distribution of C_α resonances was shown to be very sensitive to both the primary amino acid sequence and the secondary structure of CB₂. Thus the shape of the C_α band can be used as an indicator of CB₂ global fold. The prediction from MD simulations indicated that upon receptor activation a rather limited number of amino acid residues, mainly located in the extracellular Loop 2 and the second half of intracellular Loop 3, change their chemical shifts significantly (≥1.5 ppm for carbons and ≥5.0 ppm for nitrogens). Simulated two‐dimensional ¹³C_α(i)? ¹³C?O(i) and ¹³C?O(i)? ¹⁵NH(i + 1) dipolar‐interaction correlation spectra provide guidance for selective amino acid labeling and signal assignment schemes to study the molecular mechanism of activation of CB₂ by solid‐state MAS NMR. Proteins 2014; 82:452–465. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Investigation on the binding mode of benzothiophene analogues as potent factor IXa (FIXa) inhibitors in thrombosis by CoMFA,docking and molecular dynamic studies

Recently, benzothiophenes attract much attention of interest due to its possible inhibitory activity targeting FIXa, a blood coagulation factor that is essential for the amplification or consolidation phase of blood coagulation. To explore this inhibitory mechanism, three-dimensional quantitative structure–activity relationship (3D-QSAR), molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) studies on a series of 84 benzothiophene analogues, for the first time, were performed. As a result, a highly predictive CoMFA model was developed with the q²?=?0.52, r²?=?0.97 and r²_pred?=?0.81, respectively. The CoMFA contour maps, the docking analysis, as well as the MD simulation results are all in a good agreement, proving the reliability and robustness of the model. These models and the information, we hoped, would be helpful in screening and development of novel drugs against thrombosis prior to synthesis.     

Determining the Functions of HIV-1 Tat and a Second Magnesium Ion in the CDK9/Cyclin T1 Complex: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

The current paradigm of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) regulation based on the well-established CDK2 has been recently expanded. The determination of CDK9 crystal structures suggests the requirement of an additional regulatory protein, such as human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Tat, to exert its physiological functions. In most kinases, the exact number and roles of the cofactor metal ions remain unappreciated, and the repertoire has thus gained increasing attention recently. Here, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were implemented on CDK9 to explore the functional roles of HIV-1 Tat and the second Mg²⁺ ion at site 1 (Mg₁ ²⁺). The simulations unveiled that binding of HIV-1 Tat to CDK9 not only stabilized hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) between ATP and hinge residues Asp104 and Cys106, as well as between ATP and invariant Lys48, but also facilitated the salt bridge network pertaining to the phosphorylated Thr186 at the activation loop. By contrast, these H-bonds cannot be formed in CDK9 owing to the absence of HIV-1 Tat. MD simulations further revealed that the Mg₁ ²⁺ ion, coupled with the Mg₂ ²⁺ ion, anchored to the triphosphate moiety of ATP in its catalytic competent conformation. This observation indicates the requirement of the Mg₁ ²⁺ ion for CDK9 to realize its function. Overall, the introduction of HIV-1 Tat and Mg₁ ²⁺ ion resulted in the active site architectural characteristics of phosphorylated CDK9. These data highlighted the functional roles of HIV-1 Tat and Mg₁ ²⁺ ion in the regulation of CDK9 activity, which contributes an important complementary understanding of CDK molecular underpinnings.     

Probing the interaction between cHAVc3 peptide and the EC1 domain of E-cadherin using NMR and molecular dynamics simulations

The goal of this work is to probe the interaction between cyclic cHAVc3 peptide and the EC1 domain of human E-cadherin protein. Cyclic cHAVc3 peptide (cyclo(1,6)Ac-CSHAVC-NH₂) binds to the EC1 domain as shown by chemical shift perturbations in the 2D ¹H,-¹⁵N-HSQC NMR spectrum. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the EC1 domain showed folding of the C-terminal tail region into the main head region of the EC1 domain. For cHAVc3 peptide, replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations generated five structural clusters of cHAVc3 peptide. Representative structures of cHAVc3 and the EC1 structure from MD simulations were used in molecular docking experiments with NMR constraints to determine the binding site of the peptide on EC1. The results suggest that cHAVc3 binds to EC1 around residues Y36, S37, I38, I53, F77, S78, H79, and I94. The dissociation constants (K_d values) of cHAVc3 peptide to EC1 were estimated using the NMR chemical shifts data and the estimated K_ds are in the range of .5 × 10^?5–7.0 × 10^?5 M.     

Probing the acting mode and advantages of RMC-4550 as an Src-homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase (SHP2) inhibitor at molecular level through molecular docking and molecular dynamics

Abstract

The over-activation of Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway associated with a variety of cancers is usually related with abnormal activation of Src-homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase (SHP2). For this purpose, SHP2 has attracted extensive interest as a potential target for cancer treatment. RMC-4550, as a newly developed selective inhibitor of SHP2, possesses an overwhelming advantage over the previous generation inhibitor SHP099 in terms of in vitro activity. However, the binding mode of SHP2 with RMC-4550 and the reason for the high efficiency of RMC-4550 as SHP2 inhibitor at molecular level are still unclear. Therefore, in this study, the binding mode of RMC-4550 with SHP2 and the superiorities of RMC-4550 as inhibitor at binding affinity and dynamic interactive behavior with SHP2 were probed by molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. By comparing the results of molecular docking, it was found that SHP2 formed more tight interaction with RMC-4550 than that with SHP099. Subsequently, a series of post-dynamic analyses on three simulation trajectories (SHP2^WT, SHP2^SHP099 and SHP2^RMC-4550) were performed and found that the SHP2 protein bound with RMC-4550 maintained a firmer interaction between N-Src-homology 2 (N-SH2) and PTP domain throughout the MD simulation, leading to a more stable protein conformation. The finding here provides new clues for the design of SHP2 inhibitor against the over-activation of Ras/MAPK pathway.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma     

Protein solution structure calculations in solution: Solvated molecular dynamics refinement of calbindin D9k

The three-dimensional solution structures of proteins determinedwith NMR-derived constraints are almost always calculated in vacuo. Thesolution structure of (Ca²⁺)_{_2}-calbindinD_9k has been redetermined by new restrained molecular dynamics(MD) calculations that include Ca²⁺ ions and explicit solventmolecules. Four parallel sets of MD refinements were run to provide accuratecomparisons of structures produced in vacuo, in vacuo withCa²⁺ ions, and with two different protocols in a solvent bathwith Ca²⁺ ions. The structural ensembles were analyzed interms of structural definition, molecular energies, packing density,solvent-accessible surface, hydrogen bonds, and the coordination of calciumions in the two binding loops. Refinement including Ca²⁺ ionsand explicit solvent results in significant improvements in the precisionand accuracy of the structure, particularly in the binding loops. Theseresults are consistent with results previously obtained in free MDsimulations of proteins in solution and show that the rMD refinedNMR-derived solution structures of proteins, especially metalloproteins, canbe significantly improved by these strategies.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Fast Ion Conductor δ-Bi2O3. III. Ionic Motion

Dynamical aspects of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are analysed with a view to determining the nature of fast-ion conduction in δ-Bi₂O₃. The ratio P _α of the moments of the self-correlation density distribution function, the velocity autocorrelation function (VAF), VAF integrals and VAF Fourier transforms, together with mean square displacement (MSD) data are interpreted in the light of experiment. It is shown that O^2- migration cannot adequately be described by either the hopping or liquid-like models of conduction but is best regarded as belonging to an intermediate category. Analysis of the fine structure of the P _α, MSD and VAF plots yields interesting correlations with vibrational modes.     

Design,synthesis and biological evaluation of novel oseltamivir derivatives as potent neuraminidase inhibitors

Neuraminidase (NA) is one of the particular potential targets for novel antiviral therapy. In this work, a series of neuraminidase inhibitors with the cyclohexene scaffold were studied based upon the combination of 3D-QSAR, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics techniques. The results indicate that the built 3D-QSAR models yield reliable statistical information: the correlation coefficient (r²) and cross-validation coefficient (q²) of CoMFA (comparative molecular field analysis) are 0.992 and 0.819; the r² and q² of CoMSIA (comparative molecular similarity analysis) are 0.992 and 0.863, respectively. Molecular docking and MD simulations were conducted to confirm the detailed binding mode of enzyme-inhibitor system. The new NA inhibitors had been designed, synthesized, and their inhibitory activities against group-1 neuraminidase were determined. One agent displayed excellent neuraminidase inhibition, with IC₅₀ value of 39.6?μM against NA, while IC₅₀ value for oseltamivir is 61.1?μM. This compound may be further investigated for the treatment of infection by the new type influenza virus.