Potent Glycosidase Inhibition with Heterovalent Fullerenes: Unveiling the Binding Modes Triggering Multivalent Inhibition

A set of 6- to 24-valent clusters was constructed with terminal deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) inhibitory heads through C6 or C9 linkers by way of Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions between mono- or trivalent azido-armed iminosugars and calix[8]arene scaffolds differing in their valency and their rigidity but not in their size. The power of multivalency to upgrade the inhibition potency of the weak DNJ inhibitor (monovalent DNJ Ki being at 322 and 188 µM for C6 or C9 linkers, respectively) was evaluated on the model glycosidase Jack Bean α-mannosidase (JBα-man). Although for the clusters with the shorter C6 linker the rigidity of the scaffold was essential, these parameters had no influence for clusters with C9 chains: all of them showed rather good relative affinity enhancements per inhibitory epitopes between 70 and 160 highlighting the sound combination of the calix[8]arene core and the long alkyl arms. Preliminary docking studies were performed to get insights into the preferred binding modes.

Download Full-text

On the Adsorption of Aspartate Derivatives to Calcite Surfaces in Aqueous Environment

10.26434/chemrxiv.11558430.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Robert Stepic ◽

Lara Jurković ◽

Ksenia Klementyeva ◽

Marko Ukrainczyk ◽

Matija Gredičak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Active Sites ◽

Realistic Model ◽

Binding Energies ◽

Inhibition Mechanism ◽

Aqueous Environment ◽

Binding Modes ◽

Carboxylate Groups ◽

Dissolved Ions ◽

Living Organisms ◽

Dynamics Simulations

In many living organisms, biomolecules interact favorably with various surfaces of calcium carbonate. In this work, we have considered the interactions of aspartate (Asp) derivatives, as models of complex biomolecules, with calcite. Using kinetic growth experiments, we have investigated the inhibition of calcite growth by Asp, Asp2 and Asp3.This entailed the determination of a step-pinning growth regime as well as the evaluation of the adsorption constants and binding free energies for the three species to calcite crystals. These latter values are compared to free energy profiles obtained from fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. When using a flat (104) calcite surface in the models, the measured trend of binding energies is poorly reproduced. However, a more realistic model comprised of a surface with an island containing edges and corners, yields binding energies that compare very well with experiments. Surprisingly, we find that most binding modes involve the positively charged, ammonium group. Moreover, while attachment of the negatively charged carboxylate groups is also frequently observed, it is always balanced by the aqueous solvation of an equal or greater number of carboxylates. These effects are observed on all calcite features including edges and corners, the latter being associated with dominant affinities to Asp derivatives. As these features are also precisely the active sites for crystal growth, the experimental and theoretical results point strongly to a growth inhibition mechanism whereby these sites become blocked, preventing further attachment of dissolved ions and halting further growth.

Download Full-text

Reversibly Sampling Conformations and Binding Modes Using Molecular Darting

10.26434/chemrxiv.12670676.v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel C. Gill ◽

David Mobley

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Ligand Binding ◽

Binding Sites ◽

Degrees Of Freedom ◽

Dynamics Simulation ◽

Hiv Integrase ◽

Binding Modes ◽

System A ◽

Multiple Binding ◽

Internal Degrees Of Freedom

<div>Sampling multiple binding modes of a ligand in a single molecular dynamics simulation is difficult. A given ligand may have many internal degrees of freedom, along with many different ways it might orient itself a binding site or across several binding sites, all of which might be separated by large energy barriers. We have developed a novel Monte Carlo move called Molecular Darting (MolDarting) to reversibly sample between predefined binding modes of a ligand. Here, we couple this with nonequilibrium candidate Monte Carlo (NCMC) to improve acceptance of moves.</div><div>We apply this technique to a simple dipeptide system, a ligand binding to T4 Lysozyme L99A, and ligand binding to HIV integrase in order to test this new method. We observe significant increases in acceptance compared to uniformly sampling the internal, and rotational/translational degrees of freedom in these systems.</div>

Download Full-text

Binding Modes of Ligands Using Enhanced Sampling (BLUES): Rapid Decorrelation of Ligand Binding Modes Using Nonequilibrium Candidate Monte Carlo

10.26434/chemrxiv.5406907.v2 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel Gill ◽

Nathan M. Lim ◽

Patrick Grinaway ◽

Ariën S. Rustenburg ◽

Josh Fass ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Ligand Binding ◽

Binding Mode ◽

Free Energy Calculations ◽

Dynamics Simulation ◽

Binding Modes ◽

Enhanced Sampling ◽

Recent Success ◽

Multiple Binding ◽

Proper Sampling

<div>Accurately predicting protein-ligand binding is a major goal in computational chemistry, but even the prediction of ligand binding modes in proteins poses major challenges. Here, we focus on solving the binding mode prediction problem for rigid fragments. That is, we focus on computing the dominant placement, conformation, and orientations of a relatively rigid, fragment-like ligand in a receptor, and the populations of the multiple binding modes which may be relevant. This problem is important in its own right, but is even more timely given the recent success of alchemical free energy calculations. Alchemical calculations are increasingly used to predict binding free energies of ligands to receptors. However, the accuracy of these calculations is dependent on proper sampling of the relevant ligand binding modes. Unfortunately, ligand binding modes may often be uncertain, hard to predict, and/or slow to interconvert on simulation timescales, so proper sampling with current techniques can require prohibitively long simulations. We need new methods which dramatically improve sampling of ligand binding modes. Here, we develop and apply a nonequilibrium candidate Monte Carlo (NCMC) method to improve sampling of ligand binding modes.</div><div><br></div><div>In this technique the ligand is rotated and subsequently allowed to relax in its new position through alchemical perturbation before accepting or rejecting the rotation and relaxation as a nonequilibrium Monte Carlo move. When applied to a T4 lysozyme model binding system, this NCMC method shows over two orders of magnitude improvement in binding mode sampling efficiency compared to a brute force molecular dynamics simulation. This is a first step towards applying this methodology to pharmaceutically relevant binding of fragments and, eventually, drug-like molecules. We are making this approach available via our new Binding Modes of Ligands using Enhanced Sampling (BLUES) package which is freely available on GitHub.</div>

Download Full-text

Binding Modes of Ligands Using Enhanced Sampling (BLUES): Rapid Decorrelation of Ligand Binding Modes Using Nonequilibrium Candidate Monte Carlo

10.26434/chemrxiv.5406907 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel Gill ◽

Nathan M. Lim ◽

Patrick Grinaway ◽

Ariën S. Rustenburg ◽

Josh Fass ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Monte Carlo ◽

Ligand Binding ◽

Binding Mode ◽

Free Energy Calculations ◽

Dynamics Simulation ◽

Binding Modes ◽

Enhanced Sampling ◽

Recent Success ◽

Multiple Binding ◽

Proper Sampling

<div>Accurately predicting protein-ligand binding is a major goal in computational chemistry, but even the prediction of ligand binding modes in proteins poses major challenges. Here, we focus on solving the binding mode prediction problem for rigid fragments. That is, we focus on computing the dominant placement, conformation, and orientations of a relatively rigid, fragment-like ligand in a receptor, and the populations of the multiple binding modes which may be relevant. This problem is important in its own right, but is even more timely given the recent success of alchemical free energy calculations. Alchemical calculations are increasingly used to predict binding free energies of ligands to receptors. However, the accuracy of these calculations is dependent on proper sampling of the relevant ligand binding modes. Unfortunately, ligand binding modes may often be uncertain, hard to predict, and/or slow to interconvert on simulation timescales, so proper sampling with current techniques can require prohibitively long simulations. We need new methods which dramatically improve sampling of ligand binding modes. Here, we develop and apply a nonequilibrium candidate Monte Carlo (NCMC) method to improve sampling of ligand binding modes.</div><div><br></div><div>In this technique the ligand is rotated and subsequently allowed to relax in its new position through alchemical perturbation before accepting or rejecting the rotation and relaxation as a nonequilibrium Monte Carlo move. When applied to a T4 lysozyme model binding system, this NCMC method shows over two orders of magnitude improvement in binding mode sampling efficiency compared to a brute force molecular dynamics simulation. This is a first step towards applying this methodology to pharmaceutically relevant binding of fragments and, eventually, drug-like molecules. We are making this approach available via our new Binding Modes of Ligands using Enhanced Sampling (BLUES) package which is freely available on GitHub.</div>

Download Full-text