scholarly journals Developing an effective polarizable bond method for small molecules with application to optimized molecular docking

RSC Advances ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (26) ◽  
pp. 15530-15540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanfu Duan ◽  
Changge Ji ◽  
John Z. H. Zhang

Electrostatic interaction plays an essential role in protein–ligand binding.

Author(s):  
Amir Taherkhani ◽  
Athena Orangi ◽  
Shirin Moradkhani ◽  
Zahra Khamverdi

Background: Matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8) participates in degradation of different types of collagens in the extracellular matrix and basement membrane. Up-regulation of the MMP-8 has been demonstrated in many of disorders including cancer development, tooth caries, periodontal/peri-implant soft and hard tissue degeneration, and acute/chronic inflammation. Therefore, MMP-8 has become an encouraging target for therapeutic procedures for scientists. We carried out molecular docking approach to study the binding affinity of 29 flavonoids, as drug candidates, with the MMP-8. Pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties of the compounds were also studied. Moreover, it was attempted to identify the most important amino acids participating in ligand binding based on degree of each of the amino acids in the ligand-amino acid interaction network for MMP-8. Methods: Three-dimensional structure of the protein was gained from the RCSB database (PDB ID: 4QKZ). AutoDock version 4.0 and Cytoscape 3.7.2 were used for molecular docking and network analysis, respectively. Notably, the inhibitor of the protein in the crystalline structure of the 4QKZ was considered as a control test. Pharmacokinetic and toxicological features of compounds were predicted using bioinformatic web tools. Post-docking analyses were performed using BIOVIA Discovery Studio Visualizer version 19.1.0.18287. Results and Discussions: According to results, 24 of the studied compounds considered to be top potential inhibitors for MMP-8 based on their salient estimated free energy of binding and inhibition constant as compared with the control test: Apigenin-7-glucoside, nicotiflorin, luteolin, glabridin, taxifolin, apigenin, licochalcone A, quercetin, isorhamnetin, myricetin, herbacetin, kaemferol, epicatechin, chrysin, amentoflavone, rutin, orientin, epiafzelechin, quercetin-3-rhamnoside, formononetin, isoliquiritigenin, vitexin, catechine, isoquercitrin. Moreover, His-197 was found to be the most important amino acid involved in the ligand binding for the enzyme. Conclusion: The results of the current study could be used in the prevention and therapeutic procedures of a number of disorders such as cancer progression and invasion, oral diseases, and acute/chronic inflammation. Although, in vitro and in vivo tests are inevitable in the future.


Author(s):  
S. Sarithamol ◽  
Divya V. ◽  
Sunitha V. R. ◽  
Suchitra Surendran ◽  
V. L. Pushpa ◽  
...  

Objective: Interleukin 4, an important cytokine, has the major role in the immunomodulatory responses associated with asthma. The present study focused on the involvement of single nucleotide polymorphism variation (SNP) of interleukin 4 (IL4) in the development of disease, asthma and designing small molecules for the inhibition of IL4 through in silico strategy.Methods: Identification of disease causing SNP will be a wise approach towards the phenotype specific treatment. A human origin deleterious no synonymous SNP of IL4 were found out in the chromosome region 5q31-q33 (rs199929962) (T/C). Proteins of the corresponding nucleotide variation were identified and were subjected to characterization studies for selecting the most appropriate one for further mutational analysis and molecular docking studies.Results: Influence of microbes on SNP variation of IL4 gene leading to asthma was found to be insignificant by metagenomic studies. Gene responsive drugs were identified through environmental factor analysis. The drug candidates including corticosteroids were subjected to protein interaction studies by in silico means. The pharmacophoric feature derived from drug receptor interaction was utilized for virtual screening on a dataset of anti-inflammatory phytomolecules. The scaffolds of ellagic acid and quercetin were identified as potential nonsteroidal entities which can shield the asthmatic activities.Conclusion: Developing small molecules using these scaffolds taking interleukin 4 as a target will be an adequate solution for steroid resistant asthma.


Glycobiology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 714-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masahiro Sano ◽  
Hiroaki Korekane ◽  
Kazuaki Ohtsubo ◽  
Yoshiki Yamaguchi ◽  
Masaki Kato ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Pitsillou ◽  
Julia Liang ◽  
Katherine Ververis ◽  
Kah Wai Lim ◽  
Andrew Hung ◽  
...  

COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus with important political, socio-economic, and public health consequences. Inhibiting replication represents an important antiviral approach, and in this context two viral proteases, the SARS-CoV-2 main and papain-like proteases (PLpro), which cleave pp1a and pp1ab polypeptides, are critical. Along with protease activity, the PLpro possesses deubiquitinating activity, which is important in immune regulation. Naphthalene-based inhibitors, such as the well-investigated GRL-0617 compound, have been shown to possess dual effects, inhibiting both protease and deubiquitinating activity of the PLpro. Rather than binding to the canonical catalytic triad, these type of non-covalent inhibitors target an adjacent pocket, the naphthalene-inhibitor binding site. Using a high-throughput screen, we have previously identified the dietary hypericin, rutin, and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside compounds as potential protease inhibitors targeting the naphthalene-inhibitor binding site. Here, our aim was to investigate the binding characteristics of these compounds to the PLpro, and to evaluate deubiquitinating activity, by analyzing seven different PLpro crystal structures. Molecular docking highlighted the relatively high affinity of GRL-0617 and dietary compounds. In contrast binding of the small molecules was abolished in the presence of ubiquitin in the palm subdomain of the PLpro. Further, docking the small molecules in the naphthalene-inhibitor binding site, followed by protein-protein docking revealed displacement of ubiquitin in a conformation inconsistent with functional activity. Finally, the deubiquitinating activity was validated in vitro using an enzymatic activity assay. The findings indicated that the dietary compounds inhibited deubiquitinase activity in the micromolar range with an order of activity of GRL-0167, hypericin >> rutin, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside > epigallocatechin gallate, epicatechin gallate, and cefotaxime. Our findings are in accordance with mechanisms and potential antiviral effects of the naphthalene-based, GRL-0617 inhibitor, which is currently progressing in preclinical trials. Further, our findings indicate that in particular hypericin, rutin, and cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, represent suitable candidates for subsequent evaluation as PLpro inhibitors.


2013 ◽  
Vol 756-759 ◽  
pp. 2868-2872
Author(s):  
Wei Ye Tao ◽  
Lai You Wang ◽  
Guo Hua Cheng ◽  
Jun Liu ◽  
Lang Ping Tang

Sini Decoction is a traditional Chinese medicine which has a curative effect. The mode of action between small molecules and the targets were presented visually, which provided an in-depth interpretation about the pharmacodynamic material basis. It is valuable for the research and development of new drugs. Experimental results show that we can reveal the treatment mechanism of Sini Decoction in molecular level by molecular docking.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 2749
Author(s):  
Francesca Tessaro ◽  
Leonardo Scapozza

In this review, we retraced the ‘40-year evolution’ of molecular docking algorithms. Over the course of the years, their development allowed to progress from the so-called ‘rigid-docking’ searching methods to the more sophisticated ‘semi-flexible’ and ‘flexible docking’ algorithms. Together with the advancement of computing architecture and power, molecular docking’s applications also exponentially increased, from a single-ligand binding calculation to large screening and polypharmacology profiles. Recently targeting nucleic acids with small molecules has emerged as a valuable therapeutic strategy especially for cancer treatment, along with bacterial and viral infections. For example, therapeutic intervention at the mRNA level allows to overcome the problematic of undruggable proteins without modifying the genome. Despite the promising therapeutic potential of nucleic acids, molecular docking programs have been optimized mostly for proteins. Here, we have analyzed literature data on nucleic acid to benchmark some of the widely used docking programs. Finally, the comparison between proteins and nucleic acid targets docking highlighted similarity and differences, which are intrinsically related to their chemical and structural nature.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document