Computational Design of Thiourea-based Cyclophane Sensors for Small Anions

2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huifang Xie ◽  
Ming Wah Wong

The host–guest binding properties of a tri-thiourea cyclophane receptor (1) with several common anions have been investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics calculations. Receptor 1 is predicted to be an effective receptor for binding small halogen and Y-shaped (NO3– and AcO–) anions in the gas phase, cyclohexane and chloroform. The calculated order of anion binding affinity for the receptor 1 in chloroform is F– > Cl– > AcO– > NO3– >Br– > H2PO4– > HSO4–. The binding free energies are strongly influenced by a dielectric solvent medium. The structures of the receptor–anion complexes are characterized by multiple (typically 6) hydrogen bonds in all cases. The overall binding affinity of various anions is determined by the basicity of anion, size and shape of the binding site, and solvent medium. Explicit chloroform solvent molecular dynamics simulations of selected receptor–anion complexes reveal that the anions are strongly bound within the binding pocket via hydrogen-bonding interactions to all the receptor protons throughout the simulation. A sulfur analogue of receptor 1 (2), with a larger central cavity, is shown to be a more effective sensor than 1 for small anions. Two different approaches to develop the thiourea-based cyclophane receptor into a chromogenic sensor were examined.

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S350) ◽  
pp. 431-433
Author(s):  
Joan Mariñoso Guiu ◽  
Antoni Macià ◽  
Stefan T. Bromley

AbstractWe assess the accuracy of various computational methods for obtaining infrared (IR) spectra of nanosized silicate dust grains directly from their atomistic structure and atomic motions. First, IR spectra for a selection of small nanosilicate clusters with a range of sizes and chemical compositions are obtained within the harmonic oscillator approximation employing density functional theory (DFT) based quantum chemical calculations. To check if anharmonic effects play a significant role in the IR spectra of these nanoclusters, we further obtain their IR spectra from finite temperature DFT-based ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD). Finally, we also study the effect of temperature on the broadening of the obtained IR spectra peaks in larger nanosilicate grains with a range of crystallinities. In this case, less computationally costly classical molecular dynamics simulations are necessary due to the large number of atoms involved. Generally, we find that although DFT-based methods are more accurate, surprisingly good IR spectra can also be obtained from classical molecular dynamics calculations.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11590
Author(s):  
Aweke Mulu ◽  
Mulugeta Gajaa ◽  
Haregewoin Bezu Woldekidan ◽  
Jerusalem Fekadu W/mariam

The newly occurred SARS-CoV-2 caused a leading pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Up to now it has infected more than one hundred sixty million and killed more than three million people according to 14 May 2021 World Health Organization report. So far, different types of studies have been conducted to develop an anti-viral drug for COVID-19 with no success yet. As part of this, silico were studied to discover and introduce COVID-19 antiviral drugs and results showed that protease inhibitors could be very effective in controlling. This study aims to investigate the binding affinity of three curcumin derived polyphenols against COVID-19 the main protease (Mpro), binding pocket, and identification of important residues for interaction. In this study, molecular modeling, auto-dock coupled with molecular dynamics simulations were performed to analyze the conformational, and stability of COVID-19 binding pocket with diferuloylmethane, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. All three compounds have shown binding affinity −39, −89 and −169.7, respectively. Demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin showed an optimum binding affinity with target molecule and these could be one of potential ligands for COVID-19 therapy. And also, COVID-19 main protease binding pocket binds with the interface region by one hydrogen bond. Moreover, the MD simulation parameters indicated that demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin were stable during the simulation run. These findings can be used as a baseline to develop therapeutics with curcumin derived polyphenols against COVID-19.


Author(s):  
Lijuan Meng ◽  
Jinlian Lu ◽  
Yujie Bai ◽  
Lili Liu ◽  
Tang Jingyi ◽  
...  

Understanding the fundamentals of chemical vapor deposition bilayer graphene growth is crucial for its synthesis. By employing density functional theory calculations and classical molecular dynamics simulations, we have investigated the...


Author(s):  
Adrian Dominguez-Castro ◽  
Thomas Frauenheim

Theoretical calculations are an effective strategy to comple- ment and understand experimental results in atomistic detail. Ehrenfest molecular dynamics simulations based on the real-time time-dependent density functional tight-binding (RT-TDDFTB) approach...


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 721
Author(s):  
Srinivasaraghavan Kannan ◽  
Pietro G. A. Aronica ◽  
Thanh Binh Nguyen ◽  
Jianguo Li ◽  
Chandra S. Verma

S100B(ββ) proteins are a family of multifunctional proteins that are present in several tissues and regulate a wide variety of cellular processes. Their altered expression levels have been associated with several human diseases, such as cancer, inflammatory disorders and neurodegenerative conditions, and hence are of interest as a therapeutic target and a biomarker. Small molecule inhibitors of S100B(ββ) have achieved limited success. Guided by the wealth of available experimental structures of S100B(ββ) in complex with diverse peptides from various protein interacting partners, we combine comparative structural analysis and molecular dynamics simulations to design a series of peptides and their analogues (stapled) as S100B(ββ) binders. The stapled peptides were subject to in silico mutagenesis experiments, resulting in optimized analogues that are predicted to bind to S100B(ββ) with high affinity, and were also modified with imaging agents to serve as diagnostic tools. These stapled peptides can serve as theranostics, which can be used to not only diagnose the levels of S100B(ββ) but also to disrupt the interactions of S100B(ββ) with partner proteins which drive disease progression, thus serving as novel therapeutics.


2005 ◽  
Vol 502 ◽  
pp. 51-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakir Erkoc

The structural and electronic properties of isolated neutral ZnmCdn clusters for m+n £ 3 have been investigated by performing density functional theory calculations at B3LYP level. The optimum geometries, vibrational frequencies, electronic structures, and the possible dissosiation channels of the clusters considered have been obtained. An empirical many-body potential energy function (PEF), which comprices two- and three-body atomic interactions, has been developed to investigate the structural features and energetics of ZnmCdn (m+n=3,4) microclusters. The most stable structures were found to be triangular for the three-atom clusters and tetrahedral for the four-atom clusters. On the other hand, the structural features and energetics of Znn-mCdm (n=7,8) microclusters, and Zn50, Cd50, Zn25Cd25, Zn12Cd38, and Zn38Cd12 nanoparticles have been investigated by performing molecular-dynamics computer simulations using the developed PEF. The most stable structures were found to be compact and three-dimensional for all elemental and mixed clusters. An interesting structural feature of the mixed clusters is that Zn and Cd atoms do not mix in mixed clusters, they come together almost without mixing. Surface and bulk properties of Zn, Cd, and ZnCd systems have been investigated too by performing molecular-dynamics simulations using the developed PEF. Surface reconstruction and multilayer relaxation on clean surfaces, adatom on surface, substitutional atom on surface and bulk materials, and vacancy on surface and bulk materials have been studied extensively.


2005 ◽  
Vol 123 (13) ◽  
pp. 134510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrine Hazebroucq ◽  
Gérard S. Picard ◽  
Carlo Adamo ◽  
Thomas Heine ◽  
Sibylle Gemming ◽  
...  

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