scholarly journals A molecular dynamics investigation of CDK8/CycC and ligand binding: conformational flexibility and implication in drug discovery

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Chen ◽  
Zhiye Tang ◽  
Tim Cholko ◽  
Chia-en A. Chang

AbstractThe activities of CDK8 with partner Cyclin C (CycC) are a common feature of many diseases, especially cancers. Here we report the study of dynamic behaviors and energy profiles of 13 CDK8/CycC systems, including the DMG-in and DMG-out conformations as well as 5 type I ligands and 5 type II ligands, with all-atom unbiased molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We observed numerous regional motions within CDK8, which move in concert to form five major protein motions. The motion of the activation loop doesn’t appear to influence the binding of both types of ligands. Type I ligands remarkably reduce the motion of the C-terminal tail through the strong cation-π interaction between the ligands and ARG356, and type II ligands stabilize the αC helix by forming stable hydrogen bonds with GLU66. The MD calculations also confirmed the importance of CycC to the stability of the CDK8 system as well as the ligand binding. The MMPB/SA results show that van der Waals interaction is the main driving force for the binding of both types of ligands, but electrostatic energy and entropy penalty plays important roles in the binding of type II ligands. The volume analysis results indicate that the induced fitting theory applies in the binding of type I ligands. These results would help to improve the affinities of the existing ligands. Our MD work is complementary to crystal structures and may have implications in the development of new CDK8 inhibitors as well as in the field of drug discovery.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Haahr Larsen ◽  
Mark S.P. Sansom

AbstractC2 domains facilitate protein-lipid interaction in cellular recognition and signalling processes. They possess a β-sandwich structure, with either type I or type II topology. C2 domains can interact with anionic lipid bilayers in either a Ca2+-dependent or a Ca2+-independent manner. The mechanism of recognition of anionic lipids by Ca2+-independent C2 domains is incompletely understood. We have used molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to explore the membrane interactions of six Ca2+– independent C2 domains, from KIBRA, PI3KC2α, RIM2, PTEN, SHIP2, and Smurf2. In coarse grained MD simulations these C2 domains bound to lipid bilayers, forming transient interactions with zwitterionic (phosphatidylcholine, PC) bilayers compared to long lived interactions with anionic bilayers also containing either phosphatidylserine (PS) or PS and phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP2). Type I C2 domains bound non-canonically via the front, back or side of the β sandwich, whereas type II C2 domains bound canonically, via the top loops (as is typically the case for Ca2+-dependent C2 domains). C2 domains interacted strongly (up to 120 kJ/mol) with membranes containing PIP2 causing the bound anionic lipids to clustered around the protein. The C2 domains bound less strongly to anionic membranes without PIP2 (<50 kJ/mol), and most weakly to neutral membranes (<33 kJ/mol). Productive binding modes were identified and further analysed in atomistic simulations. For PTEN and SHIP2, CG simulations were also performed of the intact enzymes (i.e. phosphatase domain plus C2 domain) with PIP2-contating bilayers and the roles of the two domains in membrane localization were compared. From a methodological perspective, these studies establish a multiscale simulation protocol for studying membrane binding/recognition proteins, capable of revealing binding modes alongside details of lipid binding affinity and specificity.


2001 ◽  
Vol 691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinji Munetoh ◽  
Koji Moriguchi ◽  
Teruaki Motooka ◽  
Kazuhito Kamei

ABSTRACTDynamical phenomena during the solid phase epitaxy (SPE) of guest-free Si clathrates (Si34 and Si46) via molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations using the Tersoff potential have been reported. The activation energy of SPE for Si34 has been found to correspond with the experimental value for the cubic diamond phase (c-Si; approximately 2.7eV), while the SPE rates of Si46 are much lower than that of c-Si. The structural transition from Si46 (type-I) to Si34 (type-II) can be also observed during the Si46 [001] SPE. The present results suggest that it is worthwhile to intensify experimental studies concerning crystal growth techniques of clathrate materials and these interesting Si forms may open up a new field in “silicon technologies”.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Agnew ◽  
Pelin Ayaz ◽  
Risa Kashima ◽  
Hanna S. Loving ◽  
Prajakta Ghatpande ◽  
...  

AbstractUpon ligand binding, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptors form active tetrameric complexes, comprised of two type I and two type II receptors, which then transmit signals to SMAD proteins. The link between receptor tetramerization and the mechanism of kinase activation, however, has not been elucidated. Here, using hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, combined with analysis of SMAD signaling, we show that the kinase domain of the type I receptor ALK2 and type II receptor BMPR2 form a heterodimeric complex via their C-terminal lobes. Formation of this dimer is essential for ligand-induced receptor signaling and is targeted by mutations in BMPR2 in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We further show that the type I/type II kinase domain heterodimer serves as the scaffold for assembly of the active tetrameric receptor complexes to enable phosphorylation of the GS domain and activation of SMADs.


2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 675-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jules J.E. Doré ◽  
Diying Yao ◽  
Maryanne Edens ◽  
Nandor Garamszegi ◽  
Elizabeth L. Sholl ◽  
...  

Transforming growth factor-βs (TGF-β) are multifunctional proteins capable of either stimulating or inhibiting mitosis, depending on the cell type. These diverse cellular responses are caused by stimulating a single receptor complex composed of type I and type II receptors. Using a chimeric receptor model where the granulocyte/monocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor ligand binding domains are fused to the transmembrane and cytoplasmic signaling domains of the TGF-β type I and II receptors, we wished to describe the role(s) of specific amino acid residues in regulating ligand-mediated endocytosis and signaling in fibroblasts and epithelial cells. Specific point mutations were introduced at Y182, T200, and Y249 of the type I receptor and K277 and P525 of the type II receptor. Mutation of either Y182 or Y249, residues within two putative consensus tyrosine-based internalization motifs, had no effect on endocytosis or signaling. This is in contrast to mutation of T200 to valine, which resulted in ablation of signaling in both cell types, while only abolishing receptor down-regulation in fibroblasts. Moreover, in the absence of ligand, both fibroblasts and epithelial cells constitutively internalize and recycle the TGF-β receptor complex back to the plasma membrane. The data indicate fundamental differences between mesenchymal and epithelial cells in endocytic sorting and suggest that ligand binding diverts heteromeric receptors from the default recycling pool to a pathway mediating receptor down-regulation and signaling.


2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Aviñó ◽  
Elena Cubero ◽  
Raimundo Gargallo ◽  
Carlos González ◽  
Modesto Orozco ◽  
...  

The structure of G,T-parallel-stranded duplexes of DNA carrying similar amounts of adenine and guanine residues is studied by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and UV- and CD spectroscopies. In addition the impact of the substitution of adenine by 8-aminoadenine and guanine by 8-aminoguanine is analyzed. The presence of 8-aminoadenine and 8-aminoguanine stabilizes the parallel duplex structure. Binding of these oligonucleotides to their target polypyrimidine sequences to form the corresponding G,T-parallel triplex was not observed. Instead, when unmodified parallel-stranded duplexes were mixed with their polypyrimidine target, an interstrand Watson-Crick duplex was formed. As predicted by theoretical calculations parallel-stranded duplexes carrying 8-aminopurines did not bind to their target. The preference for the parallel-duplex over the Watson-Crick antiparallel duplex is attributed to the strong stabilization of the parallel duplex produced by the 8-aminopurines. Theoretical studies show that the isomorphism of the triads is crucial for the stability of the parallel triplex.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 3524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guodong Hu ◽  
Xiu Yu ◽  
Yunqiang Bian ◽  
Zanxia Cao ◽  
Shicai Xu ◽  
...  

ToxIN is a triangular structure formed by three protein toxins (ToxNs) and three specific noncoding RNA antitoxins (ToxIs). To respond to stimuli, ToxI is preferentially degraded, releasing the ToxN. Thus, the dynamic character is essential in the normal function interactions between ToxN and ToxI. Here, equilibrated molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to study the stability of ToxN and ToxI. The results indicate that ToxI adjusts the conformation of 3′ and 5′ termini to bind to ToxN. Steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations combined with the recently developed thermodynamic integration in 3nD (TI3nD) method were carried out to investigate ToxN unbinding from the ToxIN complex. The potentials of mean force (PMFs) and atomistic pictures suggest the unbinding mechanism as follows: (1) dissociation of the 5′ terminus from ToxN, (2) missing the interactions involved in the 3′ terminus of ToxI without three nucleotides (G31, A32, and A33), (3) starting to unfold for ToxI, (4) leaving the binding package of ToxN for three nucleotides of ToxI, (5) unfolding of ToxI. This work provides information on the structure-function relationship at the atomistic level, which is helpful for designing new potent antibacterial drugs in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 8141-8151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Shao ◽  
Weiliang Zhu

Enhanced sampling MD simulations were run to understand the ligand binding effects on the activation mechanism of EGFR-ECD and accordingly provide valuable information for drug discovery targeting the EGFR.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (18) ◽  
pp. 4714-4720
Author(s):  
Farzin Sohraby ◽  
Mostafa Javaheri Moghadam ◽  
Masoud Aliyar ◽  
Hassan Aryapour

Abstract Summary Small molecules such as metabolites and drugs play essential roles in biological processes and pharmaceutical industry. Knowing their interactions with biomacromolecular targets demands a deep understanding of binding mechanisms. Dozens of papers have suggested that discovering of the binding event by means of conventional unbiased molecular dynamics (MD) simulation urges considerable amount of computational resources, therefore, only one who holds a cluster or a supercomputer can afford such extensive simulations. Thus, many researchers who do not own such resources are reluctant to take the benefits of running unbiased MD simulation, in full atomistic details, when studying a ligand binding pathway. Many researchers are impelled to be content with biased MD simulations which seek its validation due to its intrinsic preconceived framework. In this work, we have presented a workable stratagem to encourage everyone to perform unbiased (unguided) MD simulations, in this case a protein–ligand binding process, by typical desktop computers and so achieve valuable results in nanosecond time scale. Here, we have described a dynamical binding’s process of an anticancer drug, the dasatinib, to the c-Src kinase in full atomistic details for the first time, without applying any biasing force or potential which may lead the drug to artificial interactions with the protein. We have attained multiple independent binding events which occurred in the nanosecond time scales, surprisingly as little as ∼30 ns. Both the protonated and deprotonated forms of the dasatinib reached the crystallographic binding mode without having any major intermediate state during induction. Availability and implementation The links of the tutorial and technical documents are accessible in the article. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


RSC Advances ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (24) ◽  
pp. 13310-13322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saša Kazazić ◽  
Zrinka Karačić ◽  
Igor Sabljić ◽  
Dejan Agić ◽  
Marko Tomin ◽  
...  

The hydrogen deuterium exchange (HDX) mass spectrometry combined with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations was employed to investigate conformational dynamics and ligand binding within the M49 family (dipeptidyl peptidase III family).


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