scholarly journals Molecular Dynamics Reveals the Effects of Temperature on Critical SARS-CoV-2 Proteins

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Morgan ◽  
Chih-Wen Shu
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Rna Virus ◽  
Nonstructural Protein ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Temperature Variations ◽  
Serious Infection ◽  
Critical Residues ◽  
The Stability

ABSTRACTSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a newly identified RNA virus that causes the serious infection Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The incidence of COVID-19 is still increasing worldwide despite the summer heat and cool winter. However, little is known about seasonal stability of SARS-CoV-2. Herein, we employ Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations to explore the effect of temperature on four critical SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Our work demonstrates that the spike Receptor Binding Domain (RBD), Main protease (Mpro), and nonstructural protein 3 (macro X) possesses extreme thermos-stability when subjected to temperature variations rendering them attractive drug targets. Furthermore, our findings suggest that these four proteins are well adapted to habitable temperatures on earth and are largely insensitive to cold and warm climates. Furthermore, we report that the critical residues in SARS-CoV-2 RBD were less responsive to temperature variations as compared to the critical residues in SARS-CoV. As such, extreme summer and winter climates, and the transition between the two seasons, are expected to have a negligible effect on the stability of SARS-CoV-2 which will marginally suppress transmission rates until effective therapeutics are available world-wide.

scholarly journals Structural Properties of G,T-Parallel Duplexes

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Aviñó ◽  
Elena Cubero ◽  
Raimundo Gargallo ◽  
Carlos González ◽  
Modesto Orozco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Structural Properties ◽  
Theoretical Calculations ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Theoretical Studies ◽  
Duplex Structure ◽  
Strong Stabilization ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact

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.

scholarly journals Atomistic Analysis of ToxN and ToxI Complex Unbinding Mechanism

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 3524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guodong Hu ◽  
Xiu Yu ◽  
Yunqiang Bian ◽  
Zanxia Cao ◽  
Shicai Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Noncoding Rna ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Normal Function ◽  
Toxin Complex ◽  
Potentials Of Mean Force ◽  
Protein Toxins ◽  
Function Relationship ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Smd Simulations

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.

Comparison of the effect of poly(N-vinyl caprolactam) and poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) trimers on the stability of hydrated Na-montmorillonite: A molecular dynamics study

2020 ◽  
pp. 096739112093524
Author(s):  
Jiafang Xu ◽  
Moussa Camara ◽  
Hualin Liao ◽  
Hong Guo ◽  
Kouassi Louis Kra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Stable State ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Radius Of Gyration ◽  
Molecular Arrangement ◽  
Isopropyl Acrylamide ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact

In the present study, we performed a molecular dynamics simulation of the intercalation of poly( N-isopropyl acrylamide) (NIPAM)3 and poly( N-vinyl caprolactam) (NVCL)3 trimers into Na-montmorillonite (Na-Mt) to evaluate their effects on the interlayer structure and the stability of hydrated Na-Mt. The impact of both trimers on the interlayer species and their dynamics properties at different temperatures in a canonical ensemble (NVT) were investigated. The results showed that the electrostatic forces exerted by Na cations on H2O molecules and the interlayer H2O molecular arrangement are not affected by the rise in temperature after adding both trimers. Trimer addition reinforced the structure of interlayer H2O molecules so that the effect of temperature increase on them became negligible. The structural dynamics evolution of the radius of gyration of both trimers showed the existence of conformation changes when temperature increased. These conformational changes are more complex in the case of (NVCL)3 than (NIPAM)3 due to its large monomers. Both trimers reduced the mobility of interlayer particles with a better inhibition effect obtained for (NVCL)3 compared to (NIPAM)3. The concentration profile of interlayers’ species showed the affinity of Na cations for clay mineral surfaces while H2O molecules moved away. Compared these two trimers, the most stable state of Na-Mt is achieved with (NVCL)3. These results could help highlight the inhibition properties of (NIPAM)3 and (NVCL)3 on hydrated Na-Mt and to predict its stability against changes in environmental conditions.

The Effect of Temperature on Defect Production by Displacement Cascades in alpha;-IRON

1996 ◽  
Vol 439 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Gao ◽  
D. J. Bacon ◽  
P. E. J. Flewitt ◽  
T. A. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Irradiation Temperature ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Cascade Process ◽  
Thermal Spike ◽  
Defect Production ◽  
Alpha Iron ◽  
Displacement Cascades ◽  
The Continuum

AbstractMolecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been used to study the number and arrangement of defects produced by displacement cascades as functions of irradiation temperature, Tirr, in α-iron. The continuum treatment of heat conduction was used to adjust the temperature of the MD boundary atoms throughout the cascade process. This new hybrid model has been applied to cascades of either 2 or 5 keV at 100K, 400K, 600K and 900K. The number of Frenkel pairs decreases by about 20–30% as Tir increases from 100K to 900K, due to the increase in the lifetime of the thermal-spike phase. The same effect also brings about an increase in the proportion of selfinterstitial atoms that form clusters.

scholarly journals Stability of Two-quartet G-quadruplexes and Their Dimers in Atomistic Simulations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barira Islam ◽  
Petr Stadlbauer ◽  
Michaela Vorlíčková ◽  
Jean-Louis Mergny ◽  
Michal Otyepka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Atomistic Simulations ◽  
Structural Element ◽  
Dna And Rna ◽  
Open Issue ◽  
Water Models ◽  
Weakly Stable ◽  
The Stability

ABSTRACTG-quadruplexes (GQs) are four-stranded non-canonical DNA and RNA architectures that can be formed by guanine-rich sequences. The stability of GQs increases with the number of G-quartets and three G-quartets generally form stable GQs. However, the stability of two-quartet GQs is an open issue. To understand the intrinsic stability of two-quartet GQ stems, we have carried out a series of unbiased molecular dynamics (MD) simulations (∼505 µs in total) of two- and four-quartet DNA and RNA GQs, with attention paid mainly to parallel-stranded arrangements. We used AMBER DNA parmOL15 and RNA parmOL3 force fields and tested different ion and water models. DNA two-quartet parallel-stranded GQs unfolded in all the simulations while the equivalent RNA GQ was stable in most of the simulations. GQs composed of two stacked units of two-quartet GQs were stable for both DNA and RNA. The simulations suggest that a minimum of three quartets are needed to form an intrinsically stable all-anti parallel-stranded DNA GQ. Parallel two-quartet DNA GQ may exist if substantially stabilized by another molecule or structural element, including multimerisation. On the other hand, we predict that isolated RNA two-quartet parallel GQs may form, albeit being weakly stable. We also show that ionic parameters and water models should be chosen with caution because some parameter combinations can cause spurious instability of GQ stems. Some in-so-far unnoticed limitations of force-field description of multiple ions inside the GQs are discussed, which compromise capability of simulations to fully capture the effect of increase of the number of quartets on the GQ stability.

scholarly journals Data for Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Escherichia Coli Cytochrome Bd Oxidase with the Amber Force Field

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surl-Hee Ahn ◽  
Christian Seitz ◽  
Vinicius Cruzeiro ◽  
James McCammon ◽  
Andreas Goetz
Keyword(s):  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Force Field ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Low Oxygen ◽  
Amber Force Field ◽  
E Coli

<div> <div> <div> <div> <p>Cytochrome <i>bd</i>-type quinol oxidase is an important metalloenzyme that allows many bacteria to survive in low oxygen conditions. Since bd oxidase is found in many prokaryotes but not in eukaryotes, it has emerged as a promising bacterial drug target. Examples of organisms containing bd oxidases include the <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)</i> bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB) in humans, the <i>Vibrio cholerae</i> bacterium that causes cholera, the <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> bacterium that contributes to antibiotic resistance and sepsis, and the <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> bacterium that causes food poisoning. <i>Escherichia coli (E. coli)</i> is another organism exhibiting the cytochrome <i>bd</i> oxidase. Since it has the highest sequence identity to <i>Mtb</i> (36 %) and we are ultimately interested in finding drug targets for TB, we have built parameters for the <i>E. coli bd </i>oxidase (Protein Data Bank ID number: 6RKO) that are compatible with the all-atom Amber ff14SB force field for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Specifically, we built parameters for the three heme cofactors present in all species of bacterial cytochrome <i>bd</i>-type oxidases (heme b<sub>558</sub>, heme b<sub>595</sub>, and heme d) along with their axial ligands. This data report includes the parameter files that can be used with Amber's LEaP program to generate input files for MD simulations using the Amber software package. We also provide the PDB data files of the initial model both by itself and solvated with TIP3P water molecules and counterions. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div>

scholarly journals A molecular dynamics study on the diffusion and imprint ability of spectinomycin under different sizes of aniline oligomers

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chanadan Douykhumklaw ◽  
Thana Sutthibutpong
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Diffusion Coefficient ◽  
Mean Square Displacement ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Template Molecule ◽  
Aniline Oligomers ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Further Development ◽  
Aniline Oligomer

Abstract Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) are the polymers created by molecular imprinting techniques that leave cavities for the specific interactions with a template molecule, and have been applied in molecular selectivity tasks. In this study, the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation technique was used to demonstrate that aniline oligomer could be developed as a potential MIP for detection and separation of the spectinomycin drug molecule for gonorrhoea treatment. MD simulations were performed for the systems of a spectinomycin within aniline oligomers of different sizes. The mean square displacement (MSD) and the diffusivity calculated from MD simulations showed that the diffusion coefficient was significantly dropped when the length of aniline oligomer was greater than two. The diffusion coefficient of spectinomycin became the lowest within aniline trimers, corresponded to the highest atomic distribution of MIP around the template. Then, the specific cavity in MIP systems with and without spectinomycin were calculated to assess the stability of the cavity created by the template. The volume of a cavity created within the trimer system was closest to the spectinomycin volume, and therefore became the optimal oligomer size for further development of MIP.

scholarly journals Forever Young: Structural Stability of Telomeric Guanine-Quadruplexes in Presence of Oxidative DNA Lesions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Miclot ◽  
Camille Corbier ◽  
Alessio Terenzi ◽  
Cécilia Hognon ◽  
Stéphanie Grandemange ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Structural Stability ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Dna Lesions ◽  
Computational Investigation ◽  
Telomeric Dna ◽  
G Quadruplex ◽  
The Stability

AbstractHuman telomeric DNA (h-Telo), in G-quadruplex (G4) conformation, is characterized by a remarkable structural stability that confers it the capacity to resist to oxidative stress producing one or even clustered 8-oxoguanine lesions. We present a combined experimental/computational investigation, by using circular dichroism in aqueous solutions, cellular immunofluorescence assays and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, that identifies the crucial role of the stability of G4s to oxidative lesions, related also to their biological role as inhibitors of telomerase, an enzyme overexpressed in most cancers associated to oxidative stress.

The Effect of Temperature on the Interaction of Phenanthroline-based Ligands with G-quadruplex: In Silico Viewpoint

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 546-554
Author(s):  
Mohadeseh Bazoobandi ◽  
Mohammad R. Bozorgmehr ◽  
Ali Mahmoudi ◽  
Ali Morsali
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Molecular Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Low Temperatures ◽  
Simulation Method ◽  
Dynamics Simulation ◽  
Effect Of Temperature ◽  
Quadruplex Structure ◽  
G Quadruplex ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Increasing Temperature

Aim and Objective: The stability of the G-quadruplex structure can increase its activity in telomerase inhibiting cancer cells. In this study, a molecular dynamics simulation method was used to study the effect of three phenanthroline-based ligands on the structure of G-quadruplex at the temperatures of 20, 40, 60 and 80°C. Materials and Methods: RMSD values and frequency of calculated RMSD in the presence and absence of ligands show that ligands cause the relative stability of the G-quadruplex, particularly at low temperatures. The calculation of hydrogen bonds in Guanine-tetrads in three different quadruplex sheets shows that the effect of ligands on the sheets is not the same so that the bottom sheet of G-quadruplex is most affected by the ligands at high temperatures, and the Guaninetetrads in this sheet are far away. Conformation factor was calculated as a measure of ligands binding affinity for each of the G-quadruplex residues. Results: The results show that the studied ligands interact more with the G-quadruplex than loop areas, although with increasing temperature, the binding area also includes the G-quadruplex sheets. The contribution of each of the residues involved in the G-quadruplex binding area with ligands was also calculated. Conclusion: The calculations performed are consistent with the previous experimental observations that can help to understand the molecular mechanism of the interaction of phenanthroline and its derivatives with quadruplex.

scholarly journals Structural and molecular dynamics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis malic enzyme, a potential anti-TB drug target

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalistyn H. Burley ◽  
Bonnie J. Cuthbert ◽  
Piyali Basu ◽  
Jane Newcombe ◽  
Ervin M. Irimpan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Cell Wall ◽  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis ◽  
Malic Enzyme ◽  
Drug Targets ◽  
Reducing Power ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Oligomeric State ◽  
Effects Of Ph ◽  
Multiple Conformations

AbstractTuberculosis (TB) is the most lethal bacterial infectious disease worldwide. It is notoriously difficult to treat, requiring a cocktail of antibiotics administered over many months. The dense, waxy outer membrane of the TB-causing agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), acts as a formidable barrier against uptake of antibiotics. Subsequently, enzymes involved in maintaining the integrity of the Mtb cell wall are promising drug targets. Recently, we demonstrated that Mtb lacking malic enzyme (MEZ) has altered cell wall lipid composition and attenuated uptake by macrophages. These results suggest that MEZ provides the required reducing power for lipid biosynthesis. Here, we present the X-ray crystal structure of MEZ to 3.6 Å resolution and compare it with known structures of prokaryotic and eukaryotic malic enzymes. We use biochemical assays to determine its oligomeric state and to evaluate the effects of pH and allosteric regulators on its kinetics and thermal stability. To assess the interactions between MEZ and its substrate malate and cofactors, Mn2+ and NAD(P)+, we ran a series of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. First, the MD analysis corroborates our empirical observations that MEZ is unusually disordered, which persists even with the addition of substrate and cofactors. Second, the MD simulations reveal that MEZ subunits alternate between open and closed states and that MEZ can stably bind its NAD(P)+ cofactor in multiple conformations, including an inactive, compact NAD+ form. Together the structure of MEZ and insights from its dynamics can be harnessed to inform the design of MEZ inhibitors that target Mtb.

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