scholarly journals Fragments of gD Protein as Inhibitors of BTLA/HVEM Complex Formation - Design, Synthesis, and Cellular Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (22) ◽  
pp. 8876
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Kuncewicz ◽  
Claire Battin ◽  
Adam Sieradzan ◽  
Agnieszka Karczyńska ◽  
Marta Orlikowska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complex Formation ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Immune Checkpoints ◽  
Binding Modes ◽  
Design Synthesis ◽  
Docking Simulations ◽  
Design And Synthesis ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Proteins ◽  
Cytotoxicity Effects

One of the major current trends in cancer immunotherapy is the blockade of immune checkpoint proteins that negatively regulate the immune response. This has been achieved through antibodies blocking PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4/CD80/CD86 interactions. Such antibodies have revolutionized oncological therapy and shown a new way to fight cancer. Additional (negative) immune checkpoints are also promising targets in cancer therapy and there is a demand for inhibitors for these molecules. Our studies are focused on BTLA/HVEM complex, which inhibits T-cell proliferation and cytokine production and therefore has great potential as a new target for cancer treatment. The goal of the presented studies was the design and synthesis of compounds able to block BTLA/HVEM interactions. For that purpose, the N-terminal fragment of glycoprotein D (gD), which interacts with HVEM, was used. Based on the crystal structure of the gD/HVEM complex and MM/GBSA analysis performed on it, several peptides were designed and synthesized as potential inhibitors of the BTLA/HVEM interaction. Affinity tests, ELISA tests, and cellular-based reporter assays were performed on these compounds to check their ability to bind to HVEM and to inhibit BTLA/HVEM complex formation. For leading peptides candidates, all-atom and subsequent docking simulations with a coarse-grained force field were performed to determine their binding modes. To further evaluate their potential as drug candidates, their stability in plasma and their cytotoxicity effects on PBMCs were assessed. Our data indicate that the peptide gD(1-36)(K10C-T29C) is the best candidate as a future drug. It interacts with HVEM protein, blocks the BTLA/HVEM interaction, and is nontoxic to cells. The present study provides a new perspective on the development of BTLA/HVEM inhibitors that disrupt protein interactions.

scholarly journals Molecular determinants of the interactions between proteins and ssDNA

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (16) ◽  
pp. 5033-5038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garima Mishra ◽  
Yaakov Levy
Keyword(s):  
Conformational Changes ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Binding Pocket ◽  
Dna Bases ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Binding Modes ◽  
Ssdna Binding ◽  
Coarse Grained Model ◽  
Molecular Determinants ◽  
Ssdna Binding Proteins

ssDNA binding proteins (SSBs) protect ssDNA from chemical and enzymatic assault that can derail DNA processing machinery. Complexes between SSBs and ssDNA are often highly stable, but predicting their structures is challenging, mostly because of the inherent flexibility of ssDNA and the geometric and energetic complexity of the interfaces that it forms. Here, we report a newly developed coarse-grained model to predict the structure of SSB–ssDNA complexes. The model is successfully applied to predict the binding modes of six SSBs with ssDNA strands of lengths of 6–65 nt. In addition to charge–charge interactions (which are often central to governing protein interactions with nucleic acids by means of electrostatic complementarity), an essential energetic term to predict SSB–ssDNA complexes is the interactions between aromatic residues and DNA bases. For some systems, flexibility is required from not only the ssDNA but also, the SSB to allow it to undergo conformational changes and the penetration of the ssDNA into its binding pocket. The association mechanisms can be quite varied, and in several cases, they involve the ssDNA sliding along the protein surface. The binding mechanism suggests that coarse-grained models are appropriate to study the motion of SSBs along ssDNA, which is expected to be central to the function carried out by the SSBs.

scholarly journals Design, Synthesis, Chemical and Biochemical Insights Into Novel Hybrid Spirooxindole-Based p53-MDM2 Inhibitors With Potential Bcl2 Signaling Attenuation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmine M. Abdel Aziz ◽  
Gehad Lotfy ◽  
Mohamed M. Said ◽  
El Sayed H. El Ashry ◽  
El Sayed H. El Tamany ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Concomitant Administration ◽  
Cytotoxic Activities ◽  
Binding Modes ◽  
Tumor Resistance ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Design Synthesis ◽  
Docking Simulations ◽  
Bcl2 Family ◽  
Combination Studies ◽  
Induced Apoptosis

The tumor resistance to p53 activators posed a clinical challenge. Combination studies disclosed that concomitant administration of Bcl2 inhibitors can sensitize the tumor cells and induce apoptosis. In this study, we utilized a rapid synthetic route to synthesize two novel hybrid spirooxindole-based p53-MDM2 inhibitors endowed with Bcl2 signaling attenuation. The adducts mimic the thematic features of the chemically stable potent spiro [3H-indole-3,2′-pyrrolidin]-2(1H)-ones p53-MDM2 inhibitors, while installing a pyrrole ring via a carbonyl spacer inspired by the natural marine or synthetic products that efficiently inhibit Bcl2 family functions. A chemical insight into the two synthesized spirooxindoles including single crystal x-ray diffraction analysis unambiguously confirmed their structures. The synthesized spirooxindoles 2a and 2b were preliminarily tested for cytotoxic activities against normal cells, MDA-MB 231, HepG-2, and Caco-2 via MTT assay. 2b was superior to 5-fluorouracil. Mechanistically, 2b induced apoptosis-dependent anticancer effect (43%) higher than that of 5-fluorouracil (34.95%) in three studied cancer cell lines, activated p53 (47%), downregulated the Bcl2 gene (1.25-fold), and upregulated p21 (2-fold) in the treated cancer cells. Docking simulations declared the possible binding modes of the synthesized compounds within MDM2.

Phospholipid-Protein Interactions in the Formation of Prothrombin Activator

1965 ◽  
Vol 14 (03/04) ◽  
pp. 431-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. R Cole ◽  
J. L Koppel ◽  
J. H Olwin
Keyword(s):  
Complex Formation ◽  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Calcium Ions ◽  
Fixed Number ◽  
Factor V ◽  
Clotting Factors ◽  
Number Of Binding Sites ◽  
C Complex ◽  
Autoprothrombin C

SummarySince Ac-globulin (factor V) is involved in the formation of prothrombin activator, its ability to complex with phospholipids was studied. Purified bovine Ac-globulin was complexed to asolectin, there being presumably a fixed number of binding sites on the phospholipid micelle for Ac-globulin. In contrast to the requirement for calcium ions in the formation of complexes between asolectin and autoprothrombin C, calcium ions were not required for complex formation between asolectin and Ac-globulin to occur ; in fact, the presence of calcium prevented complex formation occurring, the degree of inhibition being dependent on the calcium concentration. By treating isolated, pre-formed aso- lectin-Ac-globulin complexes with calcium chloride solutions, Ac-globulin could be recovered in a much higher state of purity and essentially free of asolectin.Complete activators were formed by first preparing the asolectin-calcium- autoprothrombin C complex and then reacting the complex with Ac-globulin. A small amount of this product was very effective as an activator of purified prothrombin without further addition of calcium or any other cofactor. If the autoprothrombin C preparation used to prepare the complex was free of traces of prothrombin, the complete activator was stable for several hours at room temperature. Stable preparations of the complete activator were centrifuged, resulting in the sedimentation of most of the activity. Experimental evidence also indicated that activator activity was highest when autoprothrombin C and Ac-globulin were complexed to the same phospholipid micelle, rather than when the two clotting factors were complexed to separate micelles. These data suggested that the in vivo prothrombin activator may be a sedimentable complex composed of a thromboplastic enzyme, calcium, Ac-globulin and phospholipid.

Approach in improving potency and selectivity of kinase inhibitors: Allosteric kinase inhibitors

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shangfei Wei ◽  
Tianming Zhao ◽  
Jie Wang ◽  
Xin Zhai
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Kinase Inhibitors ◽  
Binding Modes ◽  
Allosteric Inhibitors ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Allosteric Sites ◽  
Protein Functions ◽  
Regulate Protein

: Allostery is an efficient and particular regulatory mechanism to regulate protein functions. Different from conserved orthosteric sites, allosteric sites have distinctive functional mechanism to form the complex regulatory network. In drug discovery, kinase inhibitors targeting the allosteric pockets have received extensive attention for the advantages of high selectivity and low toxicity. The approval of trametinib as the first allosteric inhibitor validated that allosteric inhibitors could be used as effective therapeutic drugs for treatment of diseases. To date, a wide range of allosteric inhibitors have been identified. In this perspective, we outline different binding modes and potential advantages of allosteric inhibitors. In the meantime, the research processes of typical and novel allosteric inhibitors are described briefly in terms of structureactivity relationships, ligand-protein interactions and in vitro and in vivo activity. Additionally, challenges as well as opportunities are presented.

scholarly journals Rational Design and Synthesis of Right-Handed d-Sulfono-γ-AApeptide Helical Foldamers as Potent Inhibitors of Protein–Protein Interactions

2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (16) ◽  
pp. 10552-10560
Author(s):  
Peng Sang ◽  
Yan Shi ◽  
Pirada Higbee ◽  
Minghui Wang ◽  
Sami Abdulkadir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Rational Design ◽  
Protein Protein Interactions ◽  
Design And Synthesis

scholarly journals Molecular Dynamics Scoring of Protein–Peptide Models Derived from Coarse-Grained Docking

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 3293
Author(s):  
Mateusz Zalewski ◽  
Sebastian Kmiecik ◽  
Michał Koliński
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Geometry Optimization ◽  
Computational Prediction ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Ligand Interaction ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Docking Simulations ◽  
Peptide Models ◽  
Peptide Complexes

One of the major challenges in the computational prediction of protein–peptide complexes is the scoring of predicted models. Usually, it is very difficult to find the most accurate solutions out of the vast number of sometimes very different and potentially plausible predictions. In this work, we tested the protocol for Molecular Dynamics (MD)-based scoring of protein–peptide complex models obtained from coarse-grained (CG) docking simulations. In the first step of the scoring procedure, all models generated by CABS-dock were reconstructed starting from their original C-alpha trace representations to all-atom (AA) structures. The second step included geometry optimization of the reconstructed complexes followed by model scoring based on receptor–ligand interaction energy estimated from short MD simulations in explicit water. We used two well-known AA MD force fields, CHARMM and AMBER, and a CG MARTINI force field. Scoring results for 66 different protein–peptide complexes show that the proposed MD-based scoring approach can be used to identify protein–peptide models of high accuracy. The results also indicate that the scoring accuracy may be significantly affected by the quality of the reconstructed protein receptor structures.

scholarly journals Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of N4-Sulfonamido-Succinamic, Phthalamic, Acrylic and Benzoyl Acetic Acid Derivatives as Potential DPP IV Inhibitors

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reema Abu Khalaf ◽  
Ghassan Abu Sheikha ◽  
Mahmoud Al-Sha'er ◽  
Mutasem Taha
Keyword(s):  
Acetic Acid ◽  
Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Biological Evaluation ◽  
Diabetic Patients ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Design Synthesis ◽  
Multifunctional Protein ◽  
Design And Synthesis ◽  
Dpp Iv

As incidence rate of type II diabetes mellitus continues to rise, there is a growing need to identify novel therapeutic agents with improved efficacy and reduced side effects. Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) is a multifunctional protein involved in many physiological processes. It deactivates the natural hypoglycemic incretin hormone effect. Inhibition of this enzyme increases endogenous incretin level, incretin activity and should restore glucose homeostasis in type II diabetic patients making it an attractive target for the development of new antidiabetic drugs. One of the interesting reported anti- DPP IV hits is Gemifloxacin which is used as a lead compound for the development of new DPP IV inhibitors. In the current work, design and synthesis of a series of N4-sulfonamido-succinamic, phthalamic, acrylic and benzoyl acetic acid derivatives was carried out. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in vitro anti-DPP IV activity. Some of them have shown reasonable bioactivity, where the most active one 17 was found to have an IC50 of 33.5 μM.

scholarly journals N-Heterocycles Scaffolds as Quorum Sensing Inhibitors. Design, Synthesis, Biological and Docking Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (24) ◽  
pp. 9512
Author(s):  
Alfredo Fuentes-Gutiérrez ◽  
Everardo Curiel-Quesada ◽  
José Correa-Basurto ◽  
Alberto Martínez-Muñoz ◽  
Alicia Reyes-Arellano
Keyword(s):  
Quorum Sensing ◽  
Therapeutic Strategy ◽  
Proper Time ◽  
Docking Studies ◽  
Chromobacterium Violaceum ◽  
Quorum Sensing Inhibition ◽  
Design Synthesis ◽  
Docking Simulations ◽  
Quorum Sensing Inhibitors ◽  
Insight Into

Quorum sensing is a communication system among bacteria to sense the proper time to express their virulence factors. Quorum sensing inhibition is a therapeutic strategy to block bacterial mechanisms of virulence. The aim of this study was to synthesize and evaluate new bioisosteres of N-acyl homoserine lactones as Quorum sensing inhibitors in Chromobacterium violaceum CV026 by quantifying the specific production of violacein. Five series of compounds with different heterocyclic scaffolds were synthesized in good yields: thiazoles, 16a–c, thiazolines 17a–c, benzimidazoles 18a–c, pyridines 19a–c and imidazolines 32a–c. All 15 compounds showed activity as Quorum sensing inhibitors except 16a. Compounds 16b, 17a–c, 18a, 18c, 19c and 32b exhibited activity at concentrations of 10 µM and 100 µM, highlighting the activity of benzimidazole 18a (IC50 = 36.67 µM) and 32b (IC50 = 85.03 µM). Pyridine 19c displayed the best quorum sensing inhibition activity (IC50 = 9.66 µM). Molecular docking simulations were conducted for all test compounds on the Chromobacterium violaceum CviR protein to gain insight into the process of quorum sensing inhibition. The in-silico data reveal that all 15 the compounds have higher affinity for the protein than the native AHL ligand (1). A strong correlation was found between the theoretical and experimental results.

scholarly journals Unraveling Sugar Binding Modes to DC-SIGN by Employing Fluorinated Carbohydrates

Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (12) ◽  
pp. 2337 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Daniel Martínez ◽  
Pablo Valverde ◽  
Sandra Delgado ◽  
Cecilia Romanò ◽  
Bruno Linclau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Binding Mode ◽  
Intercellular Adhesion Molecule ◽  
Binding Modes ◽  
Binding Epitope ◽  
First Time ◽  
Biomedical Interest ◽  
Specific Sugar

A fluorine nuclear magnetic resonance (19F-NMR)-based method is employed to assess the binding preferences and interaction details of a library of synthetic fluorinated monosaccharides towards dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule 3-grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN), a lectin of biomedical interest, which is involved in different viral infections, including HIV and Ebola, and is able to recognize a variety of self- and non-self-glycans. The strategy employed allows not only screening of a mixture of compounds, but also obtaining valuable information on the specific sugar–protein interactions. The analysis of the data demonstrates that monosaccharides Fuc, Man, Glc, and Gal are able to bind DC-SIGN, although with decreasing affinity. Moreover, a new binding mode between Man moieties and DC-SIGN, which might have biological implications, is also detected for the first time. The combination of the 19F with standard proton saturation transfer difference (1H-STD-NMR) data, assisted by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, permits us to successfully define this new binding epitope, where Man coordinates a Ca2+ ion of the lectin carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) through the axial OH-2 and equatorial OH-3 groups, thus mimicking the Fuc/DC-SIGN binding architecture.

scholarly journals A network of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate binding sites regulates gating of the Ca2+-activated Cl− channel ANO1 (TMEM16A)

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (40) ◽  
pp. 19952-19962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kuai Yu ◽  
Tao Jiang ◽  
YuanYuan Cui ◽  
Emad Tajkhorshid ◽  
H. Criss Hartzell
Keyword(s):  
Protein Interactions ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Neuronal Excitability ◽  
Computational Study ◽  
Channel Gating ◽  
Md Simulations ◽  
Fluid Secretion ◽  
Hydroxyl Groups ◽  
Binding Modes ◽  
Cytoplasmic Extension

ANO1 (TMEM16A) is a Ca2+-activated Cl− channel that regulates diverse cellular functions including fluid secretion, neuronal excitability, and smooth muscle contraction. ANO1 is activated by elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ and modulated by phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P2]. Here, we describe a closely concerted experimental and computational study, including electrophysiology, mutagenesis, functional assays, and extended sampling of lipid–protein interactions with molecular dynamics (MD) to characterize PI(4,5)P2 binding modes and sites on ANO1. ANO1 currents in excised inside-out patches activated by 270 nM Ca2+ at +100 mV are increased by exogenous PI(4,5)P2 with an EC50 = 1.24 µM. The effect of PI(4,5)P2 is dependent on membrane voltage and Ca2+ and is explained by a stabilization of the ANO1 Ca2+-bound open state. Unbiased atomistic MD simulations with 1.4 mol% PI(4,5)P2 in a phosphatidylcholine bilayer identified 8 binding sites with significant probability of binding PI(4,5)P2. Three of these sites captured 85% of all ANO1–PI(4,5)P2 interactions. Mutagenesis of basic amino acids near the membrane–cytosol interface found 3 regions of ANO1 critical for PI(4,5)P2 regulation that correspond to the same 3 sites identified by MD. PI(4,5)P2 is stabilized by hydrogen bonding between amino acid side chains and phosphate/hydroxyl groups on PI(4,5)P2. Binding of PI(4,5)P2 alters the position of the cytoplasmic extension of TM6, which plays a crucial role in ANO1 channel gating, and increases the accessibility of the inner vestibule to Cl− ions. We propose a model consisting of a network of 3 PI(4,5)P2 binding sites at the cytoplasmic face of the membrane allosterically regulating ANO1 channel gating.

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