| 1. |
- Alavi, Fatemeh Sadat, et al.
(author)
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QM/MM Study of the Conversion of Oxophlorin into Verdoheme by Heme Oxygenase
- 2017
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In: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 121:51, s. 11427-11436
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Heme oxygenase is an enzyme that degrades heme, thereby recycling iron in most organisms, including humans. Pervious density functional theory (DFT) calculations have suggested that iron(III) hydroxyheme, an intermediate generated in the first step of heme degradation by heme oxygenase, is converted to iron(III) superoxo oxophlorin in the presence of dioxygen. In this article, we have studied the detailed mechanism of conversion of iron(III) superoxo oxophlorin to verdoheme by using combined quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations. The calculations employed the B3LYP method and the def2-QZVP basis set, considering dispersion effects with the DFT-D3 approach, obtaining accurate energies with large QM regions of almost 1000 atoms. The reaction was found to be exothermic by -35 kcal/mol, with a rate-determining barrier of 19 kcal/mol in the doublet state. The protein environment and especially water in the enzyme pocket significantly affects the reaction by decreasing the reaction activation energies and changing the structures by providing strategic hydrogen bonds.
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| 2. |
- Caldararu, Octav, et al.
(author)
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Binding free energies in the SAMPL5 octa-acid host–guest challenge calculated with DFT-D3 and CCSD(T)
- 2017
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In: Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0920-654X .- 1573-4951. ; 31:1, s. 87-106
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have tried to calculate the free energy for the binding of six small ligands to two variants of the octa-acid deep cavitand host in the SAMPL5 blind challenge. We employed structures minimised with dispersion-corrected density-functional theory with small basis sets and energies were calculated using large basis sets. Solvation energies were calculated with continuum methods and thermostatistical corrections were obtained from frequencies calculated at the HF-3c level. Care was taken to minimise the effects of the flexibility of the host by keeping the complexes as symmetric and similar as possible. In some calculations, the large net charge of the host was reduced by removing the propionate and benzoate groups. In addition, the effect of a restricted molecular dynamics sampling of structures was tested. Finally, we tried to improve the energies by using the DLPNO–CCSD(T) approach. Unfortunately, results of quite poor quality were obtained, with no correlation to the experimental data, systematically too positive affinities (by ~50 kJ/mol) and a mean absolute error (after removal of the systematic error) of 11–16 kJ/mol. DLPNO–CCSD(T) did not improve the results, so the accuracy is not limited by the energy function. Instead, four likely sources of errors were identified: first, the minimised structures were often incorrect, owing to the omission of explicit solvent. They could be partly improved by performing the minimisations in a continuum solvent with four water molecules around the charged groups of the ligands. Second, some ligands could bind in several different conformations, requiring sampling of reasonable structures. Third, there is an indication the continuum-solvation model has problems to accurately describe the binding of both the negatively and positively charged guest molecules. Fourth, different methods to calculate the thermostatistical corrections gave results that differed by up to 30 kJ/mol and there is an indication that HF-3c overestimates the entropy term. In conclusion, it is a challenge to calculate binding affinities for this octa-acid system with quantum–mechanical methods.
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| 3. |
- Cao, Lili, et al.
(author)
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Protonation States of Homocitrate and Nearby Residues in Nitrogenase Studied by Computational Methods and Quantum Refinement
- 2017
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In: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 121:35, s. 8242-8262
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nitrogenase is the only enzyme that can break the triple bond in N2 to form two molecules of ammonia. The enzyme has been thoroughly studied with both experimental and computational methods, but there is still no consensus regarding the atomic details of the reaction mechanism. In the most common form, the active site is a MoFe7S9C(homocitrate) cluster. The homocitrate ligand contains one alcohol and three carboxylate groups. In water solution, the triply deprotonated form dominates, but because the alcohol (and one of the carboxylate groups) coordinate to the Mo ion, this may change in the enzyme. We have performed a series of computational calculations with molecular dynamics (MD), quantum mechanical (QM) cluster, combined QM and molecular mechanics (QM/MM), QM/MM with Poisson-Boltzmann and surface area solvation, QM/MM thermodynamic cycle perturbations, and quantum refinement methods to settle the most probable protonation state of the homocitrate ligand in nitrogenase. The results quite conclusively point out a triply deprotonated form (net charge -3) with a proton shared between the alcohol and one of the carboxylate groups as the most stable at pH 7. Moreover, we have studied eight ionizable protein residues close to the active site with MD simulations and determined the most likely protonation states.
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| 4. |
- Dong, Geng, et al.
(author)
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Effect of the protein ligand in DMSO reductase studied by computational methods
- 2017
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In: Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0162-0134. ; 171, s. 45-51
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The DMSO reductase family is the largest and most diverse family of mononuclear molybdenum oxygen-atom-transfer proteins. Their active sites contain a Mo ion coordinated to two molybdopterin ligands, one oxo group in the oxidised state, and one additional, often protein-derived ligand. We have used density-functional theory to evaluate how the fourth ligand (serine, cysteine, selenocysteine, OH−, O2–, SH−, or S2–) affects the geometries, reaction mechanism, reaction energies, and reduction potentials of intermediates in the DMSO reductase reaction. Our results show that there are only small changes in the geometries of the reactant and product states, except from the elongation of the Mo[sbnd]X bond as the ionic radius of X[dbnd]O, S, Se increases. The five ligands with a single negative charge gave an identical two-step reaction mechanism, in which DMSO first binds to the reduced active site, after which the S[sbnd]O bond is cleaved, concomitantly with the transfer of two electrons from Mo in a rate-determining second transition state. The five models gave similar activation energies of 69–85 kJ/mol, with SH− giving the lowest barrier. In contrast, the O2– and S2– ligands gave much higher activation energies (212 and 168 kJ/mol) and differing mechanisms (a more symmetric intermediate for O2– and a one-step reaction without any intermediate for S2–). The high activation energies are caused by a less exothermic reaction energy, 13–25 kJ/mol, and by a more stable reactant state owing to the strong Mo[sbnd]O2– or Mo[sbnd]S2– bonds.
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| 5. |
- Dong, Geng, et al.
(author)
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H2 binding to the active site of [NiFe] hydrogenase studied by multiconfigurational and coupled-cluster methods
- 2017
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In: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 19:16, s. 10590-10601
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- [NiFe] hydrogenases catalyse the reversible conversion of molecular hydrogen to protons and electrons. This seemingly simple reaction has attracted much attention because of the prospective use of H2 as a clean fuel. In this paper, we have studied how H2 binds to the active site of this enzyme. Combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) optimisation was performed to obtain the geometries, using both the TPSS and B3LYP density-functional theory (DFT) methods and considering both the singlet and triplet states of the Ni(ii) ion. To get more accurate energies and obtain a detailed account of the surroundings, we performed calculations with 819 atoms in the QM region. Moreover, coupled-cluster calculations with singles, doubles, and perturbatively treated triples (CCSD(T)) and cumulant-approximated second-order perturbation theory based on the density-matrix renormalisation group (DMRG-CASPT2) were carried out using three models to decide which DFT methods give the most accurate structures and energies. Our calculations show that H2 binding to Ni in the singlet state is the most favourable by at least 47 kJ mol-1. In addition, the TPSS functional gives more accurate energies than B3LYP for this system.
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| 6. |
- Dong, Geng, et al.
(author)
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O2 activation in salicylate 1,2-dioxygenase : A QM/MM study reveals the role of His162
- 2016
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In: Inorganic Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0020-1669 .- 1520-510X. ; 55:22, s. 11727-11735
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nonheme iron enzymes play an important role in the aerobic degradation of aromatic ring systems. Most enzymes can only cleave substrates with electron-rich substituents, e.g., with two hydroxyl groups. However, salicylate 1,2-dioxygenase (SDO) can cleave rings with only a single hydroxyl group. We investigated the oxygen-activation mechanism of the ring fission of salicylate by SDO by computational methods using combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) geometry optimizations, large QM calculations with 493 atoms, and QM/MM free-energy perturbations. Our results demonstrate that the reactive Fe-O2 species is best described as a Fe(III)-O2•- state, which is triplet O2 binding to quintet Fe(II), leading to a one-electron transfer from Fe(II) to O2. Subsequently, the O2•- group of this species attacks the aromatic ring of substrate to form an alkylperoxo intermediate. Mutation studies suggested that His162 is essential for catalysis. Our calculations indicate that His162 plays a role as an acid-base catalyst, providing a proton to the substrate.
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| 7. |
- Dong, Geng, et al.
(author)
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Protonation states of intermediates in the reaction mechanism of [NiFe] hydrogenase studied by computational methods.
- 2016
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In: Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-1327 .- 0949-8257. ; 21:3, s. 383-394
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The [NiFe] hydrogenases catalyse the reversible conversion of H2 to protons and electrons. The active site consists of a Fe ion with one carbon monoxide, two cyanide, and two cysteine (Cys) ligands. The latter two bridge to a Ni ion, which has two additional terminal Cys ligands. It has been suggested that one of the Cys residues is protonated during the reaction mechanism. We have used combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) geometry optimisations, large QM calculations with 817 atoms, and QM/MM free energy simulations, using the TPSS and B3LYP methods with basis sets extrapolated to the quadruple zeta level to determine which of the four Cys residues is more favourable to protonate for four putative states in the reaction mechanism, Ni-SIa, Ni-R, Ni-C, and Ni-L. The calculations show that for all states, the terminal Cys-546 residue is most easily protonated by 14-51 kJ/mol, owing to a more favourable hydrogen-bond pattern around this residue in the protein.
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| 8. |
- Fouda, Adam, et al.
(author)
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Does the DFT Self-Interaction Error Affect Energies Calculated in Proteins with Large QM Systems?
- 2016
-
In: Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1549-9618 .- 1549-9626. ; 12:11, s. 5667-5679
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have examined how the self-interaction error in density-functional theory (DFT) calculations affects energies calculated on large systems (600-1000 atoms) involving several charged groups. We employ 18 different quantum mechanical (QM) methods, including Hartree-Fock, as well as pure, hybrid, and range-separated DFT methods. They are used to calculate reaction and activation energies for three different protein models in vacuum, in a point-charge surrounding, or with a continuum-solvent model. We show that pure DFT functionals give rise to a significant delocalization of the charges in charged groups in the protein, typically by 0.1 e, as evidenced from the Mulliken charges. This has a clear effect on how the surroundings affect calculated reaction and activation energies, indicating that these methods should be avoided for DFT calculations on large systems. Fortunately, methods such as CAM-B3LYP, BHLYP, and M06-2X give results that agree within a few kilojoules per mole, especially when the calculations are performed in a point-charge surrounding. Therefore, we recommend these methods to estimate the effect of the surroundings with large QM systems (but other QM methods may be used to study the intrinsic reaction and activation energies).
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| 9. |
- Genheden, Samuel, et al.
(author)
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Binding affinities by alchemical perturbation using QM/MM with a large QM system and polarizable MM model.
- 2015
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In: Journal of Computational Chemistry. - : Wiley. - 1096-987X .- 0192-8651. ; 36:28, s. 2114-2124
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The most general way to improve the accuracy of binding-affinity calculations for protein-ligand systems is to use quantum-mechanical (QM) methods together with rigorous alchemical-perturbation (AP) methods. We explore this approach by calculating the relative binding free energy of two synthetic disaccharides binding to galectin-3 at a reasonably high QM level (dispersion-corrected density functional theory with a triple-zeta basis set) and with a sufficiently large QM system to include all short-range interactions with the ligand (744-748 atoms). The rest of the protein is treated as a collection of atomic multipoles (up to quadrupoles) and polarizabilities. Several methods for evaluating the binding free energy from the 3600 QM calculations are investigated in terms of stability and accuracy. In particular, methods using QM calculations only at the endpoints of the transformation are compared with the recently proposed non-Boltzmann Bennett acceptance ratio (NBB) method that uses QM calculations at several stages of the transformation. Unfortunately, none of the rigorous approaches give sufficient statistical precision. However, a novel approximate method, involving the direct use of QM energies in the Bennett acceptance ratio method, gives similar results as NBB but with better precision, ∼3 kJ/mol. The statistical error can be further reduced by performing a greater number of QM calculations. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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| 10. |
- Genheden, Samuel, et al.
(author)
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The MM/PBSA and MM/GBSA methods to estimate ligand-binding affinities
- 2015
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In: Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery. - : Informa Healthcare. - 1746-0441 .- 1746-045X. ; 10:5, s. 449-461
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction: The molecular mechanics energies combined with the Poisson-Boltzmann or generalized Born and surface area continuum solvation (MM/PBSA and MM/GBSA) methods are popular approaches to estimate the free energy of the binding of small ligands to biological macromolecules. They are typically based on molecular dynamics simulations of the receptor-ligand complex and are therefore intermediate in both accuracy and computational effort between empirical scoring and strict alchemical perturbation methods. They have been applied to a large number of systems with varying success. Areas covered: The authors review the use of MM/PBSA and MM/GBSA methods to calculate ligand-binding affinities, with an emphasis on calibration, testing and validation, as well as attempts to improve the methods, rather than on specific applications. Expert opinion: MM/PBSA and MM/GBSA are attractive approaches owing to their modular nature and that they do not require calculations on a training set. They have been used successfully to reproduce and rationalize experimental findings and to improve the results of virtual screening and docking. However, they contain several crude and questionable approximations, for example, the lack of conformational entropy and information about the number and free energy of water molecules in the binding site. Moreover, there are many variants of the method and their performance varies strongly with the tested system. Likewise, most attempts to ameliorate the methods with more accurate approaches, for example, quantum-mechanical calculations, polarizable force fields or improved solvation have deteriorated the results.
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