| 1. |
- Li, Junhao, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Dissecting the Structural Plasticity and Dynamics of Cytochrome P450 2B4 by Molecular Dynamics Simulations
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The plasticity of cytochrome P450 enzymes (P450s) is known to contribute significantly to their catalytic capacity of metabolizing various substrates. Although numerous studies have been performed, factors governing the plasticity and dynamics of P450s are still not fully understood. In this study, taking CYP2B4 as an example, we dissect the protein plasticity and dynamics in different environments. CYP2B4 is featured by a high degree of plasticity that exhibits open, closed, and intermediate states. By analyzing the CYP2B4 crystal structures, we identified the structural features for the closed, open and intermediate states. Interestingly, formation of the dimer structure was found in the open and intermediate structures. The subsequent MD simulations of the open structure in water confirmed the importance of the dimer form in stabilizing the open conformations. MD simulations of the closed and open structures in the membrane environment and the free energies for opening the F-G cassette obtained from the umbrella sampling calculations indicate that the membrane environment is important for stabilizing the F-G cassette. The dynamical network analysis indicates that Asp105 on the B-C loop plays an important role in transiting the structure from the open to intermediate. Our results thus unveil the mechanism of dimer formation and open-to-intermediate transition for CYP2B4 in the water and membrane environments.
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| 2. |
- Li, Junhao, et al.
(författare)
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Dissecting the Structural Plasticity and Dynamics of Cytochrome P450 2B4 by Molecular Dynamics Simulations
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1549-9596 .- 1549-960X. ; 60:10, s. 5026-5035
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The plasticity of cytochromes P450 (P450s) is known to contribute significantly to their catalytic capacity of metabolizing various substrates. Although numerous studies have been performed, factors governing the plasticity and dynamics of P450s are still not fully understood. In this study, taking CYP2B4 as an example, we dissect the protein plasticity and dynamics in different environments. CYP2B4 is featured by a high degree of plasticity, which exhibits open, closed, and intermediate states. By analyzing the CYP2B4 crystal structures, we identified the structural features for the closed, open, and intermediate states. Interestingly, formation of the dimer structure was found in the open and intermediate states. The subsequent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the open structure in water confirmed the importance of the dimer form in stabilizing the open conformations. MD simulations of the closed and open structures in the membrane environment and the free energies for opening the F-G cassette obtained from the umbrella sampling calculations indicate that the membrane environment is important for stabilizing the F-G cassette. The dynamical network analysis indicates that Asp105 on the B-C loop plays an important role in transiting the structure from the open to the intermediate state. Our results thus unveil the mechanisms of dimer formation and open-to-intermediate transition for CYP2B4 in the water and membrane environments.
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| 3. |
- Li, Junhao, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Mechanism of the Homotropic Cooperativity of Midazolam Metabolism by Cytochrome P450 3A4: Insight from Computational Studies
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Midazolam (MDZ) is a commonly used drug and is metabolized by cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4). It has been reported that the ratio of the hydroxylation products, 1'-OH-MDZ/4-OH-MDZ, is dependent on the MDZ concentration, which reflects that there exists the homotropic cooperative behavior in the CYP3A4-mediated hydroxylation of MDZ. Here, we used quantum chemistry (QC), molecular docking, conventional molecular dynamics (cMD) simulation, and Gaussian accelerated molecular dynamics (GaMD) simulation approaches to investigate the mechanism of the interactions between CYP3A4 and MDZ. Our study suggests that the H41 site, i.e. the pro-R center, is the most reactive site for the hydrogen abstraction, followed by the C1' site. However, the product 4-OH-MDZ is likely to be racemic due to the chirality inversion in the rebound step. We found that the allosteric site was not involved in the ligand cooperativity and the observation that there exists one or two MDZs in the productive site is in line with the experimental observations.
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| 4. |
- Li, Junhao, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Mechanistic Insights into the Regio‐ and Stereoselectivities of Testosterone and Dihydrotestosterone Hydroxylation Catalyzed by CYP3A4 and CYP19A1
- 2020
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Ingår i: Chemistry - A European Journal. - Weinheim, Germany : Wiley. - 0947-6539 .- 1521-3765. ; 26:28, s. 6214-6223
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The hydroxylation of nonreactive C−H bonds can be easily catalyzed by a variety of metalloenzymes, especially cytochrome P450s (P450s). The mechanism of P450 mediated hydroxylation has been intensively studied, both experimentally and theoretically. However, understanding the regio‐ and stereoselectivities of substrates hydroxylated by P450s remains a great challenge. Herein, we use a multi‐scale modeling approach to investigate the selectivity of testosterone (TES) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) hydroxylation catalyzed by two important P450s, CYP3A4 and CYP19A1. For CYP3A4, two distinct binding modes for TES/DHT were predicted by dockings and molecular dynamics simulations, in which the experimentally identified sites of metabolism of TES/DHT can access to the catalytic center. The regio‐ and stereoselectivities of TES/DHT hydroxylation were further evaluated by quantum mechanical and ONIOM calculations. For CYP19A1, we found that sites 1β, 2β and 19 can access the catalytic center, with the intrinsic reactivity 2β>1β>19. However, our ONIOM calculations indicate that the hydroxylation is favored at site 19 for both TES and DHT, which is consistent with the experiments and reflects the importance of the catalytic environment in determining the selectivity. Our study unravels the mechanism underlying the selectivity of TES/DHT hydroxylation mediated by CYP3A4 and CYP19A1 and is helpful for understanding the selectivity of other substrates that are hydroxylated by P450s.
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| 5. |
- Li, Junhao, 1989-
(författare)
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Theoretical Studies of Drug-Metabolizing Cytochrome P450 Enzymes
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The family of cytochrome P450 enzymes (P450s) belongs to one of the most important enzyme families in the human body. P450s are involved in the synthesis of endogenous compounds and metabolism of exogenous substances. In mammalian species, drug metabolizing P450s are anchored in the bilayer lipid membrane, which allows the enzymes to interact with other proteins and ligand molecules. A wealth of knowledge about the structures, functions, and mechanisms of P450s have been obtained from both experimental and theoretical studies. However, the mechanisms behind some experimental results, such as the regio- and stereoselectivity and structural flexibility are still elusive.In this thesis, I present the work done in my doctoral studies, which was focused on the catalytic selectivity and structural flexibility of P450s. Multiple theoretical modeling approaches, such as homology modeling, molecular docking, molecular dynamics, quantum mechanics, and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics, were applied in the studies. In papers I and II, the regio- and stereoselectivity of CYP4F2, CYP3A4, and CYP19A1 catalyzed C–H hydroxylation of different substrates were studied. The results indicate that the ligand reactivity and accessibility can be decisive for the regio- and stereoselectivity. However, which of them is more important is system-dependent. The quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics calculation results imply that the distribution of spin natural orbitals could be used for discriminating the roles of the reactivity and accessibility. In papers III and IV, the conformational dynamics of the open and closed structures of CYP2B4 and the ligand cooperativity phenomenon of midazolam metabolized by CYP3A4 were investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. From the simulation results, we identified the key residues for the conformational dynamics for the open-to-intermediate transition and found that the ligand cooperativity is also caused by the large flexibility of P450. The results also indicated that the homotropic cooperativity mainly occurs in the large and flexible productive site, rather than in the remote allosteric site.
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| 6. |
- Zhou, Yang, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Unraveling the Abnormal Molecular Mechanism of Suicide Inhibition of Cytochrome P450 3A4
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1549-9596 .- 1549-960X. ; 62:23, s. 6172-6181
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Suicide inhibition of the CYP3A4 enzyme by a drug inactivates the enzyme in the drug biotransformation process and often shows safety concerns about the drug. Despite extensive experimental studies, the abnormal molecular mechanism of a suicide inhibitor that forms a covalent bond with the residue far away from the catalytically active center of CYP3A4 inactivating the enzyme remains elusive. Here, the authors used molecular simulation approaches to study in detail how diquinone methide (DQR), the metabolite product of raloxifene, unbinds from CYP3A4 and inactivates the enzyme at the atomistic level. The results dearly indicate that in one of the intermediate states formed in its unbinding process, DQR covalently binds to Cys239, a residue far away from the catalytically active center of CYP3A4, and hinders the substrate from entering or leaving the enzyme. This work therefore provides an unprecedented way of clarifying the abnormal mechanism of suicide inhibition of the CYP3A4 enzyme.
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