| 1. |
- Cederfelt, Daniela
(författare)
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Structural studies of drug targets and a drug metabolizing enzyme
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The work presented in this thesis describes how structural information about a protein can be acquired, and how it can be used to answer scientific questions about proteins’ function, their dynamic behaviour and their interactions with other proteins or ligands.The catalytic function of the pyrimidine-degrading, drug metabolizing enzyme β-ureidopropionase (βUP) is dependent on the shift between oligomeric states. Substitution of amino acids H173 and H307 in the dimer-dimer interface and E207Q in the active site revealed that these are crucial for βUP activation. Inhibition studies of substrate-and product analogues allowed for a hypothesis that the ability to interact with F205 might distinguish activators from inhibitors. The first structure of the activated higher oligomer state of human βUP was determined using cryogenic electron microscopy, and confirmed that the closed entrance loop conformations and dimer-dimer interfaces are conserved between HsβUP and DmβUP. Interactions between the epigenetic drug target SET and MYND domain containing protein 3 (SMYD3) and possible inhibitors were investigated. A crystal structure confirmed the covalent bond of a rationally designed, targeted inhibitor to C186 in the active site of SMYD3. A new allosteric binding site was discovered using a biosensor screen with a blocked active site. Crystal structures revealed the location of the new binding site, and the binding mode of the (S)-and (R) enantiomers of the allosteric inhibitor. Lastly, a fragment based drug discovery approach was taken, co-crystallizing and soaking SMYD3 with hits from a fragment screen. This resulted in four crystal structures with weak electron density of fragments at several locations in the enzyme. The dynamic acetylcholine binding protein (AChBP) is a homologue of a Cys-loop type ligand gated ion channel. Hits from various biosensor screens, of which some indicated conformational changes, were co-crystallized with AChBP. Seven crystal structures of AChBP in complex with hit compounds from the biophysical screens were determined. Small conformational changes in the Cys-loop were detected in several of the crystal structures, coinciding with the results from the biosensor screens.In these studies, we explore new strategies for the investigation of the function and regulation of proteins relevant in drug discovery and optimization.
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| 2. |
- Christopeit, Tony, 1982-
(författare)
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Protein Interaction Studies with Low Molecular Weight Ligands : Applications for Drug Discovery, Basic Research and Diagnostic Tool Design
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis, the interactions between different proteins and small ligands were characterized by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy (SPR) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) based assays. For the C-reactive protein (CRP), a new type of artificial binder was identified which allows designing diagnostic assays superior to commonly used standard assays. Furthermore, an interaction study with the endogenous ligand phosphocholine revealed the importance of the avidity of pentameric CRP for the distinction of different types of lipid membranes. The interaction study with calcium showed how SPR based assays can be used to study ion-protein interactions despite the low atomic weight of ions. The transmembrane protease BACE1, an important drug target for Alzheimer’s disease, was immobilized to an SPR biosensor surface and embedded into a lipid membrane. An interaction study with a set of known BACE1 inhibitors showed that the transmembrane region has only minor effects on the interactions. Furthermore the pH-dependencies of the interactions were investigated and revealed new important conclusions for inhibitor design. Computer aided modelling showed that the protonation state of the aspartic dyad is dependent on the interacting inhibitor which offers new perspectives for in silico screenings.The SPR assay developed for BACE1 was adapted to a more complex membrane protein, the pentameric β3 GABAA receptor. The assay allowed the pharmacological characterisation for histaminergic and GABAergic ligands and gave further evidence for cross-talk between the two signal transduction pathways. This study shows that the immobilisation method used for BACE1 and the ß3 GABAA receptor has the potential to become a standard method for handling membrane proteins. The identification of new drug leads from natural sources is a common strategy for drug discovery. A combination of SPR and FRET based activity assays were explored to increase the efficiency of this process. For HIV-1 protease, secreted aspartic protease (SAP) 1, 2 and 3 extracts from a marine vertebrate were identified containing potent inhibitors which interacted with the active site of the enzymes.The studies in this thesis show that the investigation of protein interactions is crucial for understanding protein functions and can help to develop novel drugs for the treatment of different diseases.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Elinder, Malin
(författare)
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Towards a New Generation of Anti-HIV Drugs : Interaction Kinetic Analysis of Enzyme Inhibitors Using SPR-biosensors
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- As of today, there are 25 drugs approved for the treatment of HIV and AIDS. Nevertheless, HIV continues to infect and kill millions of people every year. Despite intensive research efforts, both a vaccine and a cure remain elusive and the long term efficacy of existing drugs is limited by the development of resistant HIV strains. New drugs and preventive strategies that are effective against resistant virus are therefore still needed. In this thesis an enzymological approach, primarily using SPR-based interaction kinetic analysis, has been used for identification and characterization of compounds of potential use in next generation anti-HIV drugs. By screening of a targeted non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) library, one novel and highly potent NNRTI was identified. The inhibitor was selected with respect to resilience to drug resistance and for high affinity and slow dissociation – a kinetic profile assumed to be suitable for inhibitors used in topical microbicides. In order to confirm the hypothesis that such a kinetic profile would result in an effective preventive agent with long-lasting effect, the correlation between antiviral effect and kinetic profile was investigated for a panel of NNRTIs. The kinetic profiles revealed that NNRTI efficacy is dependent on slow dissociation from the target, although the induced fit interaction mechanism prevented quantification of the rate constants. To avoid cross-resistance, the next generation anti-HIV drugs should be based on chemical entities that do not resemble drugs in clinical use, either in structure or mode-of-action. Fragment-based drug discovery was used for identification of structurally new inhibitors of HIV-enzymes. One fragment that was effective also on variants of HIV RT with resistance mutations was identified. The study revealed the possibility of identifying structurally novel NNRTIs as well as fragments interacting with other sites of the protein. The two compounds identified in this thesis represent potential starting points for a new generation of NNRTIs. The applied methodologies also show how interaction kinetic analysis can be used as an effective and versatile tool throughout the lead discovery process, especially when integrated with functional enzymological assays.
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| 5. |
- Encarnação, João Crispim, Master, 1990-
(författare)
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Towards time-resolved molecular interaction assays in living bacteria
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Rare and neglected diseases such as multidrug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis, malaria and trypanosomiasis are re-emerging in Europe. New strategies are needed to accelerate drug discovery to fight these pathogens. AEGIS is a Pan-European project that combines different technologies to accelerate the discovery of molecules suitable for drug development in selected neglected diseases. This thesis is part of the AEGIS research area that considers time in a multidisciplinary approach, combining biology, physics and mathematics to provide tools to characterize biological events for improving drug development and information about the target diseases and lead compounds.Real-time cell binding assays (RT-CBA) of receptor-ligand interactions are fundamental in basic research and drug discovery. However, this kind of assays are still rare on living cells, especially in the microbiology field. In this project, we apply the same high-precision assay type on bacterial systems and explored the interior of the cell with a time resolved assay.The effect of temperature was evaluated in the RT-CBA using LigandTracer to ensure that it was possible to use the technology in a range of temperatures suitable for bacteria. A method for attaching Gram positive and negative bacteria on the surface of a normal Petri dish, showing a high reproducibly and a high cellular viability after 16 h. With these two key steps, an RT-CBA fit for microbiology is available.Next, to answer biological questions, intracellular interactions were explored by expression and validation of intracellular proteins with fluorescent tags suitable for RT-CBAs. First, we used the subunit B from the Shiga toxin (STxB) as a model to understand different aspects about the internalization processes. RT-CBAs allowed to discovery new features of STxB binding and mechanism to deliver small molecules or small proteins into cancer cells. Then, for exploring intracellular interactions, insect cells were bioengineered for evaluating the ability of small molecules to internalize and bind to its target. Using Carbonic anhydrase II – sulfonamides as a model system, the molecular interaction in the cytoplasm could be measured using a quencher label approach. The development of this kind of novel RT-CBA tools provide new information about drug candidates for targets that are not properly expressed in bacterial cells.The assays in this project can make drug design more efficient. Furthermore, the evaluation of binding activity of the new compounds developed by AEGIS, focusing on rare/neglected diseases, in a biological environment has the potential to accelerate drug discovery for the targeted emerging diseases.
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| 6. |
- Geitmann, Matthis, 1972-
(författare)
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Biosensor Studies of Ligand Interactions with Structurally Flexible Enzymes : Applications for Antiviral Drug Development
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The use of a surface plasmon biosensor fills a missing link in kinetic studies of enzymes, since it measures directly the interaction between biomolecules and allows determination of parameters that are determined only indirectly in activity assays. The present thesis deals with kinetic and dynamic aspects of ligand binding to two viral enzymes: the human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) protease and the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase (HIV-1 RT). The improved description of interactions presented herein will contribute to the discovery and development of antiviral drugs.The biosensor method provided new insights into the interaction between serine proteases and a peptide substrate, as well as substrate-induced conformational changes of the enzymes. The direct binding assay served as a tool for characterising the binding mechanism of HCMV protease inhibitors.Kinetic details of the interaction between HIV-1 RT and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) were unravelled. The recorded sensorgrams revealed several forms of complexity. A general binding model for the analysis was derived from the data, describing a two-state mechanism for the enzyme and a high- and a low-affinity interaction with the inhibitor. Interaction kinetic constants were determined for the clinically used NNRTIs and several investigational inhibitors.The established method was applied to investigate the mechanism of resistance against NNRTIs. Amino acid substitutions in the NNRTI-binding site resulted in both decreased association rates and increased dissociation rates for the inhibitors. The K103N and the L100I substitution also interfered with the formation of the binding site, thereby facilitating inhibitor binding and unbinding.Finally, thermodynamic analysis revealed that, despite the hydrophobic character of the interaction, NNRTI binding was mainly enthalpy-driven at equilibrium. Large entropy contributions in the association and dissociation indicated that binding is associated with a dynamic effect in the enzyme.
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| 7. |
- Seeger, Christian, 1982-
(författare)
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Revealing Secrets of Synaptic Protein Interactions : A Biosensor based Strategy
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Protein interactions are the basis of synaptic function, and studying these interactions on a molecular level is crucial for understanding basic brain function, as well as mechanisms underlying neurological disorders. In this thesis, kinetic and mechanistic characterization of synaptic protein interactions was performed by using surface plasmon resonance biosensor technology. Fragment library screening against the reverse transcriptase of HIV was included, as it served as an outlook for future drug discovery against ligand-gated ion channels.The protein-protein interaction studies of postsynaptic Ca2+ -binding proteins revealed caldendrin as a novel binding partner of AKAP79. Caldendrin and calmodulin bind and compete at similar binding sites but their interactions display different mechanisms and kinetics. In contrast to calmodulin, caldendrin binds to AKAP79 both in the presence and absence of Ca2+ suggesting distinct in vivo functional properties of caldendrin and calmodulin.Homo-oligomeric β3 GABAA receptors, although not yet identified in vivo, are candidates for a histamine-gated ion channel in the brain. To aid the identification of the receptor, 51 histaminergic ligands were screened and a unique pharmacology was determined. A further requirement for identifying β3 receptors in the brain, is the availability of specific high-affinity ligands. The developed biosensor assay displayed sufficient sensitivity and throughput for screening for such ligands, as well as for being employed for fragment-based drug discovery.AMPA receptors are excitatory ligand-gated ion channels, involved in synaptic plasticity, and modulated by auxiliary proteins. Previous results have indicated that Noelin1, a secreted glycoprotein, interacts with the AMPA receptor. By using biochemical methods, it was shown that Noelin1 interacts directly with the receptor. The kinetics of the interaction were estimated by biosensor analysis, thereby confirming the interaction and suggesting low nanomolar affinity. The results provide a basis for functional characterization of a novel AMPA receptor protein interaction.The results demonstrate how secrets of synaptic protein interactions and function were revealed by using a molecular based approach. Improving the understanding of such interactions is valuable for basic neuroscience. At the same time, the technical advancements that were achieved to study interactions of ligand-gated ion channels by surface plasmon resonance technology, provide an important tool for discovery of novel therapeutics against these important drug targets.
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| 8. |
- Svahn Gustafsson, Sofia
(författare)
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Characterization of HCV Protease Inhibitors : Inhibition and Interaction Studies with Applications for Drug Discovery
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis, different approaches based on inhibition and interactions studies, have been used to characterize inhibitors of the non-structural protein 3 (NS3) from the hepatitis C virus (HCV). This involves identification of enzyme inhibitory effects and characterization of interaction mechanisms and kinetics, as well as effects on replication in a cell based system and serum protein binding. All this information contributes to HCV drug discovery.By using an inhibition assay it was possible to evaluate the effects of NS3 protease inhibitors, tested or used in the clinic, on NS3 variants, representing different model systems often used for drug discovery. This study illustrates the importance of accounting for differences in catalytic properties in comparative analyses, for making relevant interpretations of inhibition data. An SPR biosensor-based assay expanded the first study, and provided kinetic and mechanistic information, by direct interaction analyses of the inhibitors. It revealed significant differences between the different genotypes and model systems, and provided data that can be used to better understand the efficacy of inhibitors.Additionally, novel NS3 protease inhibitors were evaluated with respect to their potential to interfere with protease activity, their sensitivity to resistant mutants and effect on HCV replication. The most potent compounds were also characterized by their bioavailability, solubility and metabolic stability. This provides information for design of improved NS3 protease inhibitors, suggesting potential peptidomimetic structures for the backbone as well as for peptide substituents. These modification strategies allowed inhibitors to be truncated and less peptide-like, still with retained inhibitory effect.A new strategy for analysis of serum protein binding, of importance for drug distribution was also developed. By defining and using the concept of binding efficiency, serum protein interactions of moderate affinity, as described by rapid kinetics, were characterized. This strategy is also applicable for analysis of low affinity interactions.Taken together, all these studies provide knowledge and strategies for HCV drug discovery, and by using this information we might take a step closer to the final goal, which is to eradicate HCV.
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| 9. |
- Talibov, Vladimir O, 1991-
(författare)
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Interaction kinetic analysis in drug design, enzymology and protein research
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The work presented here is focused on the phenomenon of molecular recognition – the mutual ability of biological molecules to recognize each other through their chemical signatures. Here, the kinetic aspects of recognition were evaluated, as interaction kinetics reveal valuable dimensions in the description of molecular events in biological systems. The primary objects studied in this thesis were human proteins and their interaction partners. Proteins serve a fundamental role in living organisms, supporting the biochemical machinery by means of catalysis, signalling and transport; additionally, proteins are the main targets for drugs.In the first study, carbonic anhydrase (CA) isozymes were employed as a model system to address the problem of drug selectivity. Kinetic signatures preferable for the design of selective sulphonamide-based inhibitors were identified. In a follow up study, the recognition between CA and sulphonamides was separated into two parts, uncovering intrinsic recognition features that genuinely reflect the interaction mechanism. For the first time, the concept of intrinsic interaction kinetics was applied to a drug-target system.Another model protein studied in this thesis was calmodulin (CaM), as its interactions with other proteins should have specific kinetic signatures to support the dynamics of calcium-dependent signalling. The study evolved around calcium-dependent CaM interactions with the neuronal protein neurogranin (Ng), and revealed its complex nature. Ng was found to interact with CaM both in presence and absence of calcium, but with different kinetics and affinity. This finding supports development of a mechanistic model of calcium sensitivity regulation.The last two projects were more applied, exploring the druggability of an emerging class of pharmaceutical targets – epigenetic enzymes. Expertise and methodology for biophysically guided drug discovery towards histone demethylase LSD1 and histone methyltransferase SMYD3 were developed. For LSD1, the project assisted the rational design of active site-targeting macrocyclic peptides, and resulted in the development of competitive inhibitors with a well described mechanism of action. A novel biophysical platform for screening was developed for SMYD3. It proved to be successful, as it identified previously unknown allosteric ligand binding site. Both projects were supported by structural studies, expanding the druggable space of epigenetic targets.
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