| 1. |
- Kumar, Rohit, et al.
(author)
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Structure and Energetics of Ligand–Fluorine Interactions with Galectin-3 Backbone and Side-Chain Amides : Insight into Solvation Effects and Multipolar Interactions
- 2019
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In: ChemMedChem. - : Wiley. - 1860-7179 .- 1860-7187. ; 14:16, s. 1528-1536
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Multipolar fluorine–amide interactions with backbone and side-chain amides have been described as important for protein–ligand interactions and have been used to improve the potency of synthetic inhibitors. In this study, fluorine interactions within a well-defined binding pocket on galectin-3 were investigated systematically using phenyltriazolyl-thiogalactosides fluorinated singly or multiply at various positions on the phenyl ring. X-ray structures of the C-terminal domain of galectin-3 in complex with eight of these ligands revealed potential orthogonal fluorine–amide interactions with backbone amides and one with a side-chain amide. The two interactions involving main-chain amides seem to have a strong influence on affinity as determined by fluorescence anisotropy. In contrast, the interaction with the side-chain amide did not influence affinity. Quantum mechanics calculations were used to analyze the relative contributions of these interactions to the binding energies. No clear correlation could be found between the relative energies of the fluorine–main-chain amide interactions and the overall binding energy. Instead, dispersion and desolvation effects play a larger role. The results confirm that the contribution of fluorine–amide interactions to protein–ligand interactions cannot simply be predicted, on geometrical considerations alone, but require careful consideration of the energetic components.
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| 2. |
- Kumar, Rohit, et al.
(author)
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Substituted polyfluoroaryl interactions with an arginine side chain in galectin-3 are governed by steric-, desolvation and electronic conjugation effects
- 2019
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In: Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1477-0520 .- 1477-0539. ; 17:5, s. 1081-1089
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the β-d-galactopyranoside-binding protein galectin-3, synthetic inhibitors substituted at the 3-position of a thiodigalactoside core cause the formation of an aglycone binding pocket through the displacement of an arginine residue (Arg144) from its position in the apoprotein. To examine in detail the role of different molecular interactions in this pocket, we have synthesized a series of nine 3-(4-(2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl)-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-thiogalactosides with different para substituents and measured their affinities to galectin-3 using a fluorescence polarization assay. High-resolution crystal structures (<1.3 Å) have been determined for five of the ligands in complex with the C-terminal domain of galectin-3. The binding affinities are rationalised with the help of the three-dimensional structures and quantum-mechanical calculations. Three effects seem to be involved: Firstly, the binding pocket is too small for the largest ligands with ethyl and methyl. Secondly, for the other ligands, the affinity seems to be determined mainly by desolvation effects, disfavouring the polar substituents, but this is partly counteracted by the cation-π interaction with Arg144, which stacks on top of the substituted tetrafluorophenyl group in all complexes. The results provide detailed insight into interactions of fluorinated phenyl moieties with arginine-containing protein binding sites and the complex interplay of different energetic components in defining the binding affinity.
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| 3. |
- Verteramo, Maria Luisa, et al.
(author)
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Interplay between Conformational Entropy and Solvation Entropy in Protein-Ligand Binding
- 2019
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In: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 141:5, s. 2012-2026
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the driving forces underlying molecular recognition is of fundamental importance in chemistry and biology. The challenge is to unravel the binding thermodynamics into separate contributions and to interpret these in molecular terms. Entropic contributions to the free energy of binding are particularly difficult to assess in this regard. Here we pinpoint the molecular determinants underlying differences in ligand affinity to the carbohydrate recognition domain of galectin-3, using a combination of isothermal titration calorimetry, X-ray crystallography, NMR relaxation, and molecular dynamics simulations followed by conformational entropy and grid inhomogeneous solvation theory (GIST) analyses. Using a pair of diastereomeric ligands that have essentially identical chemical potential in the unbound state, we reduced the problem of dissecting the thermodynamics to a comparison of the two protein-ligand complexes. While the free energies of binding are nearly equal for the R and S diastereomers, greater differences are observed for the enthalpy and entropy, which consequently exhibit compensatory behavior, Δ ΔH°(R - S) = -5 ± 1 kJ/mol and -T Δ ΔS°(R - S) = 3 ± 1 kJ/mol. NMR relaxation experiments and molecular dynamics simulations indicate that the protein in complex with the S-stereoisomer has greater conformational entropy than in the R-complex. GIST calculations reveal additional, but smaller, contributions from solvation entropy, again in favor of the S-complex. Thus, conformational entropy apparently dominates over solvation entropy in dictating the difference in the overall entropy of binding. This case highlights an interplay between conformational entropy and solvation entropy, pointing to both opportunities and challenges in drug design.
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| 4. |
- Alavi, Fatemeh Sadat, et al.
(author)
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A novel mechanism of heme degradation to biliverdin studied by QM/MM and QM calculations
- 2018
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In: Dalton Transactions. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1477-9226 .- 1477-9234. ; 47:25, s. 8283-8291
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Heme degradation by heme oxygenase enzymes is important for maintaining iron homeostasis and prevention of oxidative stress. Previous studies have reported that heme degradation proceeds through three consecutive steps of O2 activation: the regiospecific self-hydroxylation of heme, the conversion of hydroxyheme to verdoheme and CO, and the cleavage of the verdoheme macrocycle to release biliverdin and free ferrous iron. Our results indicate that in the second step of heme degradation, not only verdoheme is generated but ring opening and biliverdin production also occur. We have performed QM-cluster and QM/MM calculations, which show that calculations with H2O as the axial ligand of Fe give the lowest barrier. In the QM-cluster calculation, the reaction is exothermic by -85 kcal mol-1 and the rate-limiting barrier is 5 kcal mol-1, whereas the corresponding QM/MM calculations give a slightly lower barrier of 3 kcal mol-1, owing to strong hydrogen bonds and the protein environment.
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| 5. |
- Alavi, Fatemeh Sadat, et al.
(author)
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QM/MM study of the conversion of biliverdin into verdoheme by heme oxygenase
- 2019
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In: Theoretical Chemistry Accounts. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-881X .- 1432-2234. ; 138:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It has been shown that after production of oxophlorin, the first step of intermediate, both production of biliverdin and production of verdoheme occur simultaneously (Alavi et al. in Dalton Trans 47:8283–8291, 2018). So the mechanism that converts biliverdin into verdoheme is the subject of some controversy. The detailed conversion of verdoheme to biliverdin was demonstrated before by the Jerusalem group, using combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) calculations. Conversion of iron biliverdin to iron verdoheme in the presence of H + was investigated using 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. Two spin states, singlet and triplet, were considered for the conversion of biliverdin to verdoheme. The reactant and product are triplet and singlet in their ground states, respectively. The potential energy surface suggests that a spin inversion takes place during the course of reaction after TS2. The ring closing process is exothermic by 5.8 kcal/mol with a kinetic barrier of 16.5 kcal/mol. The activation barrier for removing OH from the ring to produce iron verdoheme is estimated to be 23.2 kcal/mol.
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| 6. |
- 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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| 7. |
- Brânzanic, Adrian M.V., et al.
(author)
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Why does sulfite reductase employ siroheme?
- 2019
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In: Chemical Communications. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1359-7345 .- 1364-548X. ; 55:93, s. 14047-14049
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sulfite reductase (SiR) contains in the active site a unique assembly of siroheme and a [4Fe4S] cluster, linked by a cysteine residue. Siroheme is a doubly reduced variant of heme that is not used for a catalytic function in any other enzyme. We have used non-equilibrium Green's function methods coupled with density functional theory computations to explain why SiR employs siroheme rather than heme. The results show that direct, through vacuum, charge-transfer routes are inhibited when heme is replaced by siroheme. This ensures more efficient channelling of the electrons to the catalytic iron during the six-electron reduction of sulfite to sulfide, limiting potential side-reactions that could occur if the incoming electrons were delocalized onto the macrocyclic ring.
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| 8. |
- Caldararu, Octav, et al.
(author)
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Are crystallographic : B-factors suitable for calculating protein conformational entropy?
- 2019
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In: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 21:33, s. 18149-18160
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Conformational entropies are of great interest when studying the binding of small ligands to proteins or the interaction of proteins. Unfortunately, there are no experimental methods available to measure conformational entropies of all groups in a protein. Instead, they are normally estimated from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, although such methods show problems with convergence and correlation of motions, and depend on the accuracy of the underlying potential-energy function. Crystallographic atomic displacement parameters (also known as B-factors) are available in all crystal structures and contain information about the atomic fluctuations, which can be converted to entropies. We have studied whether B-factors can be employed to extract conformational entropies for proteins by comparing such entropies to those measured by NMR relaxation experiments or obtained from MD simulations in solution or in the crystal. Unfortunately, our results show that B-factor entropies are unreliable, because they include the movement and rotation of the entire protein, they exclude correlation of the movements and they include contributions other than the fluctuations, e.g. static disorder, as well as errors in the model and the scattering factors. We have tried to reduce the first problem by employing translation-libration-screw refinement, the second by employing a description of the correlated movement from MD simulations, and the third by studying only the change in entropy when a pair of ligands binds to the same protein, thoroughly re-refining the structures in exactly the same way and using the same set of alternative conformations. However, the experimental B-factors seem to be incompatible with fluctuations from MD simulations and the precision is too poor to give any reliable entropies.
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| 9. |
- 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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| 10. |
- Caldararu, Octav, et al.
(author)
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Binding free energies in the SAMPL6 octa-acid host–guest challenge calculated with MM and QM methods
- 2018
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In: Journal of Computer-Aided Molecular Design. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0920-654X .- 1573-4951. ; 32:10, s. 1027-1046
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have estimated free energies for the binding of eight carboxylate ligands to two variants of the octa-acid deep-cavity host in the SAMPL6 blind-test challenge (with or without endo methyl groups on the four upper-rim benzoate groups, OAM and OAH, respectively). We employed free-energy perturbation (FEP) for relative binding energies at the molecular mechanics (MM) and the combined quantum mechanical (QM) and MM (QM/MM) levels, the latter obtained with the reference-potential approach with QM/MM sampling for the MM → QM/MM FEP. The semiempirical QM method PM6-DH+ was employed for the ligand in the latter calculations. Moreover, binding free energies were also estimated from QM/MM optimised structures, combined with COSMO-RS estimates of the solvation energy and thermostatistical corrections from MM frequencies. They were performed at the PM6-DH+ level of theory with the full host and guest molecule in the QM system (and also four water molecules in the geometry optimisations) for 10–20 snapshots from molecular dynamics simulations of the complex. Finally, the structure with the lowest free energy was recalculated using the dispersion-corrected density-functional theory method TPSS-D3, for both the structure and the energy. The two FEP approaches gave similar results (PM6-DH+/MM slightly better for OAM), which were among the five submissions with the best performance in the challenge and gave the best results without any fit to data from the SAMPL5 challenge, with mean absolute deviations (MAD) of 2.4–5.2 kJ/mol and a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.77–0.93. This is the first time QM/MM approaches give binding free energies that are competitive to those obtained with MM for the octa-acid host. The QM/MM-optimised structures gave somewhat worse performance (MAD = 3–8 kJ/mol and R2 = 0.1–0.9), but the results were improved compared to previous studies of this system with similar methods.
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