1
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Nadeem H, Shukla D. Ensemble Adaptive Sampling Scheme: Identifying an Optimal Sampling Strategy via Policy Ranking. J Chem Theory Comput 2025; 21:4626-4639. [PMID: 40261689 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c01488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/24/2025]
Abstract
Efficient sampling in biomolecular simulations is critical for accurately capturing the complex dynamic behaviors of biological systems. Adaptive sampling techniques aim to improve efficiency by focusing computational resources on the most relevant regions of the phase space. In this work, we present a framework for identifying the optimal sampling policy through metric-driven ranking. Our approach systematically evaluates the policy ensemble and ranks the policies based on their ability to explore the conformational space effectively. Through a series of biomolecular simulation case studies, we demonstrate that the choice of a different adaptive sampling policy at each round significantly outperforms single policy sampling, leading to faster convergence and improved sampling performance. This approach takes an ensemble of adaptive sampling policies and identifies the optimal policy for the next round based on current data. Beyond presenting this ensemble view of adaptive sampling, we also propose two sampling algorithms that approximate this ranking framework on the fly. The modularity of this framework allows incorporation of any adaptive sampling policy, making it versatile and suitable as a comprehensive adaptive sampling scheme.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hassan Nadeem
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Diwakar Shukla
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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2
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Roessner RA, Floquet N, Louet M. Unveiling G-Protein-Coupled Receptor Conformational Dynamics via Metadynamics Simulations and Markov State Models. J Chem Inf Model 2025; 65:4630-4642. [PMID: 40272908 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.5c00202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2025]
Abstract
The dynamic character of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is essential in their functionality as signal transducers. However, the molecular details of how ligands affect this conformational repertoire to steer intracellular signaling pathways remain elusive. To address this question, we present a generally applicable protocol that combines metadynamics simulations and Markov state modeling to compute the free energy landscape of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR-1a), a prototypical class A GPCR, in its apo state and bound to pharmacologically distinct ligands. Consistent with the current multistate model of GPCR activity, we found that GHSR-1a populates multiple metastable states whose energies and transition probabilities change depending on the bound ligand. We identified intermediate states that have not yet been described by experimental structures and shed light on the molecular differences between basal and agonist-induced GHSR-1a activation. Our results are not only compatible with previously reported experimental data, but they capture the equilibria governing GHSR-1a activation in unprecedented detail. Due to its applicability to all class A GPCRs, our protocol is a valuable tool for the development of pharmaceuticals targeting this protein family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rita A Roessner
- Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron (IBMM), UMR5247, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, ENSCM, Pôle chimie Balard, 1919 route de Mende, Montpellier 34095, France
| | - Nicolas Floquet
- Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron (IBMM), UMR5247, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, ENSCM, Pôle chimie Balard, 1919 route de Mende, Montpellier 34095, France
| | - Maxime Louet
- Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron (IBMM), UMR5247, CNRS, Université de Montpellier, ENSCM, Pôle chimie Balard, 1919 route de Mende, Montpellier 34095, France
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3
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El Ahdab D, Lagardère L, Hobaika Z, Jaffrelot Inizan T, Célerse F, Gresh N, Maroun RG, Piquemal JP. AMOEBA Polarizable Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Guanine Quadruplexes: From the c-Kit Proto-Oncogene to HIV-1. J Chem Inf Model 2025; 65:4488-4500. [PMID: 40309760 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c01680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2025]
Abstract
Long oligomer sequences, rich in guanine and cytosine, such as c-kit1 and the HIV-1 LTR-III sequence, are prevalent in oncogenes and retroviruses and play crucial roles in cancer. Understanding the conformational dynamics of such guanine quadruplexes and identifying druggable regions are therefore essential for developing new inhibition strategies. In this study, we used extensive AMOEBA polarizable force field molecular dynamics simulations combined with data-driven adaptive sampling and clustering algorithms, reaching a cumulative simulation time of 7.5 μs for c-kit1. Such simulations identified novel structural motives and showcased the flexible loop dynamics, as well as the role of polarizable water in transient stabilization of the G-quadruplex. They also identified two druggable pockets in c-kit1. The 400 ns simulation of the HIV-1 LTR-III sequence confirmed its quadruplex stability and uncovered a potentially druggable cryptic pocket.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dina El Ahdab
- Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, UMR 7616 CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
- Equipe Structure et Interactions des macromolécules, UR EGP, Centre d'Analyses et de Recherche, Faculté des Sciences, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, Beirut 1107 2050, Lebanon
- Qubit Pharmaceuticals, 75014 Paris, France
| | - Louis Lagardère
- Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, UMR 7616 CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Zeina Hobaika
- Equipe Structure et Interactions des macromolécules, UR EGP, Centre d'Analyses et de Recherche, Faculté des Sciences, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, Beirut 1107 2050, Lebanon
| | - Théo Jaffrelot Inizan
- Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, UMR 7616 CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Frédéric Célerse
- Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, UMR 7616 CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Nohad Gresh
- Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, UMR 7616 CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Richard G Maroun
- Equipe Structure et Interactions des macromolécules, UR EGP, Centre d'Analyses et de Recherche, Faculté des Sciences, Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, Beirut 1107 2050, Lebanon
| | - Jean-Philip Piquemal
- Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire de Chimie Théorique, UMR 7616 CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
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4
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Shen W, Wan K, Li D, Gao H, Shi X. Adaptive CVgen: Leveraging reinforcement learning for advanced sampling in protein folding and chemical reactions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2414205121. [PMID: 39475640 PMCID: PMC11551409 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2414205121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2024] [Accepted: 09/24/2024] [Indexed: 11/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Enhanced sampling techniques have traditionally encountered two significant challenges: identifying suitable reaction coordinates and addressing the exploration-exploitation dilemma, particularly the difficulty of escaping local energy minima. Here, we introduce Adaptive CVgen, a universal adaptive sampling framework designed to tackle these issues. Our approach utilizes a set of collective variables (CVs) to comprehensively cover the system's potential evolutionary phase space, generating diverse reaction coordinates to address the first challenge. Moreover, we integrate reinforcement learning strategies to dynamically adjust the generated reaction coordinates, thereby effectively balancing the exploration-exploitation dilemma. We apply this framework to sample the conformational space of six proteins transitioning from completely disordered states to folded states, as well as to model the chemical synthesis process of C60, achieving conformations that perfectly match the standard C60 structure. The results demonstrate Adaptive CVgen's effectiveness in exploring new conformations and escaping local minima, achieving both sampling efficiency and exploration accuracy. This framework holds potential for extending to various related challenges, including protein folding dynamics, drug targeting, and complex chemical reactions, thereby opening promising avenues for application in these fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenhui Shen
- Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China
| | - Kaiwei Wan
- Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China
| | - Dechang Li
- Key Laboratory of Soft Machines and Smart Devices of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Biomechanics and Applications, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou310027, China
| | - Huajian Gao
- Mechano-X Institute, Applied Mechanics Laboratory, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing100084, China
| | - Xinghua Shi
- Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100049, China
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5
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Dutta S, Zhao L, Shukla D. Dynamic Mechanism for Subtype Selectivity of Endocannabinoids. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.10.25.620304. [PMID: 39554065 PMCID: PMC11565827 DOI: 10.1101/2024.10.25.620304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2024]
Abstract
Endocannabinoids are naturally occurring lipid-like molecules that bind to cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) and regulate many of human bodily functions via the endocannabinoid system. There is a tremendous interest in developing selective drugs that target the CB receptors. However, the biophysical mechanisms responsible for the subtype selectivity for endocannbinoids have not been established. Recent experimental structures of CB receptors show that endocannbinoids potentially bind via membrane using the lipid access channel in the transmembrane region of the receptors. Furthermore, the N-terminus of the receptor could move in and out of the binding pocket thereby modulating both the pocket volume and its residue composition. On the basis of these observations, we propose two hypothesis to explain the selectivity of the endocannabinoid, anandamide for CB1 receptor. First, the selectivity arises from distinct enthalpic ligand-protein interactions along the ligand binding pathway formed due to the movement of N-terminus and subsequent shifts in the binding pocket composition. Second, selectivity arises from the volumetric differences in the binding pocket allowing for differences in ligand conformational entropy. To quantitatively test these hypothesis, we perform extensive molecular dynamics simulations (∼0.9 milliseconds) along with Markov state modeling and deep learning-based VAMP-nets to provide an interpretable characterization of the anandamide binding process to cannabinoid receptors and explain its selectivity for CB1. Our findings reveal that the distinct N-terminus positions along lipid access channels between TM1 and TM7 lead to different binding mechanisms and interactions between anandamide and the binding pocket residues. To validate the critical stabilizing interactions along the binding pathway, relative free energy calculations of anandamide analogs are used. Moreover, the larger CB2 pocket volume increases the entropic effects of ligand binding by allowing higher ligand fluctuations but reduced stable interactions. Therefore, the opposing enthalpy and entropy effects between the receptors shape the endocannabinoid selectivity. Overall, the CB1 selectivity of anandamide is explained by the dominant enthalpy contributions due to ligand-protein interactions in stable binding poses. This study shed lights on potential selectivity mechanisms for endocannabinoids that would aid in the discovery of CB selective drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soumajit Dutta
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801
| | - Lawrence Zhao
- Department of Computer Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 06520
| | - Diwakar Shukla
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801
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6
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Roy A, Paul I, Luharuka S, Ray S. An in-silico scaffold- hopping approach to design novel inhibitors against gp130: A potential therapeutic application in cancer and Covid-19. Mol Divers 2024; 28:3129-3151. [PMID: 37934366 DOI: 10.1007/s11030-023-10737-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
An upregulation of the gp130-signalling cascade has been reported in multiple cancers, making gp130 an attractive target for the development of anticancer drugs. An inverted-funnel-like approach was utilised along with various structure-based drug designing strategies to discover and optimise novel potential inhibitors of gp130. The study resulted in the discovery of 2 ligands- 435 and 510, both of which exhibit a very high-binding affinity towards the gp130 D1 domain which controls cytokine recognition and interaction thus being involved in complexation. The two resulting complexes remained stable over time with the ligands maintaining a steady interaction with the target. This inference is drawn from their RMSD, Rg, SASA and RMSF analysis. We also tested the protein folding patterns based on their principal component analysis, energy of surface and landscape. The leads also displayed a more favourable ADMET profile than their parent compounds. The two lead candidates show a better therapeutic profile in comparison to the two existing drugs- bazedoxifene and raloxifene. Both these potential leads can be addressed for their activity in-vitro and can be used as a potential anti-cancer treatment as well as to combat Covid-19 related cytokine storm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alankar Roy
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Kolkata, India
| | - Ishani Paul
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Kolkata, India
| | - Shreya Luharuka
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Kolkata, India
| | - Sujay Ray
- Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Kolkata, India.
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7
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Gapsys V, Kopec W, Matthes D, de Groot BL. Biomolecular simulations at the exascale: From drug design to organelles and beyond. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2024; 88:102887. [PMID: 39029280 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2024.102887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/21/2024]
Abstract
The rapid advancement in computational power available for research offers to bring not only quantitative improvements, but also qualitative changes in the field of biomolecular simulation. Here, we review the state of biomolecular dynamics simulations at the threshold to exascale resources becoming available. Both developments in parallel and distributed computing will be discussed, providing a perspective on the state of the art of both. A main focus will be on obtaining binding and conformational free energies, with an outlook to macromolecular complexes and (sub)cellular assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vytautas Gapsys
- Computational Chemistry, Janssen Research & Development, Turnhoutseweg 30, Beerse 2340, Belgium. https://twitter.com/VytasGapsys
| | - Wojciech Kopec
- Department of Chemistry, Queen Mary University of London, 327 Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK; Computational Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. https://twitter.com/wojciechkopec3
| | - Dirk Matthes
- Computational Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Bert L de Groot
- Computational Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
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8
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Fantasia A, Rovaris F, Abou El Kheir O, Marzegalli A, Lanzoni D, Pessina L, Xiao P, Zhou C, Li L, Henkelman G, Scalise E, Montalenti F. Development of a machine learning interatomic potential for exploring pressure-dependent kinetics of phase transitions in germanium. J Chem Phys 2024; 161:014110. [PMID: 38953439 DOI: 10.1063/5.0214588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/15/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024] Open
Abstract
We introduce a data-driven potential aimed at the investigation of pressure-dependent phase transitions in bulk germanium, including the estimate of kinetic barriers. This is achieved by suitably building a database including several configurations along minimum energy paths, as computed using the solid-state nudged elastic band method. After training the model based on density functional theory (DFT)-computed energies, forces, and stresses, we provide validation and rigorously test the potential on unexplored paths. The resulting agreement with the DFT calculations is remarkable in a wide range of pressures. The potential is exploited in large-scale isothermal-isobaric simulations, displaying local nucleation in the R8 to β-Sn pressure-induced phase transformation, taken here as an illustrative example.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Fantasia
- Department of Materials Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - F Rovaris
- Department of Materials Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - O Abou El Kheir
- Department of Materials Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - A Marzegalli
- Department of Materials Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - D Lanzoni
- Department of Materials Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - L Pessina
- Department of Materials Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - P Xiao
- Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, 1453 Lord Dalhousie Drive, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - C Zhou
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, 1088 Xueyuan Avenue, 518055 Shenzhen, China
| | - L Li
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, 1088 Xueyuan Avenue, 518055 Shenzhen, China
| | - G Henkelman
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, 105 East 24th Street STOP A5300 Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - E Scalise
- Department of Materials Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20125 Milano, Italy
| | - F Montalenti
- Department of Materials Science, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20125 Milano, Italy
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9
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Marques S, Kouba P, Legrand A, Sedlar J, Disson L, Planas-Iglesias J, Sanusi Z, Kunka A, Damborsky J, Pajdla T, Prokop Z, Mazurenko S, Sivic J, Bednar D. CoVAMPnet: Comparative Markov State Analysis for Studying Effects of Drug Candidates on Disordered Biomolecules. JACS AU 2024; 4:2228-2245. [PMID: 38938816 PMCID: PMC11200249 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.4c00182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Revised: 04/24/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024]
Abstract
Computational study of the effect of drug candidates on intrinsically disordered biomolecules is challenging due to their vast and complex conformational space. Here, we developed a comparative Markov state analysis (CoVAMPnet) framework to quantify changes in the conformational distribution and dynamics of a disordered biomolecule in the presence and absence of small organic drug candidate molecules. First, molecular dynamics trajectories are generated using enhanced sampling, in the presence and absence of small molecule drug candidates, and ensembles of soft Markov state models (MSMs) are learned for each system using unsupervised machine learning. Second, these ensembles of learned MSMs are aligned across different systems based on a solution to an optimal transport problem. Third, the directional importance of inter-residue distances for the assignment to different conformational states is assessed by a discriminative analysis of aggregated neural network gradients. This final step provides interpretability and biophysical context to the learned MSMs. We applied this novel computational framework to assess the effects of ongoing phase 3 therapeutics tramiprosate (TMP) and its metabolite 3-sulfopropanoic acid (SPA) on the disordered Aβ42 peptide involved in Alzheimer's disease. Based on adaptive sampling molecular dynamics and CoVAMPnet analysis, we observed that both TMP and SPA preserved more structured conformations of Aβ42 by interacting nonspecifically with charged residues. SPA impacted Aβ42 more than TMP, protecting α-helices and suppressing the formation of aggregation-prone β-strands. Experimental biophysical analyses showed only mild effects of TMP/SPA on Aβ42 and activity enhancement by the endogenous metabolization of TMP into SPA. Our data suggest that TMP/SPA may also target biomolecules other than Aβ peptides. The CoVAMPnet method is broadly applicable to study the effects of drug candidates on the conformational behavior of intrinsically disordered biomolecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sérgio
M. Marques
- Loschmidt
Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty
of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic
- International
Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s
University Hospital Brno, Pekarska 53, Brno 656
91, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Kouba
- Loschmidt
Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty
of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic
- Czech
Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Jugoslavskych partyzanu 1580/3, Dejvice, Praha 6 160 00, Czech Republic
- Faculty
of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical
University in Prague, Technicka 2, Dejvice, Praha 6 166 27, Czech Republic
| | - Anthony Legrand
- Loschmidt
Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty
of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic
- International
Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s
University Hospital Brno, Pekarska 53, Brno 656
91, Czech Republic
| | - Jiri Sedlar
- Czech
Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Jugoslavskych partyzanu 1580/3, Dejvice, Praha 6 160 00, Czech Republic
| | - Lucas Disson
- Czech
Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Jugoslavskych partyzanu 1580/3, Dejvice, Praha 6 160 00, Czech Republic
| | - Joan Planas-Iglesias
- Loschmidt
Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty
of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic
- International
Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s
University Hospital Brno, Pekarska 53, Brno 656
91, Czech Republic
| | - Zainab Sanusi
- Loschmidt
Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty
of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic
- International
Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s
University Hospital Brno, Pekarska 53, Brno 656
91, Czech Republic
| | - Antonin Kunka
- Loschmidt
Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty
of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic
- International
Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s
University Hospital Brno, Pekarska 53, Brno 656
91, Czech Republic
| | - Jiri Damborsky
- Loschmidt
Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty
of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic
- International
Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s
University Hospital Brno, Pekarska 53, Brno 656
91, Czech Republic
| | - Tomas Pajdla
- Czech
Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Jugoslavskych partyzanu 1580/3, Dejvice, Praha 6 160 00, Czech Republic
| | - Zbynek Prokop
- Loschmidt
Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty
of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic
- International
Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s
University Hospital Brno, Pekarska 53, Brno 656
91, Czech Republic
| | - Stanislav Mazurenko
- Loschmidt
Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty
of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic
- International
Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s
University Hospital Brno, Pekarska 53, Brno 656
91, Czech Republic
| | - Josef Sivic
- Czech
Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics, Czech Technical University in Prague, Jugoslavskych partyzanu 1580/3, Dejvice, Praha 6 160 00, Czech Republic
| | - David Bednar
- Loschmidt
Laboratories, Department of Experimental Biology and RECETOX, Faculty
of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno 625 00, Czech Republic
- International
Clinical Research Center, St. Anne’s
University Hospital Brno, Pekarska 53, Brno 656
91, Czech Republic
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10
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Abstract
Molecular dynamics (MD) enables the study of physical systems with excellent spatiotemporal resolution but suffers from severe timescale limitations. To address this, enhanced sampling methods have been developed to improve the exploration of configurational space. However, implementing these methods is challenging and requires domain expertise. In recent years, integration of machine learning (ML) techniques into different domains has shown promise, prompting their adoption in enhanced sampling as well. Although ML is often employed in various fields primarily due to its data-driven nature, its integration with enhanced sampling is more natural with many common underlying synergies. This review explores the merging of ML and enhanced MD by presenting different shared viewpoints. It offers a comprehensive overview of this rapidly evolving field, which can be difficult to stay updated on. We highlight successful strategies such as dimensionality reduction, reinforcement learning, and flow-based methods. Finally, we discuss open problems at the exciting ML-enhanced MD interface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shams Mehdi
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA;
- Biophysics Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Zachary Smith
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA;
- Biophysics Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Lukas Herron
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA;
- Biophysics Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Ziyue Zou
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Pratyush Tiwary
- Institute for Physical Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA;
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
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11
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Nguyen HH, Tufts J, Minh DDL. On Inactivation of the Coronavirus Main Protease. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:1644-1656. [PMID: 38423522 PMCID: PMC10936523 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
A deeper understanding of the inactive conformations of the coronavirus main protease (MPro) could inform the design of allosteric drugs. Based on extensive molecular dynamics simulations, we built a Markov State Model to investigate structural changes that can inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 MPro. In a subset of structures, one subunit of the homodimer assumes an inactive conformation that resembles an inactive crystal structure. However, contradicting the widely held half-of-sites activity hypothesis, the most populated enzyme structures have two active subunits. We then used transition path theory (TPT) and the Jensen-Shannon Divergence (JSD) to pinpoint residues involved in the inactivation process. A π stack between Phe140 and His163 is a key feature that can distinguish active and inactive conformations of MPro. Each subunit has unique inactive conformations stabilized by π stacking interactions involving residues Phe140, Tyr118, His163, and His172, a hydrogen bonding network centered around His163 and His172, and a modified network of interactions in the dimer interface. The importance of these residues in maintaining an active structure explains the sensitivity of enzymatic activity to site-directed mutagenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Ha Nguyen
- Department of Chemistry, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States
| | - Jim Tufts
- Department of Chemistry, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States
| | - David D. L. Minh
- Department of Chemistry, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois 60616, United States
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12
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Kozlowski N, Grubmüller H. Uncertainties in Markov State Models of Small Proteins. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:5516-5524. [PMID: 37540193 PMCID: PMC10448719 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023]
Abstract
Markov state models are widely used to describe and analyze protein dynamics based on molecular dynamics simulations, specifically to extract functionally relevant characteristic time scales and motions. Particularly for larger biomolecules such as proteins, however, insufficient sampling is a notorious concern and often the source of large uncertainties that are difficult to quantify. Furthermore, there are several other sources of uncertainty, such as choice of the number of Markov states and lag time, choice and parameters of dimension reduction preprocessing step, and uncertainty due to the limited number of observed transitions; the latter is often estimated via a Bayesian approach. Here, we quantified and ranked all of these uncertainties for four small globular test proteins. We found that the largest uncertainty is due to insufficient sampling and initially increases with the total trajectory length T up to a critical tipping point, after which it decreases as 1 / T , thus providing guidelines for how much sampling is required for given accuracy. We also found that single long trajectories yielded better sampling accuracy than many shorter trajectories starting from the same structure. In comparison, the remaining sources of the above uncertainties are generally smaller by a factor of about 5, rendering them less of a concern but certainly not negligible. Importantly, the Bayes uncertainty, commonly used as the only uncertainty estimate, captures only a relatively small part of the true uncertainty, which is thus often drastically underestimated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolai Kozlowski
- Department of Theoretical and Computational
Biophysics, Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary
Sciences, Göttingen 37077, Germany
| | - Helmut Grubmüller
- Department of Theoretical and Computational
Biophysics, Max-Planck-Institute for Multidisciplinary
Sciences, Göttingen 37077, Germany
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13
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Voelz VA, Pande VS, Bowman GR. Folding@home: Achievements from over 20 years of citizen science herald the exascale era. Biophys J 2023; 122:2852-2863. [PMID: 36945779 PMCID: PMC10398258 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2023.03.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Simulations of biomolecules have enormous potential to inform our understanding of biology but require extremely demanding calculations. For over 20 years, the Folding@home distributed computing project has pioneered a massively parallel approach to biomolecular simulation, harnessing the resources of citizen scientists across the globe. Here, we summarize the scientific and technical advances this perspective has enabled. As the project's name implies, the early years of Folding@home focused on driving advances in our understanding of protein folding by developing statistical methods for capturing long-timescale processes and facilitating insight into complex dynamical processes. Success laid a foundation for broadening the scope of Folding@home to address other functionally relevant conformational changes, such as receptor signaling, enzyme dynamics, and ligand binding. Continued algorithmic advances, hardware developments such as graphics processing unit (GPU)-based computing, and the growing scale of Folding@home have enabled the project to focus on new areas where massively parallel sampling can be impactful. While previous work sought to expand toward larger proteins with slower conformational changes, new work focuses on large-scale comparative studies of different protein sequences and chemical compounds to better understand biology and inform the development of small-molecule drugs. Progress on these fronts enabled the community to pivot quickly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, expanding to become the world's first exascale computer and deploying this massive resource to provide insight into the inner workings of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus and aid the development of new antivirals. This success provides a glimpse of what is to come as exascale supercomputers come online and as Folding@home continues its work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent A Voelz
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | | | - Gregory R Bowman
- Departments of Biochemistry & Biophysics and of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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14
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Qiu Y, O’Connor MS, Xue M, Liu B, Huang X. An Efficient Path Classification Algorithm Based on Variational Autoencoder to Identify Metastable Path Channels for Complex Conformational Changes. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:4728-4742. [PMID: 37382437 PMCID: PMC11042546 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/30/2023]
Abstract
Conformational changes (i.e., dynamic transitions between pairs of conformational states) play important roles in many chemical and biological processes. Constructing the Markov state model (MSM) from extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations is an effective approach to dissect the mechanism of conformational changes. When combined with transition path theory (TPT), MSM can be applied to elucidate the ensemble of kinetic pathways connecting pairs of conformational states. However, the application of TPT to analyze complex conformational changes often results in a vast number of kinetic pathways with comparable fluxes. This obstacle is particularly pronounced in heterogeneous self-assembly and aggregation processes. The large number of kinetic pathways makes it challenging to comprehend the molecular mechanisms underlying conformational changes of interest. To address this challenge, we have developed a path classification algorithm named latent-space path clustering (LPC) that efficiently lumps parallel kinetic pathways into distinct metastable path channels, making them easier to comprehend. In our algorithm, MD conformations are first projected onto a low-dimensional space containing a small set of collective variables (CVs) by time-structure-based independent component analysis (tICA) with kinetic mapping. Then, MSM and TPT are constructed to obtain the ensemble of pathways, and a deep learning architecture named the variational autoencoder (VAE) is used to learn the spatial distributions of kinetic pathways in the continuous CV space. Based on the trained VAE model, the TPT-generated ensemble of kinetic pathways can be embedded into a latent space, where the classification becomes clear. We show that LPC can efficiently and accurately identify the metastable path channels in three systems: a 2D potential, the aggregation of two hydrophobic particles in water, and the folding of the Fip35 WW domain. Using the 2D potential, we further demonstrate that our LPC algorithm outperforms the previous path-lumping algorithms by making substantially fewer incorrect assignments of individual pathways to four path channels. We expect that LPC can be widely applied to identify the dominant kinetic pathways underlying complex conformational changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunrui Qiu
- Department of Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Michael S. O’Connor
- Biophysics Graduate Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Mingyi Xue
- Department of Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Bojun Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - Xuhui Huang
- Department of Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
- Biophysics Graduate Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
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15
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Dutta S, Shukla D. Distinct activation mechanisms regulate subtype selectivity of Cannabinoid receptors. Commun Biol 2023; 6:485. [PMID: 37147497 PMCID: PMC10163236 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04868-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Design of cannabinergic subtype selective ligands is challenging because of high sequence and structural similarities of cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2). We hypothesize that the subtype selectivity of designed selective ligands can be explained by the ligand binding to the conformationally distinct states between cannabinoid receptors. Analysis of ~ 700 μs of unbiased simulations using Markov state models and VAMPnets identifies the similarities and distinctions between the activation mechanism of both receptors. Structural and dynamic comparisons of metastable intermediate states allow us to observe the distinction in the binding pocket volume change during CB1 and CB2 activation. Docking analysis reveals that only a few of the intermediate metastable states of CB1 show high affinity towards CB2 selective agonists. In contrast, all the CB2 metastable states show a similar affinity for these agonists. These results mechanistically explain the subtype selectivity of these agonists by deciphering the activation mechanism of cannabinoid receptors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soumajit Dutta
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Diwakar Shukla
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
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16
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Verkhivker G, Alshahrani M, Gupta G, Xiao S, Tao P. From Deep Mutational Mapping of Allosteric Protein Landscapes to Deep Learning of Allostery and Hidden Allosteric Sites: Zooming in on "Allosteric Intersection" of Biochemical and Big Data Approaches. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:7747. [PMID: 37175454 PMCID: PMC10178073 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24097747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have driven the design of new expert systems and automated workflows that are able to model complex chemical and biological phenomena. In recent years, machine learning approaches have been developed and actively deployed to facilitate computational and experimental studies of protein dynamics and allosteric mechanisms. In this review, we discuss in detail new developments along two major directions of allosteric research through the lens of data-intensive biochemical approaches and AI-based computational methods. Despite considerable progress in applications of AI methods for protein structure and dynamics studies, the intersection between allosteric regulation, the emerging structural biology technologies and AI approaches remains largely unexplored, calling for the development of AI-augmented integrative structural biology. In this review, we focus on the latest remarkable progress in deep high-throughput mining and comprehensive mapping of allosteric protein landscapes and allosteric regulatory mechanisms as well as on the new developments in AI methods for prediction and characterization of allosteric binding sites on the proteome level. We also discuss new AI-augmented structural biology approaches that expand our knowledge of the universe of protein dynamics and allostery. We conclude with an outlook and highlight the importance of developing an open science infrastructure for machine learning studies of allosteric regulation and validation of computational approaches using integrative studies of allosteric mechanisms. The development of community-accessible tools that uniquely leverage the existing experimental and simulation knowledgebase to enable interrogation of the allosteric functions can provide a much-needed boost to further innovation and integration of experimental and computational technologies empowered by booming AI field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gennady Verkhivker
- Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA; (M.A.); (G.G.)
- Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chapman University School of Pharmacy, Irvine, CA 92618, USA
| | - Mohammed Alshahrani
- Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA; (M.A.); (G.G.)
| | - Grace Gupta
- Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA; (M.A.); (G.G.)
| | - Sian Xiao
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA; (S.X.); (P.T.)
| | - Peng Tao
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA; (S.X.); (P.T.)
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17
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Meller A, De Oliveira S, Davtyan A, Abramyan T, Bowman GR, van den Bedem H. Discovery of a cryptic pocket in the AI-predicted structure of PPM1D phosphatase explains the binding site and potency of its allosteric inhibitors. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1171143. [PMID: 37143823 PMCID: PMC10151774 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1171143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Virtual screening is a widely used tool for drug discovery, but its predictive power can vary dramatically depending on how much structural data is available. In the best case, crystal structures of a ligand-bound protein can help find more potent ligands. However, virtual screens tend to be less predictive when only ligand-free crystal structures are available, and even less predictive if a homology model or other predicted structure must be used. Here, we explore the possibility that this situation can be improved by better accounting for protein dynamics, as simulations started from a single structure have a reasonable chance of sampling nearby structures that are more compatible with ligand binding. As a specific example, we consider the cancer drug target PPM1D/Wip1 phosphatase, a protein that lacks crystal structures. High-throughput screens have led to the discovery of several allosteric inhibitors of PPM1D, but their binding mode remains unknown. To enable further drug discovery efforts, we assessed the predictive power of an AlphaFold-predicted structure of PPM1D and a Markov state model (MSM) built from molecular dynamics simulations initiated from that structure. Our simulations reveal a cryptic pocket at the interface between two important structural elements, the flap and hinge regions. Using deep learning to predict the pose quality of each docked compound for the active site and cryptic pocket suggests that the inhibitors strongly prefer binding to the cryptic pocket, consistent with their allosteric effect. The predicted affinities for the dynamically uncovered cryptic pocket also recapitulate the relative potencies of the compounds (τb = 0.70) better than the predicted affinities for the static AlphaFold-predicted structure (τb = 0.42). Taken together, these results suggest that targeting the cryptic pocket is a good strategy for drugging PPM1D and, more generally, that conformations selected from simulation can improve virtual screening when limited structural data is available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Artur Meller
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | | | - Aram Davtyan
- Atomwise, Inc., San Francisco, CA, United States
| | | | - Gregory R. Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Henry van den Bedem
- Atomwise, Inc., San Francisco, CA, United States
- Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States
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18
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Agajanian S, Alshahrani M, Bai F, Tao P, Verkhivker GM. Exploring and Learning the Universe of Protein Allostery Using Artificial Intelligence Augmented Biophysical and Computational Approaches. J Chem Inf Model 2023; 63:1413-1428. [PMID: 36827465 PMCID: PMC11162550 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.2c01634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/26/2023]
Abstract
Allosteric mechanisms are commonly employed regulatory tools used by proteins to orchestrate complex biochemical processes and control communications in cells. The quantitative understanding and characterization of allosteric molecular events are among major challenges in modern biology and require integration of innovative computational experimental approaches to obtain atomistic-level knowledge of the allosteric states, interactions, and dynamic conformational landscapes. The growing body of computational and experimental studies empowered by emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has opened up new paradigms for exploring and learning the universe of protein allostery from first principles. In this review we analyze recent developments in high-throughput deep mutational scanning of allosteric protein functions; applications and latest adaptations of Alpha-fold structural prediction methods for studies of protein dynamics and allostery; new frontiers in integrating machine learning and enhanced sampling techniques for characterization of allostery; and recent advances in structural biology approaches for studies of allosteric systems. We also highlight recent computational and experimental studies of the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) proteins revealing an important and often hidden role of allosteric regulation driving functional conformational changes, binding interactions with the host receptor, and mutational escape mechanisms of S proteins which are critical for viral infection. We conclude with a summary and outlook of future directions suggesting that AI-augmented biophysical and computer simulation approaches are beginning to transform studies of protein allostery toward systematic characterization of allosteric landscapes, hidden allosteric states, and mechanisms which may bring about a new revolution in molecular biology and drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steve Agajanian
- Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, United States
| | - Mohammed Alshahrani
- Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, United States
| | - Fang Bai
- Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies, School of Life Science and Technology and Information Science and Technology, Shanghai Tech University, 393 Middle Huaxia Road, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Peng Tao
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Research Computing, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75205, United States
| | - Gennady M Verkhivker
- Keck Center for Science and Engineering, Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, California 92866, United States
- Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chapman University School of Pharmacy, Irvine, California 92618, United States
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19
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Tamadonfar KO, Di Venanzio G, Pinkner JS, Dodson KW, Kalas V, Zimmerman MI, Bazan Villicana J, Bowman GR, Feldman MF, Hultgren SJ. Structure-function correlates of fibrinogen binding by Acinetobacter adhesins critical in catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2212694120. [PMID: 36652481 PMCID: PMC9942807 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2212694120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections are an urgent clinical problem and can cause difficult-to-treat nosocomial infections. During such infections, like catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), A. baumannii rely on adhesive, extracellular fibers, called chaperone-usher pathway (CUP) pili for critical binding interactions. The A. baumannii uropathogenic strain, UPAB1, and the pan-European subclone II isolate, ACICU, use the CUP pili Abp1 and Abp2 (previously termed Cup and Prp, respectively) in tandem to establish CAUTIs, specifically to facilitate bacterial adherence and biofilm formation on the implanted catheter. Abp1 and Abp2 pili are tipped with two domain tip adhesins, Abp1D and Abp2D, respectively. We discovered that both adhesins bind fibrinogen, a critical host wound response protein that is released into the bladder upon catheterization and is subsequently deposited on the catheter. The crystal structures of the Abp1D and Abp2D receptor-binding domains were determined and revealed that they both contain a large, distally oriented pocket, which mediates binding to fibrinogen and other glycoproteins. Genetic, biochemical, and biophysical studies revealed that interactions with host proteins are governed by several critical residues in and along the edge of the binding pocket, one of which regulates the structural stability of an anterior loop motif. K34, located outside of the pocket but interacting with the anterior loop, also regulates the binding affinity of the protein. This study illuminates the mechanistic basis of the critical fibrinogen-coated catheter colonization step in A. baumannii CAUTI pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin O. Tamadonfar
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
- Center for Women’s Infectious Disease Research, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
| | - Gisela Di Venanzio
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
| | - Jerome S. Pinkner
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
- Center for Women’s Infectious Disease Research, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
| | - Karen W. Dodson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
- Center for Women’s Infectious Disease Research, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
| | - Vasilios Kalas
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
- Center for Women’s Infectious Disease Research, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
- Department of Medicine, McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL60611
| | - Maxwell I. Zimmerman
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO63110
| | - Jesus Bazan Villicana
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
- Center for Women’s Infectious Disease Research, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
| | - Gregory R. Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO63110
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Biological Systems Engineering, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO63110
| | - Mario F. Feldman
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
| | - Scott J. Hultgren
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
- Center for Women’s Infectious Disease Research, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO63110
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20
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Lee LA, Barrick SK, Meller A, Walklate J, Lotthammer JM, Tay JW, Stump WT, Bowman G, Geeves MA, Greenberg MJ, Leinwand LA. Functional divergence of the sarcomeric myosin, MYH7b, supports species-specific biological roles. J Biol Chem 2022; 299:102657. [PMID: 36334627 PMCID: PMC9800208 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Myosin heavy chain 7b (MYH7b) is an evolutionarily ancient member of the sarcomeric myosin family, which typically supports striated muscle function. However, in mammals, alternative splicing prevents MYH7b protein production in cardiac and most skeletal muscles and limits expression to a subset of specialized muscles and certain nonmuscle environments. In contrast, MYH7b protein is abundant in python cardiac and skeletal muscles. Although the MYH7b expression pattern diverges in mammals versus reptiles, MYH7b shares high sequence identity across species. So, it remains unclear how mammalian MYH7b function may differ from that of other sarcomeric myosins and whether human and python MYH7b motor functions diverge as their expression patterns suggest. Thus, we generated recombinant human and python MYH7b protein and measured their motor properties to investigate any species-specific differences in activity. Our results reveal that despite having similar working strokes, the MYH7b isoforms have slower actin-activated ATPase cycles and actin sliding velocities than human cardiac β-MyHC. Furthermore, python MYH7b is tuned to have slower motor activity than human MYH7b because of slower kinetics of the chemomechanical cycle. We found that the MYH7b isoforms adopt a higher proportion of myosin heads in the ultraslow, super-relaxed state compared with human cardiac β-MyHC. These findings are supported by molecular dynamics simulations that predict MYH7b preferentially occupies myosin active site conformations similar to those observed in the structurally inactive state. Together, these results suggest that MYH7b is specialized for slow and energy-conserving motor activity and that differential tuning of MYH7b orthologs contributes to species-specific biological roles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsey A. Lee
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Department, Boulder, Colorado, USA,BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Samantha K. Barrick
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Artur Meller
- The Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Jonathan Walklate
- School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom
| | - Jeffrey M. Lotthammer
- The Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Jian Wei Tay
- BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - W. Tom Stump
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Gregory Bowman
- The Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA,Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Michael A. Geeves
- School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom
| | - Michael J. Greenberg
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Leslie A. Leinwand
- Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Department, Boulder, Colorado, USA,BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA,For correspondence: Leslie A. Leinwand
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21
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Chang L, Mondal A, Perez A. Towards rational computational peptide design. FRONTIERS IN BIOINFORMATICS 2022; 2:1046493. [PMID: 36338806 PMCID: PMC9634169 DOI: 10.3389/fbinf.2022.1046493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Peptides are prevalent in biology, mediating as many as 40% of protein-protein interactions, and involved in other cellular functions such as transport and signaling. Their ability to bind with high specificity make them promising therapeutical agents with intermediate properties between small molecules and large biologics. Beyond their biological role, peptides can be programmed to self-assembly, and they are already being used for functions as diverse as oligonuclotide delivery, tissue regeneration or as drugs. However, the transient nature of their interactions has limited the number of structures and knowledge of binding affinities available-and their flexible nature has limited the success of computational pipelines that predict the structures and affinities of these molecules. Fortunately, recent advances in experimental and computational pipelines are creating new opportunities for this field. We are starting to see promising predictions of complex structures, thermodynamic and kinetic properties. We believe in the following years this will lead to robust rational peptide design pipelines with success similar to those applied for small molecule drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liwei Chang
- Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Quantum Theory Project, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Arup Mondal
- Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Quantum Theory Project, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Alberto Perez
- Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Quantum Theory Project, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
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22
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Westerlund AM, Sridhar A, Dahl L, Andersson A, Bodnar AY, Delemotte L. Markov state modelling reveals heterogeneous drug-inhibition mechanism of Calmodulin. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1010583. [PMID: 36206305 PMCID: PMC9581412 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Calmodulin (CaM) is a calcium sensor which binds and regulates a wide range of target-proteins. This implicitly enables the concentration of calcium to influence many downstream physiological responses, including muscle contraction, learning and depression. The antipsychotic drug trifluoperazine (TFP) is a known CaM inhibitor. By binding to various sites, TFP prevents CaM from associating to target-proteins. However, the molecular and state-dependent mechanisms behind CaM inhibition by drugs such as TFP are largely unknown. Here, we build a Markov state model (MSM) from adaptively sampled molecular dynamics simulations and reveal the structural and dynamical features behind the inhibitory mechanism of TFP-binding to the C-terminal domain of CaM. We specifically identify three major TFP binding-modes from the MSM macrostates, and distinguish their effect on CaM conformation by using a systematic analysis protocol based on biophysical descriptors and tools from machine learning. The results show that depending on the binding orientation, TFP effectively stabilizes features of the calcium-unbound CaM, either affecting the CaM hydrophobic binding pocket, the calcium binding sites or the secondary structure content in the bound domain. The conclusions drawn from this work may in the future serve to formulate a complete model of pharmacological modulation of CaM, which furthers our understanding of how these drugs affect signaling pathways as well as associated diseases. Calmodulin (CaM) is a calcium-sensing protein which makes other proteins dependent on the surrounding calcium concentration by binding to these proteins. Such protein-protein interactions with CaM are vital for calcium to control many physiological pathways within the cell. The antipsychotic drug trifluoperazine (TFP) inhibits CaM’s ability to bind and regulate other proteins. Here, we use molecular dynamics simulations together with Markov state modeling and machine learning to understand the structural and dynamical features by which TFP bound to the one domain of CaM prevents association to other proteins. We find that TFP encourages CaM to adopt a conformation that is like the one stabilized in absence of calcium: depending on the binding orientation of TFP, the drug indeed either affects the CaM hydrophobic binding pocket, the calcium binding sites or the secondary structure content in the domain. Understanding TFP binding is a first step towards designing better drugs targeting CaM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie M. Westerlund
- Department of Applied Physics, Science for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Solna, Sweden
| | - Akshay Sridhar
- Department of Applied Physics, Science for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Solna, Sweden
| | - Leo Dahl
- Department of Applied Physics, Science for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Solna, Sweden
| | - Alma Andersson
- Department of Applied Physics, Science for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Solna, Sweden
- Division of Gene Technology, Science for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anna-Yaroslava Bodnar
- Department of Applied Physics, Science for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Solna, Sweden
| | - Lucie Delemotte
- Department of Applied Physics, Science for Life Laboratory, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Solna, Sweden
- * E-mail:
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23
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Wieczór M, Genna V, Aranda J, Badia RM, Gelpí JL, Gapsys V, de Groot BL, Lindahl E, Municoy M, Hospital A, Orozco M. Pre-exascale HPC approaches for molecular dynamics simulations. Covid-19 research: A use case. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE 2022; 13:e1622. [PMID: 35935573 PMCID: PMC9347456 DOI: 10.1002/wcms.1622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Exascale computing has been a dream for ages and is close to becoming a reality that will impact how molecular simulations are being performed, as well as the quantity and quality of the information derived for them. We review how the biomolecular simulations field is anticipating these new architectures, making emphasis on recent work from groups in the BioExcel Center of Excellence for High Performance Computing. We exemplified the power of these simulation strategies with the work done by the HPC simulation community to fight Covid-19 pandemics. This article is categorized under:Data Science > Computer Algorithms and ProgrammingData Science > Databases and Expert SystemsMolecular and Statistical Mechanics > Molecular Dynamics and Monte-Carlo Methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miłosz Wieczór
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). The Barcelona Institute of Science and TechnologyBarcelonaSpain
- Department of Physical ChemistryGdansk University of TechnologyGdańskPoland
| | - Vito Genna
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). The Barcelona Institute of Science and TechnologyBarcelonaSpain
| | - Juan Aranda
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). The Barcelona Institute of Science and TechnologyBarcelonaSpain
| | | | - Josep Lluís Gelpí
- Barcelona Supercomputing CenterBarcelonaSpain
- Department of Biochemistry and BiomedicineUniversity of BarcelonaBarcelonaSpain
| | - Vytautas Gapsys
- Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary SciencesComputational Biomolecular Dynamics GroupGoettingenGermany
| | - Bert L. de Groot
- Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary SciencesComputational Biomolecular Dynamics GroupGoettingenGermany
| | - Erik Lindahl
- Department of Applied PhysicsSwedish e‐Science Research Center, KTH Royal Institute of TechnologyStockholmSweden
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Science for Life LaboratoryStockholm UniversityStockholmSweden
| | | | - Adam Hospital
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). The Barcelona Institute of Science and TechnologyBarcelonaSpain
| | - Modesto Orozco
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). The Barcelona Institute of Science and TechnologyBarcelonaSpain
- Department of Biochemistry and BiomedicineUniversity of BarcelonaBarcelonaSpain
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24
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Dutta S, Selvam B, Shukla D. Distinct Binding Mechanisms for Allosteric Sodium Ion in Cannabinoid Receptors. ACS Chem Neurosci 2022; 13:379-389. [PMID: 35019279 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The therapeutic potential of cannabinoid receptors is not fully explored due to psychoactive side effects and lack of selectivity associated with orthosteric ligands. Allosteric modulators have the potential to become selective therapeutics for cannabinoid receptors. Biochemical experiments have shown the effects of the allosteric Na+ binding on cannabinoid receptor activity. However, the Na+ coordination site and binding pathway are still unknown. Here, we perform molecular dynamic simulations to explore Na+ binding in the cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2. Simulations reveal that Na+ binds to the primary binding site from different extracellular sites for CB1 and CB2. A distinct secondary Na+ coordination site is identified in CB1 that is not present in CB2. Furthermore, simulations also show that intracellular Na+ could bind to the Na+ binding site in CB1. Constructed Markov state models show that the standard free energy of Na+ binding is similar to the previously calculated free energy for other class A GPCRs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soumajit Dutta
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Balaji Selvam
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Diwakar Shukla
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
- NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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25
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Swanson JMJ. Multiscale kinetic analysis of proteins. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2022; 72:169-175. [PMID: 34923310 PMCID: PMC9288830 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2021.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 10/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
The stochasticity of molecular motion results in the existence of multiple kinetically relevant pathways in many biomolecular mechanisms. Because it is highly demanding to characterize them for complex systems, mechanisms are often described with a single-pathway perspective. However, kinetic network analysis and sub-ensemble experimental insight are increasingly demonstrating not only the existence of competing pathways but also the importance of kinetic selection in biology. This review focuses on advances in multiscale kinetic analysis of proteins, which connects molecular level information from simulations to macroscopic data to characterize mechanistic reaction networks and the reactive flux through them. We describe a range of methods used and highlight several examples where kinetic modeling has revealed functional importance of pathway heterogeneity.
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26
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Naturally Occurring Genetic Variants in the Oxytocin Receptor Alter Receptor Signaling Profiles. ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci 2021; 4:1543-1555. [PMID: 34661073 PMCID: PMC8506602 DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.1c00095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
![]()
The hormone oxytocin
is commonly administered during childbirth
to initiate and strengthen uterine contractions and prevent postpartum
hemorrhage. However, patients have wide variation in the oxytocin
dose required for a clinical response. To begin to uncover the mechanisms
underlying this variability, we screened the 11 most prevalent missense
genetic variants in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR)
gene. We found that five variants, V45L, P108A, L206V, V281M, and
E339K, significantly altered oxytocin-induced Ca2+ signaling
or β-arrestin recruitment and proceeded to assess the effects
of these variants on OXTR trafficking to the cell membrane, desensitization,
and internalization. The variants P108A and L206V increased OXTR localization
to the cell membrane, whereas V281M and E339K caused OXTR to be retained
inside the cell. We examined how the variants altered the balance
between OXTR activation and desensitization, which is critical for
appropriate oxytocin dosing. The E339K variant impaired OXTR activation,
internalization, and desensitization to roughly equal extents. In
contrast, V281M decreased OXTR activation but had no effect on internalization
and desensitization. V45L and P108A did not alter OXTR activation
but did impair β-arrestin recruitment, internalization, and
desensitization. Molecular dynamics simulations predicted that V45L
and P108A prevent extension of the first intracellular loop of OXTR,
thus inhibiting β-arrestin binding. Overall, our data suggest
mechanisms by which OXTR genetic variants could alter
clinical response to oxytocin.
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27
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Markov state modeling of membrane transport proteins. J Struct Biol 2021; 213:107800. [PMID: 34600140 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsb.2021.107800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
The flux of ions and molecules in and out of the cell is vital for maintaining the basis of various biological processes. The permeation of substrates across the cellular membrane is mediated through the function of specialized integral membrane proteins commonly known as membrane transporters. These proteins undergo a series of structural rearrangements that allow a primary substrate binding site to be accessed from either side of the membrane at a given time. Structural insights provided by experimentally resolved structures of membrane transporters have aided in the biophysical characterization of these important molecular drug targets. However, characterizing the transitions between conformational states remains challenging to achieve both experimentally and computationally. Though molecular dynamics simulations are a powerful approach to provide atomistic resolution of protein dynamics, a recurring challenge is its ability to efficiently obtain relevant timescales of large conformational transitions as exhibited in transporters. One approach to overcome this difficulty is to adaptively guide the simulation to favor exploration of the conformational landscape, otherwise known as adaptive sampling. Furthermore, such sampling is greatly benefited by the statistical analysis of Markov state models. Historically, the use of Markov state models has been effective in quantifying slow dynamics or long timescale behaviors such as protein folding. Here, we review recent implementations of adaptive sampling and Markov state models to not only address current limitations of molecular dynamics simulations, but to also highlight how Markov state modeling can be applied to investigate the structure-function mechanisms of large, complex membrane transporters.
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28
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Konovalov K, Unarta IC, Cao S, Goonetilleke EC, Huang X. Markov State Models to Study the Functional Dynamics of Proteins in the Wake of Machine Learning. JACS AU 2021; 1:1330-1341. [PMID: 34604842 PMCID: PMC8479766 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.1c00254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Markov state models (MSMs) based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are routinely employed to study protein folding, however, their application to functional conformational changes of biomolecules is still limited. In the past few years, the field of computational chemistry has experienced a surge of advancements stemming from machine learning algorithms, and MSMs have not been left out. Unlike global processes, such as protein folding, the application of MSMs to functional conformational changes is challenging because they mostly consist of localized structural transitions. Therefore, it is critical to properly select a subset of structural features that can describe the slowest dynamics of these functional conformational changes. To address this challenge, we recommend several automatic feature selection methods such as Spectral-OASIS. To identify states in MSMs, the chosen features can be subject to dimensionality reduction methods such as TICA or deep learning based VAMPNets to project MD conformations onto a few collective variables for subsequent clustering. Another challenge for the application of MSMs to the study of functional conformational changes is the ability to comprehend their biophysical mechanisms, as MSMs built for these processes often require a large number of states. We recommend the recently developed quasi-MSMs (qMSMs) to address this issue. Compared to MSMs, qMSMs encode the non-Markovian dynamics via the generalized master equation and can significantly reduce the number of states. As a result, qMSMs can be built with a handful of states to facilitate the interpretation of functional conformational changes. In the wake of machine learning, we believe that the rapid advancement in the MSM methodology will lead to their wider application in studying functional conformational changes of biomolecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirill
A. Konovalov
- Department
of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Hong
Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong
| | - Ilona Christy Unarta
- Department
of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Hong
Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong
| | - Siqin Cao
- Department
of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Hong
Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong
| | - Eshani C. Goonetilleke
- Department
of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Hong
Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong
| | - Xuhui Huang
- Department
of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Department
of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Hong
Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong
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29
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Vithani N, Ward MD, Zimmerman MI, Novak B, Borowsky JH, Singh S, Bowman GR. SARS-CoV-2 Nsp16 activation mechanism and a cryptic pocket with pan-coronavirus antiviral potential. Biophys J 2021; 120:2880-2889. [PMID: 33794150 PMCID: PMC8007187 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.03.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Coronaviruses have caused multiple epidemics in the past two decades, in addition to the current COVID-19 pandemic that is severely damaging global health and the economy. Coronaviruses employ between 20 and 30 proteins to carry out their viral replication cycle, including infection, immune evasion, and replication. Among these, nonstructural protein 16 (Nsp16), a 2'-O-methyltransferase, plays an essential role in immune evasion. Nsp16 achieves this by mimicking its human homolog, CMTr1, which methylates mRNA to enhance translation efficiency and distinguish self from other. Unlike human CMTr1, Nsp16 requires a binding partner, Nsp10, to activate its enzymatic activity. The requirement of this binding partner presents two questions that we investigate in this manuscript. First, how does Nsp10 activate Nsp16? Although experimentally derived structures of the active Nsp16/Nsp10 complex exist, structures of inactive, monomeric Nsp16 have yet to be solved. Therefore, it is unclear how Nsp10 activates Nsp16. Using over 1 ms of molecular dynamics simulations of both Nsp16 and its complex with Nsp10, we investigate how the presence of Nsp10 shifts Nsp16's conformational ensemble to activate it. Second, guided by this activation mechanism and Markov state models, we investigate whether Nsp16 adopts inactive structures with cryptic pockets that, if targeted with a small molecule, could inhibit Nsp16 by stabilizing its inactive state. After identifying such a pocket in SARS-CoV2 Nsp16, we show that this cryptic pocket also opens in SARS-CoV1 and MERS but not in human CMTr1. Therefore, it may be possible to develop pan-coronavirus antivirals that target this cryptic pocket.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neha Vithani
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Michael D Ward
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Maxwell I Zimmerman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Borna Novak
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; Medical Scientist Training Program, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Jonathan H Borowsky
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Sukrit Singh
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Gregory R Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri; Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
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30
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Zimmerman MI, Porter JR, Ward MD, Singh S, Vithani N, Meller A, Mallimadugula UL, Kuhn CE, Borowsky JH, Wiewiora RP, Hurley MFD, Harbison AM, Fogarty CA, Coffland JE, Fadda E, Voelz VA, Chodera JD, Bowman GR. SARS-CoV-2 simulations go exascale to predict dramatic spike opening and cryptic pockets across the proteome. Nat Chem 2021; 13:651-659. [PMID: 34031561 PMCID: PMC8249329 DOI: 10.1038/s41557-021-00707-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 172] [Impact Index Per Article: 43.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 has intricate mechanisms for initiating infection, immune evasion/suppression and replication that depend on the structure and dynamics of its constituent proteins. Many protein structures have been solved, but far less is known about their relevant conformational changes. To address this challenge, over a million citizen scientists banded together through the Folding@home distributed computing project to create the first exascale computer and simulate 0.1 seconds of the viral proteome. Our adaptive sampling simulations predict dramatic opening of the apo spike complex, far beyond that seen experimentally, explaining and predicting the existence of 'cryptic' epitopes. Different spike variants modulate the probabilities of open versus closed structures, balancing receptor binding and immune evasion. We also discover dramatic conformational changes across the proteome, which reveal over 50 'cryptic' pockets that expand targeting options for the design of antivirals. All data and models are freely available online, providing a quantitative structural atlas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxwell I Zimmerman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Justin R Porter
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Michael D Ward
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Sukrit Singh
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Neha Vithani
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Artur Meller
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Upasana L Mallimadugula
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Catherine E Kuhn
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Jonathan H Borowsky
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Rafal P Wiewiora
- Tri-Institutional PhD Program in Chemical Biology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NY, New York, USA
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, NY, New York, USA
| | | | - Aoife M Harbison
- Department of Chemistry and Hamilton Institute, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland
| | - Carl A Fogarty
- Department of Chemistry and Hamilton Institute, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland
| | | | - Elisa Fadda
- Department of Chemistry and Hamilton Institute, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Ireland
| | - Vincent A Voelz
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - John D Chodera
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, NY, New York, USA
| | - Gregory R Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA.
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA.
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31
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Jaffrelot Inizan T, Célerse F, Adjoua O, El Ahdab D, Jolly LH, Liu C, Ren P, Montes M, Lagarde N, Lagardère L, Monmarché P, Piquemal JP. High-resolution mining of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease conformational space: supercomputer-driven unsupervised adaptive sampling. Chem Sci 2021; 12:4889-4907. [PMID: 34168762 PMCID: PMC8179654 DOI: 10.1039/d1sc00145k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
We provide an unsupervised adaptive sampling strategy capable of producing μs-timescale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of large biosystems using many-body polarizable force fields (PFFs). The global exploration problem is decomposed into a set of separate MD trajectories that can be restarted within a selective process to achieve sufficient phase-space sampling. Accurate statistical properties can be obtained through reweighting. Within this highly parallel setup, the Tinker-HP package can be powered by an arbitrary large number of GPUs on supercomputers, reducing exploration time from years to days. This approach is used to tackle the urgent modeling problem of the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease (Mpro) producing more than 38 μs of all-atom simulations of its apo (ligand-free) dimer using the high-resolution AMOEBA PFF. The first 15.14 μs simulation (physiological pH) is compared to available non-PFF long-timescale simulation data. A detailed clustering analysis exhibits striking differences between FFs, with AMOEBA showing a richer conformational space. Focusing on key structural markers related to the oxyanion hole stability, we observe an asymmetry between protomers. One of them appears less structured resembling the experimentally inactive monomer for which a 6 μs simulation was performed as a basis for comparison. Results highlight the plasticity of the Mpro active site. The C-terminal end of its less structured protomer is shown to oscillate between several states, being able to interact with the other protomer, potentially modulating its activity. Active and distal site volumes are found to be larger in the most active protomer within our AMOEBA simulations compared to non-PFFs as additional cryptic pockets are uncovered. A second 17 μs AMOEBA simulation is performed with protonated His172 residues mimicking lower pH. Data show the protonation impact on the destructuring of the oxyanion loop. We finally analyze the solvation patterns around key histidine residues. The confined AMOEBA polarizable water molecules are able to explore a wide range of dipole moments, going beyond bulk values, leading to a water molecule count consistent with experimental data. Results suggest that the use of PFFs could be critical in drug discovery to accurately model the complexity of the molecular interactions structuring Mpro.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Frédéric Célerse
- Sorbonne Université, LCT, UMR 7616 CNRS Paris France
- Sorbonne Université, IPCM, UMR 8232 CNRS Paris France
| | | | - Dina El Ahdab
- Sorbonne Université, LCT, UMR 7616 CNRS Paris France
- Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, UR-EGP Faculté des Sciences Lebanon
| | | | - Chengwen Liu
- University of Texas at Austin, Department of Biomedical Engineering Texas USA
| | - Pengyu Ren
- University of Texas at Austin, Department of Biomedical Engineering Texas USA
| | - Matthieu Montes
- Laboratoire GBCM, EA 7528, CNAM, Hésam Université Paris France
| | | | - Louis Lagardère
- Sorbonne Université, LCT, UMR 7616 CNRS Paris France
- Sorbonne Université, IP2CT, FR 2622 CNRS Paris France
| | - Pierre Monmarché
- Sorbonne Université, LCT, UMR 7616 CNRS Paris France
- Sorbonne Université, LJLL, UMR 7598 CNRS Paris France
| | - Jean-Philip Piquemal
- Sorbonne Université, LCT, UMR 7616 CNRS Paris France
- University of Texas at Austin, Department of Biomedical Engineering Texas USA
- Institut Universitaire de France Paris France
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32
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Abstract
Molecular dynamics simulations can now routinely access the microsecond timescale, making feasible direct sampling of ligand association events. While Markov State Model (MSM) approaches offer a useful framework for analyzing such trajectory data to gain insight into binding mechanisms, accurate modeling of ligand association pathways and kinetics must be done carefully. We describe methods and good practices for constructing MSMs of ligand binding from unbiased trajectory data and discuss how to use time-lagged independent component analysis (tICA) to build informative models, using as an example recent simulation work to model the binding of phenylalanine to the regulatory ACT domain dimer of phenylalanine hydroxylase. We describe a variety of methods for estimating association rates from MSMs and discuss how to distinguish between conformational selection and induced-fit mechanisms using MSMs. In addition, we review some examples of MSMs constructed to elucidate the mechanisms by which p53 transactivation domain (TAD) and related peptides bind the oncoprotein MDM2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunhui Ge
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Vincent A Voelz
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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33
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Vithani N, Ward MD, Zimmerman MI, Novak B, Borowsky JH, Singh S, Bowman GR. SARS-CoV-2 Nsp16 activation mechanism and a cryptic pocket with pan-coronavirus antiviral potential. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2020:2020.12.10.420109. [PMID: 33330873 PMCID: PMC7743098 DOI: 10.1101/2020.12.10.420109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Coronaviruses have caused multiple epidemics in the past two decades, in addition to the current COVID-19 pandemic that is severely damaging global health and the economy. Coronaviruses employ between twenty and thirty proteins to carry out their viral replication cycle including infection, immune evasion, and replication. Among these, nonstructural protein 16 (Nsp16), a 2'-O-methyltransferase, plays an essential role in immune evasion. Nsp16 achieves this by mimicking its human homolog, CMTr1, which methylates mRNA to enhance translation efficiency and distinguish self from other. Unlike human CMTr1, Nsp16 requires a binding partner, Nsp10, to activate its enzymatic activity. The requirement of this binding partner presents two questions that we investigate in this manuscript. First, how does Nsp10 activate Nsp16? While experimentally-derived structures of the active Nsp16/Nsp10 complex exist, structures of inactive, monomeric Nsp16 have yet to be solved. Therefore, it is unclear how Nsp10 activates Nsp16. Using over one millisecond of molecular dynamics simulations of both Nsp16 and its complex with Nsp10, we investigate how the presence of Nsp10 shifts Nsp16's conformational ensemble in order to activate it. Second, guided by this activation mechanism and Markov state models (MSMs), we investigate if Nsp16 adopts inactive structures with cryptic pockets that, if targeted with a small molecule, could inhibit Nsp16 by stabilizing its inactive state. After identifying such a pocket in SARS-CoV-2 Nsp16, we show that this cryptic pocket also opens in SARS-CoV-1 and MERS, but not in human CMTr1. Therefore, it may be possible to develop pan-coronavirus antivirals that target this cryptic pocket. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Coronaviruses are a major threat to human health. These viruses employ molecular machines, called proteins, to infect host cells and replicate. Characterizing the structure and dynamics of these proteins could provide a basis for designing small molecule antivirals. In this work, we use computer simulations to understand the moving parts of an essential SARS-CoV-2 protein, understand how a binding partner turns it on and off, and identify a novel pocket that antivirals could target to shut this protein off. The pocket is also present in other coronaviruses but not in the related human protein, so it could be a valuable target for pan-coronavirus antivirals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neha Vithani
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Michael D. Ward
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Maxwell I. Zimmerman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Borna Novak
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
| | - Jonathan H. Borowsky
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Sukrit Singh
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Gregory R. Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
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Abella JR, Antunes D, Jackson K, Lizée G, Clementi C, Kavraki LE. Markov state modeling reveals alternative unbinding pathways for peptide-MHC complexes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:30610-30618. [PMID: 33184174 PMCID: PMC7720115 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2007246117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Peptide binding to major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs) is a central component of the immune system, and understanding the mechanism behind stable peptide-MHC binding will aid the development of immunotherapies. While MHC binding is mostly influenced by the identity of the so-called anchor positions of the peptide, secondary interactions from nonanchor positions are known to play a role in complex stability. However, current MHC-binding prediction methods lack an analysis of the major conformational states and might underestimate the impact of secondary interactions. In this work, we present an atomically detailed analysis of peptide-MHC binding that can reveal the contributions of any interaction toward stability. We propose a simulation framework that uses both umbrella sampling and adaptive sampling to generate a Markov state model (MSM) for a coronavirus-derived peptide (QFKDNVILL), bound to one of the most prevalent MHC receptors in humans (HLA-A24:02). While our model reaffirms the importance of the anchor positions of the peptide in establishing stable interactions, our model also reveals the underestimated importance of position 4 (p4), a nonanchor position. We confirmed our results by simulating the impact of specific peptide mutations and validated these predictions through competitive binding assays. By comparing the MSM of the wild-type system with those of the D4A and D4P mutations, our modeling reveals stark differences in unbinding pathways. The analysis presented here can be applied to any peptide-MHC complex of interest with a structural model as input, representing an important step toward comprehensive modeling of the MHC class I pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayvee R Abella
- Department of Computer Science, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005
| | - Dinler Antunes
- Department of Computer Science, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005
| | - Kyle Jackson
- Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology-Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030
| | - Gregory Lizée
- Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology-Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030
| | - Cecilia Clementi
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005
- Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005
| | - Lydia E Kavraki
- Department of Computer Science, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005;
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35
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Hruska E, Balasubramanian V, Lee H, Jha S, Clementi C. Extensible and Scalable Adaptive Sampling on Supercomputers. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:7915-7925. [PMID: 33170696 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The accurate sampling of protein dynamics is an ongoing challenge despite the utilization of high-performance computer (HPC) systems. Utilizing only "brute force" molecular dynamics (MD) simulations requires an unacceptably long time to solution. Adaptive sampling methods allow a more effective sampling of protein dynamics than standard MD simulations. Depending on the restarting strategy, the speed up can be more than 1 order of magnitude. One challenge limiting the utilization of adaptive sampling by domain experts is the relatively high complexity of efficiently running adaptive sampling on HPC systems. We discuss how the ExTASY framework can set up new adaptive sampling strategies and reliably execute resulting workflows at scale on HPC platforms. Here, the folding dynamics of four proteins are predicted with no a priori information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugen Hruska
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.,Department of Physics & Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
| | - Vivekanandan Balasubramanian
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Hyungro Lee
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Shantenu Jha
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Cecilia Clementi
- Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.,Department of Physics & Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.,Department of Physics, Freie Universität, 14195 Berlin, Germany.,Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, United States
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36
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Zimmerman MI, Porter JR, Ward MD, Singh S, Vithani N, Meller A, Mallimadugula UL, Kuhn CE, Borowsky JH, Wiewiora RP, Hurley MFD, Harbison AM, Fogarty CA, Coffland JE, Fadda E, Voelz VA, Chodera JD, Bowman GR. SARS-CoV-2 Simulations Go Exascale to Capture Spike Opening and Reveal Cryptic Pockets Across the Proteome. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2020:2020.06.27.175430. [PMID: 32637963 PMCID: PMC7337393 DOI: 10.1101/2020.06.27.175430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 has intricate mechanisms for initiating infection, immune evasion/suppression, and replication, which depend on the structure and dynamics of its constituent proteins. Many protein structures have been solved, but far less is known about their relevant conformational changes. To address this challenge, over a million citizen scientists banded together through the Folding@home distributed computing project to create the first exascale computer and simulate an unprecedented 0.1 seconds of the viral proteome. Our simulations capture dramatic opening of the apo Spike complex, far beyond that seen experimentally, which explains and successfully predicts the existence of 'cryptic' epitopes. Different Spike homologues modulate the probabilities of open versus closed structures, balancing receptor binding and immune evasion. We also observe dramatic conformational changes across the proteome, which reveal over 50 'cryptic' pockets that expand targeting options for the design of antivirals. All data and models are freely available online, providing a quantitative structural atlas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxwell I. Zimmerman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Justin R. Porter
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Michael D. Ward
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Sukrit Singh
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Neha Vithani
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Artur Meller
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Upasana L. Mallimadugula
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Catherine E. Kuhn
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Jonathan H. Borowsky
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
| | - Rafal P. Wiewiora
- Tri-Institutional PhD Program in Chemical Biology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10065, United States
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, New York, New York 10065, United States
| | - Matthew F. D. Hurley
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - Aoife M Harbison
- Department of Chemistry and Hamilton Institute, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland
| | - Carl A Fogarty
- Department of Chemistry and Hamilton Institute, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland
| | | | - Elisa Fadda
- Department of Chemistry and Hamilton Institute, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland
| | - Vincent A. Voelz
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, United States
| | - John D. Chodera
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, New York, New York 10065, United States
| | - Gregory R. Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
- Center for Science and Engineering of Living Systems (CSELS), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States
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37
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Yan S, Peck JM, Ilgu M, Nilsen-Hamilton M, Lamm MH. Sampling Performance of Multiple Independent Molecular Dynamics Simulations of an RNA Aptamer. ACS OMEGA 2020; 5:20187-20201. [PMID: 32832772 PMCID: PMC7439393 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c01867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Using multiple independent simulations instead of one long simulation has been shown to improve the sampling performance attained with the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method. However, it is generally not known how long each independent simulation should be, how many independent simulations should be used, or to what extent either of these factors affects the overall sampling performance achieved for a given system. The goal of the present study was to assess the sampling performance of multiple independent MD simulations, where each independent simulation begins from a different initial molecular conformation. For this purpose, we used an RNA aptamer that is 25 nucleotides long as a case study. The initial conformations of the aptamer are derived from six de novo predicted 3D structures. Each of the six de novo predicted structures is energy minimized in solution and equilibrated with MD simulations at high temperature. Ten conformations from these six high-temperature equilibration runs are selected as initial conformations for further simulations at ambient temperature. In total, we conducted 60 independent MD simulations, each with a duration of 100 ns, to study the conformation and dynamics of the aptamer. For each group of 10 independent simulations that originated from a particular de novo predicted structure, we evaluated the potential energy distribution of the RNA and used recurrence quantification analysis to examine the sampling of RNA conformational transitions. To assess the impact of starting from different de novo predicted structures, we computed the density of structure projection on principal components to compare the regions sampled by the different groups of ten independent simulations. The recurrence rate and dependence of initial conformation among the groups were also compared. We stress the necessity of using different initial configurations as simulation starting points by showing long simulations from different initial structures suffer from being trapped in different states. Finally, we summarized the sampling efficiency for the complete set of 60 independent simulations and determined regions of under-sampling on the potential energy landscape. The results suggest that conducting multiple independent simulations using a diverse set of de novo predicted structures is a promising approach to achieve sufficient sampling. This approach avoids undesirable outcomes, such as the problem of the RNA aptamer being trapped in a local minimum. For others wishing to conduct multiple independent simulations, the analysis protocol presented in this study is a guide for examining overall sampling and determining if more simulations are necessary for sufficient sampling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuting Yan
- Department
of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Jason M. Peck
- Department
of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Muslum Ilgu
- Roy
J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
- Aptalogic
Inc., Ames, Iowa 50014, United States
- Department
of Biological Sciences, Middle East Technical
University, Ankara, Ankara 06800, Turkey
| | - Marit Nilsen-Hamilton
- Roy
J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
- Aptalogic
Inc., Ames, Iowa 50014, United States
| | - Monica H. Lamm
- Department
of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
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38
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Herrera-Nieto P, Pérez A, De Fabritiis G. Small Molecule Modulation of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations. J Chem Inf Model 2020; 60:5003-5010. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c00381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Herrera-Nieto
- Computational Science Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Adrià Pérez
- Computational Science Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gianni De Fabritiis
- Computational Science Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Acellera Ltd., 08005 Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
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39
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Verkhivker GM, Agajanian S, Hu G, Tao P. Allosteric Regulation at the Crossroads of New Technologies: Multiscale Modeling, Networks, and Machine Learning. Front Mol Biosci 2020; 7:136. [PMID: 32733918 PMCID: PMC7363947 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.00136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Allosteric regulation is a common mechanism employed by complex biomolecular systems for regulation of activity and adaptability in the cellular environment, serving as an effective molecular tool for cellular communication. As an intrinsic but elusive property, allostery is a ubiquitous phenomenon where binding or disturbing of a distal site in a protein can functionally control its activity and is considered as the "second secret of life." The fundamental biological importance and complexity of these processes require a multi-faceted platform of synergistically integrated approaches for prediction and characterization of allosteric functional states, atomistic reconstruction of allosteric regulatory mechanisms and discovery of allosteric modulators. The unifying theme and overarching goal of allosteric regulation studies in recent years have been integration between emerging experiment and computational approaches and technologies to advance quantitative characterization of allosteric mechanisms in proteins. Despite significant advances, the quantitative characterization and reliable prediction of functional allosteric states, interactions, and mechanisms continue to present highly challenging problems in the field. In this review, we discuss simulation-based multiscale approaches, experiment-informed Markovian models, and network modeling of allostery and information-theoretical approaches that can describe the thermodynamics and hierarchy allosteric states and the molecular basis of allosteric mechanisms. The wealth of structural and functional information along with diversity and complexity of allosteric mechanisms in therapeutically important protein families have provided a well-suited platform for development of data-driven research strategies. Data-centric integration of chemistry, biology and computer science using artificial intelligence technologies has gained a significant momentum and at the forefront of many cross-disciplinary efforts. We discuss new developments in the machine learning field and the emergence of deep learning and deep reinforcement learning applications in modeling of molecular mechanisms and allosteric proteins. The experiment-guided integrated approaches empowered by recent advances in multiscale modeling, network science, and machine learning can lead to more reliable prediction of allosteric regulatory mechanisms and discovery of allosteric modulators for therapeutically important protein targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gennady M. Verkhivker
- Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA, United States
- Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chapman University School of Pharmacy, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Steve Agajanian
- Graduate Program in Computational and Data Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange, CA, United States
| | - Guang Hu
- Center for Systems Biology, Department of Bioinformatics, School of Biology and Basic Medical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China
| | - Peng Tao
- Department of Chemistry, Center for Drug Discovery, Design, and Delivery (CD4), Center for Scientific Computation, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, United States
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40
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Pérez A, Herrera-Nieto P, Doerr S, De Fabritiis G. AdaptiveBandit: A Multi-armed Bandit Framework for Adaptive Sampling in Molecular Simulations. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:4685-4693. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Adrià Pérez
- Computational Science Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pablo Herrera-Nieto
- Computational Science Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Stefan Doerr
- Computational Science Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Acellera Labs, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gianni De Fabritiis
- Computational Science Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Acellera Labs, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
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41
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Porter JR, Meller A, Zimmerman MI, Greenberg MJ, Bowman GR. Conformational distributions of isolated myosin motor domains encode their mechanochemical properties. eLife 2020; 9:e55132. [PMID: 32479265 PMCID: PMC7259954 DOI: 10.7554/elife.55132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Myosin motor domains perform an extraordinary diversity of biological functions despite sharing a common mechanochemical cycle. Motors are adapted to their function, in part, by tuning the thermodynamics and kinetics of steps in this cycle. However, it remains unclear how sequence encodes these differences, since biochemically distinct motors often have nearly indistinguishable crystal structures. We hypothesized that sequences produce distinct biochemical phenotypes by modulating the relative probabilities of an ensemble of conformations primed for different functional roles. To test this hypothesis, we modeled the distribution of conformations for 12 myosin motor domains by building Markov state models (MSMs) from an unprecedented two milliseconds of all-atom, explicit-solvent molecular dynamics simulations. Comparing motors reveals shifts in the balance between nucleotide-favorable and nucleotide-unfavorable P-loop conformations that predict experimentally measured duty ratios and ADP release rates better than sequence or individual structures. This result demonstrates the power of an ensemble perspective for interrogating sequence-function relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin R Porter
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. LouisSt. LouisUnited States
| | - Artur Meller
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. LouisSt. LouisUnited States
| | - Maxwell I Zimmerman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. LouisSt. LouisUnited States
| | - Michael J Greenberg
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. LouisSt. LouisUnited States
| | - Gregory R Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. LouisSt. LouisUnited States
- Center for the Science and Engineering of Living Systems, Washington University in St. LouisSt. LouisUnited States
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42
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Yuan Y, Zhu Q, Song R, Ma J, Dong H. A Two-Ended Data-Driven Accelerated Sampling Method for Exploring the Transition Pathways between Two Known States of Protein. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:4631-4640. [PMID: 32320614 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.9b01184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Conformational transitions of protein between different states are often associated with their biological functions. These dynamic processes, however, are usually not easy to be well characterized by experimental measurements, mainly because of inadequate temporal and spatial resolution. Meantime, sampling of configuration space with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations is still a challenge. Here we proposed a robust two-ended data-driven accelerated (teDA2) conformational sampling method, which drives the structural change in an adaptively updated feature space without introducing a bias potential. teDA2 was applied to explore adenylate kinase (ADK), a model with well characterized "open" and "closed" states. A single conformational transition event of ADK could be achieved within only a few or tens of nanoseconds sampled with teDA2. By analyzing hundreds of transition events, we reproduced different mechanisms and the associated pathways for domain motion of ADK reported in the literature. The multiroute characteristic of ADK was confirmed by the fact that some metastable states identified with teDA2 resemble available crystal structures determined at different conditions. This feature was further validated with Markov state modeling with independent MD simulations. Therefore, our work provides strong evidence for the conformational plasticity of protein, which is mainly due to the inherent degree of flexibility. As a reliable and efficient enhanced sampling protocol, teDA2 could be used to study the dynamics between functional states of various biomolecular machines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yigao Yuan
- Kuang Yaming Honors School, Nanjing University, 210023 Nanjing, China
| | - Qiang Zhu
- Kuang Yaming Honors School, Nanjing University, 210023 Nanjing, China.,Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, 210023 Nanjing China
| | - Ruiheng Song
- Kuang Yaming Honors School, Nanjing University, 210023 Nanjing, China
| | - Jing Ma
- Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, 210023 Nanjing China
| | - Hao Dong
- Kuang Yaming Honors School, Nanjing University, 210023 Nanjing, China.,Institute for Brain Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
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43
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Kells A, Koskin V, Rosta E, Annibale A. Correlation functions, mean first passage times, and the Kemeny constant. J Chem Phys 2020; 152:104108. [PMID: 32171226 DOI: 10.1063/1.5143504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Markov processes are widely used models for investigating kinetic networks. Here, we collate and present a variety of results pertaining to kinetic network models in a unified framework. The aim is to lay out explicit links between several important quantities commonly studied in the field, including mean first passage times (MFPTs), correlation functions, and the Kemeny constant. We provide new insights into (i) a simple physical interpretation of the Kemeny constant, (ii) a relationship to infer equilibrium distributions and rate matrices from measurements of MFPTs, and (iii) a protocol to reduce the dimensionality of kinetic networks based on specific requirements that the MFPTs in the coarse-grained system should satisfy. We prove that this protocol coincides with the one proposed by Hummer and Szabo [J. Phys. Chem. B 119, 9029 (2014)], and it leads to a variational principle for the Kemeny constant. Finally, we introduce a modification of this protocol, which preserves the Kemeny constant. Our work underpinning the theoretical aspects of kinetic networks will be useful in applications including milestoning and path sampling algorithms in molecular simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Kells
- Department of Chemistry, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Vladimir Koskin
- Department of Chemistry, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Edina Rosta
- Department of Chemistry, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Alessia Annibale
- Department of Mathematics, Kings College London, London, United Kingdom
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44
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Wan H, Voelz VA. Adaptive Markov state model estimation using short reseeding trajectories. J Chem Phys 2020; 152:024103. [PMID: 31941308 DOI: 10.1063/1.5142457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
In the last decade, advances in molecular dynamics (MD) and Markov State Model (MSM) methodologies have made possible accurate and efficient estimation of kinetic rates and reactive pathways for complex biomolecular dynamics occurring on slow time scales. A promising approach to enhanced sampling of MSMs is to use "adaptive" methods, in which new MD trajectories are "seeded" preferentially from previously identified states. Here, we investigate the performance of various MSM estimators applied to reseeding trajectory data, for both a simple 1D free energy landscape and mini-protein folding MSMs of WW domain and NTL9(1-39). Our results reveal the practical challenges of reseeding simulations and suggest a simple way to reweight seeding trajectory data to better estimate both thermodynamic and kinetic quantities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongbin Wan
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
| | - Vincent A Voelz
- Department of Chemistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
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45
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Wang W, Shin WJ, Zhang B, Choi Y, Yoo JS, Zimmerman MI, Frederick TE, Bowman GR, Gross ML, Leung DW, Jung JU, Amarasinghe GK. The Cap-Snatching SFTSV Endonuclease Domain Is an Antiviral Target. Cell Rep 2020; 30:153-163.e5. [PMID: 31914382 PMCID: PMC7214099 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.12.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Revised: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a tick-borne virus with 12%-30% case mortality rates and is related to the Heartland virus (HRTV) identified in the United States. Together, SFTSV and HRTV are emerging segmented, negative-sense RNA viral (sNSV) pathogens with potential global health impact. Here, we characterize the amino-terminal cap-snatching endonuclease domain of SFTSV polymerase (L) and solve a 2.4-Å X-ray crystal structure. While the overall structure is similar to those of other cap-snatching sNSV endonucleases, differences near the C terminus of the SFTSV endonuclease suggest divergence in regulation. Influenza virus endonuclease inhibitors, including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Baloxavir (BXA), inhibit the endonuclease activity in in vitro enzymatic assays and in cell-based studies. BXA displays potent activity with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of ∼100 nM in enzyme inhibition and an EC50 value of ∼250 nM against SFTSV and HRTV in plaque assays. Together, our data support sNSV endonucleases as an antiviral target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjie Wang
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Woo-Jin Shin
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Bojie Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Younho Choi
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Ji-Seung Yoo
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
| | - Maxwell I Zimmerman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Thomas E Frederick
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Gregory R Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Michael L Gross
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Daisy W Leung
- Division of Infectious Diseases, John T. Milliken Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Jae U Jung
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
| | - Gaya K Amarasinghe
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
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46
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Sun Z, Wakefield AE, Kolossvary I, Beglov D, Vajda S. Structure-Based Analysis of Cryptic-Site Opening. Structure 2019; 28:223-235.e2. [PMID: 31810712 DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2019.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2019] [Revised: 09/10/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Many proteins in their unbound structures have cryptic sites that are not appropriately sized for drug binding. We consider here 32 proteins from the recently published CryptoSite set with validated cryptic sites, and study whether the sites remain cryptic in all available X-ray structures of the proteins solved without any ligand bound near the sites. It was shown that only few of these proteins have binding pockets that never form without ligand binding. Sites that are cryptic in some structures but spontaneously form in others are also rare. In most proteins the forming of pockets is affected by mutations or ligand binding at locations far from the cryptic site. To further explore these mechanisms, we applied adiabatic biased molecular dynamics simulations to guide the proteins from their ligand-free structures to ligand-bound conformations, and studied the distribution of druggability scores of the pockets located at the cryptic sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuyezi Sun
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Amanda Elizabeth Wakefield
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Istvan Kolossvary
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Dmitri Beglov
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Sandor Vajda
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
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47
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Orellana L. Large-Scale Conformational Changes and Protein Function: Breaking the in silico Barrier. Front Mol Biosci 2019; 6:117. [PMID: 31750315 PMCID: PMC6848229 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2019.00117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Large-scale conformational changes are essential to link protein structures with their function at the cell and organism scale, but have been elusive both experimentally and computationally. Over the past few years developments in cryo-electron microscopy and crystallography techniques have started to reveal multiple snapshots of increasingly large and flexible systems, deemed impossible only short time ago. As structural information accumulates, theoretical methods become central to understand how different conformers interconvert to mediate biological function. Here we briefly survey current in silico methods to tackle large conformational changes, reviewing recent examples of cross-validation of experiments and computational predictions, which show how the integration of different scale simulations with biological information is already starting to break the barriers between the in silico, in vitro, and in vivo worlds, shedding new light onto complex biological problems inaccessible so far.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Orellana
- Institutionen för Biokemi och Biofysik, Stockholms Universitet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Science for Life Laboratory, Solna, Sweden
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48
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Chen S, Wiewiora RP, Meng F, Babault N, Ma A, Yu W, Qian K, Hu H, Zou H, Wang J, Fan S, Blum G, Pittella-Silva F, Beauchamp KA, Tempel W, Jiang H, Chen K, Skene RJ, Zheng YG, Brown PJ, Jin J, Luo C, Chodera JD, Luo M. The dynamic conformational landscape of the protein methyltransferase SETD8. eLife 2019; 8:45403. [PMID: 31081496 PMCID: PMC6579520 DOI: 10.7554/elife.45403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Elucidating the conformational heterogeneity of proteins is essential for understanding protein function and developing exogenous ligands. With the rapid development of experimental and computational methods, it is of great interest to integrate these approaches to illuminate the conformational landscapes of target proteins. SETD8 is a protein lysine methyltransferase (PKMT), which functions in vivo via the methylation of histone and nonhistone targets. Utilizing covalent inhibitors and depleting native ligands to trap hidden conformational states, we obtained diverse X-ray structures of SETD8. These structures were used to seed distributed atomistic molecular dynamics simulations that generated a total of six milliseconds of trajectory data. Markov state models, built via an automated machine learning approach and corroborated experimentally, reveal how slow conformational motions and conformational states are relevant to catalysis. These findings provide molecular insight on enzymatic catalysis and allosteric mechanisms of a PKMT via its detailed conformational landscape. Our cells contain thousands of proteins that perform many different tasks. Such tasks often involve significant changes in the shape of a protein that allow it to interact with other proteins or ligands. Understanding these shape changes can be an essential step for predicting and manipulating how proteins work or designing new drugs. Some changes in protein shape happen quickly, whereas others take longer. Existing experimental approaches generally only capture some, but not all, of the different shapes an individual protein adopts. A family of proteins known as protein lysine methyltransferases (PKMTs) help to regulate the activities of other proteins by adding small tags called methyl groups to specific positions on their target proteins. PKMTs play important roles in many life processes including in activating genes, maintaining stem cells and controlling how organs develop. It is important for cells to properly control the activity of PKMTs because too much, or too little, activity can promote cancers and neurological diseases. For example, genetic mutations that increase the levels of a PKMT known as SETD8 appear to promote the progression of some breast cancers and childhood leukemia. There is a pressing need to develop new drugs that can inhibit SETD8 and other PKMTs in human patients. However, these efforts are hindered by the lack of understanding of exactly how the shape of PKMT proteins change as they operate in cells. Chen, Wiewiora et al. used a technique called X-ray crystallography to generate structural models of the human SETD8 protein in the presence or absence of native or foreign ligands. These models were used to develop computer simulations of how the shape of SETD8 changes as it operates. Further computational analysis and laboratory experiments revealed how slow changes in the shape of SETD8 contribute to the ability of the protein to attach methyl groups to other proteins. This work is a significant stepping-stone to developing a complete model of how the SETD8 protein works, as well as understanding how genetic mutations may affect the protein’s role in the body. The next step is to refine the model by integrating data from other approaches including biophysical models and mathematical calculations of the energy associated with the shape changes, with a long-term goal to better understand and then manipulate the function of SETD8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shi Chen
- Tri-Institutional PhD Program in Chemical Biology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States.,Chemical Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States
| | - Rafal P Wiewiora
- Tri-Institutional PhD Program in Chemical Biology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States.,Computational and Systems Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States
| | - Fanwang Meng
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Nicolas Babault
- Mount Sinai Center for Therapeutics Discovery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States.,Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States.,Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States.,Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States
| | - Anqi Ma
- Mount Sinai Center for Therapeutics Discovery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States.,Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States.,Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States.,Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States
| | - Wenyu Yu
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Kun Qian
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
| | - Hao Hu
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
| | - Hua Zou
- Takeda California, Science Center Drive, San Diego, United States
| | - Junyi Wang
- Chemical Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States
| | - Shijie Fan
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Gil Blum
- Chemical Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States
| | - Fabio Pittella-Silva
- Chemical Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States
| | - Kyle A Beauchamp
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States
| | - Wolfram Tempel
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Hualiang Jiang
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Kaixian Chen
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Robert J Skene
- Takeda California, Science Center Drive, San Diego, United States
| | - Yujun George Zheng
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
| | - Peter J Brown
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Jian Jin
- Mount Sinai Center for Therapeutics Discovery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States.,Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States.,Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States.,Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States
| | - Cheng Luo
- Drug Discovery and Design Center, CAS Key Laboratory of Receptor Research, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - John D Chodera
- Computational and Systems Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States
| | - Minkui Luo
- Chemical Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States.,Program of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, New York, United States
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49
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Kahana A, Lancet D. Protobiotic Systems Chemistry Analyzed by Molecular Dynamics. Life (Basel) 2019; 9:E38. [PMID: 31083329 PMCID: PMC6617412 DOI: 10.3390/life9020038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2019] [Revised: 05/06/2019] [Accepted: 05/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Systems chemistry has been a key component of origin of life research, invoking models of life's inception based on evolving molecular networks. One such model is the graded autocatalysis replication domain (GARD) formalism embodied in a lipid world scenario, which offers rigorous computer simulation based on defined chemical kinetics equations. GARD suggests that the first pre-RNA life-like entities could have been homeostatically-growing assemblies of amphiphiles, undergoing compositional replication and mutations, as well as rudimentary selection and evolution. Recent progress in molecular dynamics has provided an experimental tool to study complex biological phenomena such as protein folding, ligand-receptor interactions, and micellar formation, growth, and fission. The detailed molecular definition of GARD and its inter-molecular catalytic interactions make it highly compatible with molecular dynamics analyses. We present a roadmap for simulating GARD's kinetic and thermodynamic behavior using various molecular dynamics methodologies. We review different approaches for testing the validity of the GARD model by following micellar accretion and fission events and examining compositional changes over time. Near-future computational advances could provide empirical delineation for further system complexification, from simple compositional non-covalent assemblies towards more life-like protocellular entities with covalent chemistry that underlies metabolism and genetic encoding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amit Kahana
- Dept. Molecular Genetics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610010, Israel.
| | - Doron Lancet
- Dept. Molecular Genetics, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610010, Israel.
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50
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Porter JR, Zimmerman MI, Bowman GR. Enspara: Modeling molecular ensembles with scalable data structures and parallel computing. J Chem Phys 2019; 150:044108. [PMID: 30709308 DOI: 10.1063/1.5063794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Markov state models (MSMs) are quantitative models of protein dynamics that are useful for uncovering the structural fluctuations that proteins undergo, as well as the mechanisms of these conformational changes. Given the enormity of conformational space, there has been ongoing interest in identifying a small number of states that capture the essential features of a protein. Generally, this is achieved by making assumptions about the properties of relevant features-for example, that the most important features are those that change slowly. An alternative strategy is to keep as many degrees of freedom as possible and subsequently learn from the model which of the features are most important. In these larger models, however, traditional approaches quickly become computationally intractable. In this paper, we present enspara, a library for working with MSMs that provides several novel algorithms and specialized data structures that dramatically improve the scalability of traditional MSM methods. This includes ragged arrays for minimizing memory requirements, message passing interface-parallelized implementations of compute-intensive operations, and a flexible framework for model construction and analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- J R Porter
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
| | - M I Zimmerman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
| | - G R Bowman
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
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