Project description:Sirtuins are key regulators of many cellular functions including cell growth, apoptosis, metabolism, and genetic control of age-related diseases. Sirtuins are themselves regulated by their cofactor nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) as well as their reaction product nicotinamide (NAM), the physiological concentrations of which vary during the process of aging. Nicotinamide inhibits sirtuins through the so-called base exchange pathway, wherein rebinding of the reaction product to the enzyme accelerates the reverse reaction. We investigated the mechanism of nicotinamide inhibition of human SIRT3, the major mitochondrial sirtuin deacetylase, in vitro and in silico using experimental kinetic analysis and Molecular Mechanics-Poisson Boltzmann/Generalized Born Surface Area (MM-PB(GB)SA) binding affinity calculations with molecular dynamics sampling. Through experimental kinetic studies, we demonstrate that NAM inhibition of SIRT3 involves apparent competition between the inhibitor and the enzyme cofactor NAD+, contrary to the traditional characterization of base exchange as noncompetitive inhibition. We report a model for base exchange inhibition that relates such kinetic properties to physicochemical properties, including the free energies of enzyme-ligand binding, and estimate the latter through the first reported computational binding affinity calculations for SIRT3:NAD+, SIRT3:NAM, and analogous complexes for Sir2. The computational results support our kinetic model, establishing foundations for quantitative modeling of NAD+/NAM regulation of mammalian sirtuins during aging and the computational design of sirtuin activators that operate through alleviation of base exchange inhibition.
Project description:The metabolism of living systems involves many enzymes that play key roles as catalysts and are essential to biological function. Searching ligands with the ability to modulate enzyme activities is central to diagnosis and therapeutics. Peptides represent a promising class of potential enzyme modulators due to the large chemical diversity, and well-established methods for library synthesis. Peptides and their derivatives are found to play critical roles in modulating enzymes and mediating cellular uptakes, which are increasingly valuable in therapeutics. We present a methodology that uses molecular dynamics (MD) and point-variant screening to identify short peptide motifs that are critical for inhibiting β-galactosidase (β-Gal). MD was used to simulate the conformations of peptides and to suggest short motifs that were most populated in simulated conformations. The function of the simulated motifs was further validated by the experimental point-variant screening as critical segments for inhibiting the enzyme. Based on the validated motifs, we eventually identified a 7-mer short peptide for inhibiting an enzyme with low μM IC50. The advantage of our methodology is the relatively simplified simulation that is informative enough to identify the critical sequence of a peptide inhibitor, with a precision comparable to truncation and alanine scanning experiments. Our combined experimental and computational approach does not rely on a detailed understanding of mechanistic and structural details. The MD simulation suggests the populated motifs that are consistent with the results of the experimental alanine and truncation scanning. This approach appears to be applicable to both natural and artificial peptides. With more discovered short motifs in the future, they could be exploited for modulating biocatalysis, and developing new medicine.
Project description:Memory loss is the signature feature of Alzheimer's disease, and therapies that prevent or delay its onset are urgently needed. Effective preventive strategies likely offer the greatest and most widespread benefits. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors increase histone acetylation and enhance memory and synaptic plasticity. We evaluated the efficacy of nicotinamide, a competitive inhibitor of the sirtuins or class III NAD(+)-dependent HDACs in 3xTg-AD mice, and found that it restored cognitive deficits associated with pathology. Nicotinamide selectively reduces a specific phospho-species of tau (Thr231) that is associated with microtubule depolymerization, in a manner similar to inhibition of SirT1. Nicotinamide also dramatically increased acetylated alpha-tubulin, a primary substrate of SirT2, and MAP2c, both of which are linked to increased microtubule stability. Reduced phosphoThr231-tau was related to a reduction of monoubiquitin-conjugated tau, suggesting that this posttranslationally modified form of tau may be rapidly degraded. Overexpression of a Thr231-phospho-mimic tau in vitro increased clearance and decreased accumulation of tau compared with wild-type tau. These preclinical findings suggest that oral nicotinamide may represent a safe treatment for AD and other tauopathies, and that phosphorylation of tau at Thr231 may regulate tau stability.
Project description:Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was noted to produce severe cardiac arrhythmia, an adverse effect as its use against severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by coronavirus 2 (SAES-CoV-2). HCQ is an antimalarial drug with quinoline structure. Some other quinoline compounds, such as fluoroquinolone antibiotics (FQs), also lead to arrhythmias characterized by QT prolongation. QT prolongation is usually related to the human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) potassium channel inhibitory activity of most drugs. In this research, molecular docking was used to study the potential inhibitory activities of HCQ as well as other quinolines derivatives and hERG potassium channel protein. The possible causes of these QT prolongation effects were revealed. Molecular docking and patch clamp experiments showed that HCQ could bind to hERG and inhibit the efflux of potassium ion preferentially in the repolarization stage. The IC50 of HCQ was 8.6 μM ± 0.8 μM. FQs, which are quinoline derivatives, could also bind to hERG molecules. The binding energies of FQs varied according to their molecular polarity. It was found that drugs with a quinoline structure, particularly with high molecular polarity, can exert a significant potential hERG inhibitory activity. The potential side effects of QT prolongation during the development and use of quinolines should be carefully considered.
Project description:BACKGROUND Emerging evidence shows that Sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) can exert an antioxidative effect in various neurodegenerative diseases, but whether and how SIRT3 modulates neuronal death after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) remains to be elucidated. MATERIAL AND METHODS Experimental SAH was induced in adult mice by prechiasmatic cistern injection and primary neurons by OxyHb incubation. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1alpha) and SIRT3 protein levels were examined at different time points after SAH induction. The PGC-1alpha protein gene knockdown in vivo and in vitro was achieved by transfection of lentivirus (LV) vectors expressing shPGC-1alpha or negative control (NC). Western blot, oxidative stress index, histopathology, neurological function, and cell viability analysis was performed. RESULTS Results showed that the PGC-1alpha/SIRT3 pathway was remarkably activated in vivo and in vitro after SAH. LV-shPGC-1alpha treatment significantly inhibited the activation of this pathway after SAH, accompanied by deteriorated neurologic function, aggravated oxidative stress, increased neuronal apoptosis, and enhanced cytotoxicity compared with the mice or primary neurons treated with LV-NC only. CONCLUSIONS The present results highlight the detrimental PGC-1alpha/SIRT3 pathway, involving regulation of the endogenous antioxidant activity against neuronal damage, which may provide a potential therapeutic target in SAH.
Project description:Human factor XIa (FXIa) is a serine protease in the intrinsic coagulation pathway. FXIa has been actively targeted to develop new anticoagulants that are associated with a reduced risk of bleeding. Thousands of FXIa inhibitors have been reported, yet none has reached the clinic thus far. We describe here a novel class of sulfonated molecules that allosterically inhibit FXIa with moderate potency. A library of 18 sulfonated molecules was evaluated for the inhibition of FXIa using a chromogenic substrate hydrolysis assay. Only six molecules inhibited FXIa with IC50 values of 4.6-29.5 μM. Michaelis-Menten kinetics indicated that sulfonated molecules are allosteric inhibitors of FXIa. Inhibition of FXIa by these molecules was reversed by protamine. The molecules also showed moderate anticoagulant effects in human plasma with preference to prolong activated partial thromboplastin time. Their binding to an allosteric site in the catalytic domain of FXIa was modeled to illustrate potential binding mode and potential important Arg/Lys residues. Particularly, inhibitor 16 (IC50 = 4.6 µM) demonstrated good selectivity over a panel of serine proteases including those in the coagulation process. Inhibitor 16 did not significantly compromise the viability of three cell lines. Overall, the reported sulfonated molecules serve as a new platform to design selective, potent, and allosteric inhibitors of FXIa for therapeutic applications.
Project description:Protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase (PPO; EC 1.3.3.4) is an essential enzyme catalyzing the last common step in the pathway leading to heme and chlorophyll biosynthesis. Great interest in PPO inhibitors arises from both its significance to agriculture and medicine. However, the discovery of PPO inhibitors with ultrahigh potency and selectivity is hampered due to lack of structural and mechanistic understanding about the substrate recognition, which remains a longstanding question central in porphyrin biology. To understand the mechanism, a novel binding model of protogen (protoporphyrinogen IX, the substrate) was developed through extensive computational simulations. Subsequently, amino acid residues that are critical for protogen binding identified by computational simulations were substituted by mutagenesis. Kinetic analyses of these mutants indicated that these residues were critical for protogen binding. In addition, the calculated free energies of protogen binding with these mutants correlated well with the experimental data, indicating the reasonability of the binding model. On the basis of this novel model, the fundamental mechanism of substrate recognition was investigated by performing potential of mean force (PMF) calculations, which provided an atomic level description of conformational changes and pathway intermediates. The free energy profile revealed a feedback inhibition mechanism of proto (protoporphyrin IX, the product), which was also in agreement with experimental evidence. The novel mechanistic insights obtained from this study present a new starting point for future rational design of more efficient PPO inhibitors based on the product-bound PPO structure.
Project description:Evidence is presented for a proposed mechanism of C-H activation of 3-methyl-3,4-dihydroquinazoline (1) by (PCy(3))(2)RhCl. One intermediate (3), a coordination complex of 1 with (PCy(3))(2)RhCl, was identified along the path to the Rh-N-heterocyclic carbene product of this reaction (2). Isotopic labeling and reaction-rate studies were used to demonstrate that C-H activation takes place intramolecularly on the reaction coordinate between 3 and 2. Computational studies corroborate the proposed mechanism and suggest that the rate-limiting step is oxidative addition of the C-H bond to the metal center. The consequences of this mechanism for coupling reactions of N-heterocycles that occur via Rh-catalyzed C-H bond activation are discussed.
Project description:The macrodomains are a multifunctional protein family that function as receptors and enzymes acting on poly(ADP-ribose), ADP-ribosylated proteins, and other metabolites of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). Several new functions for macrodomains, such as nucleic acid binding and protein-protein interaction, have recently been identified in this family. Here, we discuss methods for the identification of new macrodomains in viruses and the prediction of their function. This is followed by the expression and purification of these proteins following overexpression in bacterial cells and confirmation of folding and function using biophysical methods.