Myoglobin has important biological functions in storing and transporting small diatomic molecules in human body. Two possible orientations of carbon monoxide （CO） in the heme distal pocket （named as BI and B2 state...Myoglobin has important biological functions in storing and transporting small diatomic molecules in human body. Two possible orientations of carbon monoxide （CO） in the heme distal pocket （named as BI and B2 states） of myoglobin have been experimentally indicated. In this study, ab initio quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics （QM/MM） molecular dynamics simulation of CO in myoglobin was carried out to investigate the two possible B states. Our results demonstrate that the B1 and B2 states correspond to Fe... CO （with carbon atom closer to iron center of heme） and Fe... OC （with oxygen atom closer to Fe）, by comparing with the experimental infrared spectrum. QM electrostatic polarization effect on CO brought from the protein and solvent environment is the main driving force, which anchors CO in two distinctive orientations and hinders its rotation. The calculated vibrational frequency shift between the state B1 and B2 is 13.1 cm-1, which is in good agreement with experimental value of 11.5 cm-1. This study also shows that the electric field produced by the solvent plays an important role in assisting protein functions by exerting directional electric field at the active site of the protein, From residue-based electric field decomposition, several residues were found to have most contributions to the total electric field at the CO center, including a few charged residues and three adjacent uncharged polar residues （namely, HIS64, ILE107, and PHE43）. This study provides new physical insights on rational design of enzyme with higher electric field at the active site.展开更多
The human serotonin transporter(SERT)terminates neurotransmission by removing serotonin from the synaptic cleft,which is an essential process that plays an important role in depression.In addition to natural substrate...The human serotonin transporter(SERT)terminates neurotransmission by removing serotonin from the synaptic cleft,which is an essential process that plays an important role in depression.In addition to natural substrate serotonin,SERT is also the target of the abused drug cocaine and,clinically used antidepressants,escitalopram,and paroxetine.To date,few studies have attempted to investigate the unbinding mechanism underlying the orthosteric and allosteric modulation of SERT.In this article,the conserved property of the orthosteric and allosteric sites(S1 and S2)of SERT was revealed by combining the high resolutions of x-ray crystal structures and molecular dynamics(MD)simulations.The residues Tyr95 and Ser438 located within the S1 site,and Arg104 located within the S2 site in SERT illustrate conserved interactions(hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions),as responses to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.Van der Waals interactions were keys to designing effective drugs inhibiting SERT and further,electrostatic interactions highlighted escitalopram as a potent antidepressant.We found that cocaine,escitalopram,and paroxetine,whether the S1 site or the S2 site,were more competitive.According to this potential of mean force(PMF)simulations,the new insights reveal the principles of competitive inhibitors that lengths of trails from central SERT to an opening were~18A for serotonin and~22 A for the above-mentioned three drugs.Furthermore,the distance between the natural substrate serotonin and cocaine(or escitalopram)at the allosteric site was~3A.Thus,it can be inferred that the potent antidepressants tended to bind at deeper positions of the S1 or the S2 site of SERT in comparison to the substrate.Continuing exploring the processes of unbinding four ligands against the two target pockets of SERT,this study observed a broad pathway in which serotonin,cocaine,escitalopram(at the S1 site),and paroxetine all were pulled out to an opening between MT1b and MT6a,which may be helpful to understand the dissociation mechanism of antidepressants.展开更多
Various computational methods were employed to investigate the zwitterion formation,a critical step for the reaction of monoethanolamine with CO2,in five solvents(water,monoethanolamine,propylamine,methanol and chloro...Various computational methods were employed to investigate the zwitterion formation,a critical step for the reaction of monoethanolamine with CO2,in five solvents(water,monoethanolamine,propylamine,methanol and chloroform)to probe the effect of hydrogen bond capacity of solvents on the reaction of amine with CO2 occurring in the amine-based CO2 capture process.The results indicate that the zwitterion can be formed in all considered solvents except chloroform.For two pairs of solvents(methanol and monoethanolamine,propylamine and chloroform)with similar dielectric constant but different hydrogen bond capacity,the solvents with higher hydrogen bond capacity(monoethanolamine and propylamine)facilitate the zwitterion formation.More importantly,kinetics parameters such as activation free energy for the zwitterion formation are more relevant to the hydrogen bond capacity than to dielectric constant of the considered solvents,clarifying the hydrogen bond capacity could be more important than dielectric constant in determining the kinetics of monoethanolamine with CO2.展开更多
3CL protease(3CLpro)is the main protease(Mpro)found in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2),which cuts the coronavirus polyprotein at eleven conserved sites and is essential for the virus replic...3CL protease(3CLpro)is the main protease(Mpro)found in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2),which cuts the coronavirus polyprotein at eleven conserved sites and is essential for the virus replication.Therefore,3CLpro has been widely used as a promising drug target.Many small-molecule drug candidates targeting 3CLpro have been proposed to inhibit the virus replication.In this work,we aim to reveal detailed interactions between ten small candidate molecules with extensive attention and 3CLpro using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations.First,we identified the possible binding sites of these candidate molecules on 3CLpro via molecular docking.Then,a series of 100 ns all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of strongest binding modes were performed to further evaluate the dynamical interactions between the molecules and 3CLpro in detail.Last,the binding free energy of these molecules on 3CLpro was calculated using MM/PBSA calculation,where the contribution of key amino acids was highlighted.The binding kinetics revealed in this work may provide useful insights into the action mechanism and applicability of these small-molecule drug candidates.展开更多
Formate oxidase(FOx),which contains 8-formyl flavin adenine dinucleotide(FAD),exhibits a distinct advantage in utilizing ambient oxygen molecules for the oxidation of formic acid compared to other glucose-methanol-cho...Formate oxidase(FOx),which contains 8-formyl flavin adenine dinucleotide(FAD),exhibits a distinct advantage in utilizing ambient oxygen molecules for the oxidation of formic acid compared to other glucose-methanol-choline(GMC)oxidoreductase enzymes that contain only the standard FAD cofactor.The FOx-mediated conversion of FAD to 8-formyl FAD results in an approximate 10-fold increase in formate oxidase activity.However,the mechanistic details underlying the autocatalytic formation of 8-formyl FAD are still not well understood,which impedes further utilization of FOx.In this study,we employ molecular dynamics simulation,QM/MM umbrella sampling simulation,enzyme activity assay,site-directed mutagenesis,and spectroscopic analysis to elucidate the oxidation mechanism of FAD to 8-formyl FAD.Our results reveal that a catalytic water molecule,rather than any catalytic amino acids,serves as a general base to deprotonate the C8 methyl group on FAD,thus facilitating the formation of a quinone-methide tautomer intermediate.An oxygen molecule subsequently oxidizes this intermediate,resulting in a C8 methyl hydroperoxide anion that is protonated and dissociated to form OHC-RP and OH−.During the oxidation of FAD to 8-formyl FAD,the energy barrier for the rate-limiting step is calculated to be 22.8 kcal/mol,which corresponds to the required 14-hour transformation time observed experimentally.Further,the elucidated oxidation mechanism reveals that the autocatalytic formation of 8-formyl FAD depends on the proximal arginine and serine residues,R87 and S94,respectively.Enzymatic activity assay validates that the mutation of R87 to lysine reduces the kcat value to 75%of the wild-type,while the mutation to histidine results in a complete loss of activity.Similarly,the mutant S94I also leads to the deactivation of enzyme.This dependency arises because the nucleophilic OH−group and the quinone-methide tautomer intermediate are stabilized through the noncovalent interaction provided by R87 and S94.These findings not only explain the mechanistic details of each reaction step but also clarify the functional role of R87 and S94 during the oxidative maturation of 8-formyl FAD,thereby providing crucial theoretical support for the development of novel flavoenzymes with enhanced redox properties.展开更多
文摘Myoglobin has important biological functions in storing and transporting small diatomic molecules in human body. Two possible orientations of carbon monoxide （CO） in the heme distal pocket （named as BI and B2 states） of myoglobin have been experimentally indicated. In this study, ab initio quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics （QM/MM） molecular dynamics simulation of CO in myoglobin was carried out to investigate the two possible B states. Our results demonstrate that the B1 and B2 states correspond to Fe... CO （with carbon atom closer to iron center of heme） and Fe... OC （with oxygen atom closer to Fe）, by comparing with the experimental infrared spectrum. QM electrostatic polarization effect on CO brought from the protein and solvent environment is the main driving force, which anchors CO in two distinctive orientations and hinders its rotation. The calculated vibrational frequency shift between the state B1 and B2 is 13.1 cm-1, which is in good agreement with experimental value of 11.5 cm-1. This study also shows that the electric field produced by the solvent plays an important role in assisting protein functions by exerting directional electric field at the active site of the protein, From residue-based electric field decomposition, several residues were found to have most contributions to the total electric field at the CO center, including a few charged residues and three adjacent uncharged polar residues （namely, HIS64, ILE107, and PHE43）. This study provides new physical insights on rational design of enzyme with higher electric field at the active site.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11904036 and 12175081)Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Grant No.CCNU22QNOO4)。
文摘The human serotonin transporter(SERT)terminates neurotransmission by removing serotonin from the synaptic cleft,which is an essential process that plays an important role in depression.In addition to natural substrate serotonin,SERT is also the target of the abused drug cocaine and,clinically used antidepressants,escitalopram,and paroxetine.To date,few studies have attempted to investigate the unbinding mechanism underlying the orthosteric and allosteric modulation of SERT.In this article,the conserved property of the orthosteric and allosteric sites(S1 and S2)of SERT was revealed by combining the high resolutions of x-ray crystal structures and molecular dynamics(MD)simulations.The residues Tyr95 and Ser438 located within the S1 site,and Arg104 located within the S2 site in SERT illustrate conserved interactions(hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions),as responses to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.Van der Waals interactions were keys to designing effective drugs inhibiting SERT and further,electrostatic interactions highlighted escitalopram as a potent antidepressant.We found that cocaine,escitalopram,and paroxetine,whether the S1 site or the S2 site,were more competitive.According to this potential of mean force(PMF)simulations,the new insights reveal the principles of competitive inhibitors that lengths of trails from central SERT to an opening were~18A for serotonin and~22 A for the above-mentioned three drugs.Furthermore,the distance between the natural substrate serotonin and cocaine(or escitalopram)at the allosteric site was~3A.Thus,it can be inferred that the potent antidepressants tended to bind at deeper positions of the S1 or the S2 site of SERT in comparison to the substrate.Continuing exploring the processes of unbinding four ligands against the two target pockets of SERT,this study observed a broad pathway in which serotonin,cocaine,escitalopram(at the S1 site),and paroxetine all were pulled out to an opening between MT1b and MT6a,which may be helpful to understand the dissociation mechanism of antidepressants.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.21876024 and 21677028)the Major International(Regional)Joint Research Project(No.21661142001)+2 种基金the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University(No.IRT_13R05)the Programme of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities(No.B13012)Supercomputing Center of Dalian University of Technology
文摘Various computational methods were employed to investigate the zwitterion formation,a critical step for the reaction of monoethanolamine with CO2,in five solvents(water,monoethanolamine,propylamine,methanol and chloroform)to probe the effect of hydrogen bond capacity of solvents on the reaction of amine with CO2 occurring in the amine-based CO2 capture process.The results indicate that the zwitterion can be formed in all considered solvents except chloroform.For two pairs of solvents(methanol and monoethanolamine,propylamine and chloroform)with similar dielectric constant but different hydrogen bond capacity,the solvents with higher hydrogen bond capacity(monoethanolamine and propylamine)facilitate the zwitterion formation.More importantly,kinetics parameters such as activation free energy for the zwitterion formation are more relevant to the hydrogen bond capacity than to dielectric constant of the considered solvents,clarifying the hydrogen bond capacity could be more important than dielectric constant in determining the kinetics of monoethanolamine with CO2.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.21903002)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(No.YWF-22-L-629).
文摘3CL protease(3CLpro)is the main protease(Mpro)found in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2),which cuts the coronavirus polyprotein at eleven conserved sites and is essential for the virus replication.Therefore,3CLpro has been widely used as a promising drug target.Many small-molecule drug candidates targeting 3CLpro have been proposed to inhibit the virus replication.In this work,we aim to reveal detailed interactions between ten small candidate molecules with extensive attention and 3CLpro using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations.First,we identified the possible binding sites of these candidate molecules on 3CLpro via molecular docking.Then,a series of 100 ns all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of strongest binding modes were performed to further evaluate the dynamical interactions between the molecules and 3CLpro in detail.Last,the binding free energy of these molecules on 3CLpro was calculated using MM/PBSA calculation,where the contribution of key amino acids was highlighted.The binding kinetics revealed in this work may provide useful insights into the action mechanism and applicability of these small-molecule drug candidates.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(32201030,32271319 and 32071267)the Science and Technology Department of Jilin Province(20230402041GH and YDZJ202301ZYTS537)+2 种基金the Education Department of Jilin Province(JJKH20220970KJ)the Development and Reform Commission of Jilin Province(2023C015)the Fundamental Research Funds of the Central Universities in China(2024-JCXK-11).
文摘Formate oxidase(FOx),which contains 8-formyl flavin adenine dinucleotide(FAD),exhibits a distinct advantage in utilizing ambient oxygen molecules for the oxidation of formic acid compared to other glucose-methanol-choline(GMC)oxidoreductase enzymes that contain only the standard FAD cofactor.The FOx-mediated conversion of FAD to 8-formyl FAD results in an approximate 10-fold increase in formate oxidase activity.However,the mechanistic details underlying the autocatalytic formation of 8-formyl FAD are still not well understood,which impedes further utilization of FOx.In this study,we employ molecular dynamics simulation,QM/MM umbrella sampling simulation,enzyme activity assay,site-directed mutagenesis,and spectroscopic analysis to elucidate the oxidation mechanism of FAD to 8-formyl FAD.Our results reveal that a catalytic water molecule,rather than any catalytic amino acids,serves as a general base to deprotonate the C8 methyl group on FAD,thus facilitating the formation of a quinone-methide tautomer intermediate.An oxygen molecule subsequently oxidizes this intermediate,resulting in a C8 methyl hydroperoxide anion that is protonated and dissociated to form OHC-RP and OH−.During the oxidation of FAD to 8-formyl FAD,the energy barrier for the rate-limiting step is calculated to be 22.8 kcal/mol,which corresponds to the required 14-hour transformation time observed experimentally.Further,the elucidated oxidation mechanism reveals that the autocatalytic formation of 8-formyl FAD depends on the proximal arginine and serine residues,R87 and S94,respectively.Enzymatic activity assay validates that the mutation of R87 to lysine reduces the kcat value to 75%of the wild-type,while the mutation to histidine results in a complete loss of activity.Similarly,the mutant S94I also leads to the deactivation of enzyme.This dependency arises because the nucleophilic OH−group and the quinone-methide tautomer intermediate are stabilized through the noncovalent interaction provided by R87 and S94.These findings not only explain the mechanistic details of each reaction step but also clarify the functional role of R87 and S94 during the oxidative maturation of 8-formyl FAD,thereby providing crucial theoretical support for the development of novel flavoenzymes with enhanced redox properties.
