Electrostatic Energy Contributions Research Articles

Effect of oxidation kinetic aging on the adhesion behaviour of asphalt-aggregate interfaces from molecular view

ABSTRACT Asphalt oxidation kinetic aging effect on the adhesion behavior of asphalt-aggregate interfaces at atomistic scale was investigated in this study. The asphalts were aged at different aging durations. The sulfoxide and carbonyl functional group content as well as SARA fractions of the asphalts at different aging times were studied through the tests of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Saturate, Aromatic, Resin and Asphaltene (SARA) fractions. Asphalt molecular models of virgin, rapid-rate aged, slow-rate aged and full-aged were established based on SARA fractions and FTIR results, to construct asphalt quartz and asphalt-calcite interface systems at different aging stages. The simulation results showed that the nanostructure of asphalt is influenced by the aggregate type and asphalt oxidative aging. The growth rates of adhesion energy of asphalt-quartz and asphalt-calcite systems increase rapidly first and then slowly with aging time, but the growth rates are different. Meanwhile, the Van der Waals energy is the major energy source of adhesion energy, and the contribution of van der Waals and electrostatic energy to adhesion energy is different. The aging of asphaltene and resin promotes the adhesion ability to quartz or calcite, while the aging of aromatic components is not conducive and the saturate has almost no effect.

Structure directing interactions in the crystals of o-hydroxyaryl/naphthyl derived aldimines: X-ray structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis, DFT and Molecular docking studies

We have synthesized and thoroughly analyzed many intermolecular interactions present in (E)-1-(((3-nitrophenyl)amino)methylene)naphthalen-2(1H)-one (a), (E)-5-(diethylamino)-2-(((3-nitrophenyl)imino)methyl)phenol(b) and (E)-2-(((3-nitrophenyl)imino)methyl)phenol (c). Compounds a (keto-amine tautomeric form) and b, which have one molecule in the asymmetric unit, crystallize in the monoclinic crystal system with space groups P21/n and C2/c, respectively. Compound C, on the other hand, crystallizes in an orthorhombic crystal structure with the space group Pca21. The structural analysis showed that the construction of ring motifs to stabilize the crystal packing involves several interactions, including pi stacking interactions, NH…O, and CH…O interactions. Hirshfeld surface analysis has been used to examine their solid-state structures, including the evaluation of several energy frameworks. The results show that hydrogen bonds play a major role in the formation of the molecular sheets, and that electrostatic energy contribution dominates stability. Using fingerprint plots, it was possible to examine the variations and commonalities in the target compounds' relative contributions from noncovalent interactions. In addition, B3LYP hybrid functional with 6- 311 G (d, p) level basis set was used in the density functional theory computations to optimize the structural coordinates. Through the examination of the molecular electrostatic potential surface, the chemically active areas of the target imine molecules were located. Additionally, using the internal ribosome entry site of the Hepatitis C virus ED42 (PDB-ID 3T4B), molecular docking of the title compounds was performed based on PASS analysis and literature findings.

Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis, calculations of crystal voids, inter-action energy and energy frameworks as well as density functional theory (DFT) calculations of 3-[2-(morpholin-4-yl)eth-yl]-5,5-di-phenyl-imidazolidine-2,4-dione.

In the title mol-ecule, C21H23N3O3, the imidazolidine ring slightly deviates from planarity and the morpholine ring exhibits the chair conformation. In the crystal, N-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds form helical chains of mol-ecules extending parallel to the c axis that are connected by C-H⋯π(ring) inter-actions. A Hirshfeld surface analysis reveals that the most important contributions for the crystal packing are from H⋯H (55.2%), H⋯C/C⋯H (22.6%) and H⋯O/O⋯H (20.5%) inter-actions. The volume of the crystal voids and the percentage of free space were calculated to be 236.78 Å3 and 12.71%, respectively. Evaluation of the electrostatic, dispersion and total energy frameworks indicates that the stabilization is dominated by the nearly equal electrostatic and dispersion energy contributions. The DFT-optimized mol-ecular structure at the B3LYP/6-311 G(d,p) level is compared with the experimentally determined mol-ecular structure in the solid state. Moreover, the HOMO-LUMO behaviour was elucidated to determine the energy gap.

Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis, crystal voids, interaction energy calculations and energy frameworks and DFT calculations of ethyl 2-cyano-3-(3-hydroxy-5-methyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-3-phenylpropanoate

The title compound, C16H17N3O3, is racemic as it crystallizes in a centrosymmetric space group (P\overline{1}), although the trans disposition of substituents about the central C—C bond is established. The five- and six-membered rings are oriented at a dihedral angle of 75.88 (8)°. In the crystal, N—H...N hydrogen bonds form chains of molecules extending along the c-axis direction that are connected by inversion-related pairs of O—H...N into ribbons. The ribbons are linked by C—H...π(ring) interactions, forming layers parallel to the ab plane. A Hirshfeld surface analysis indicates that the most important contributions for the crystal packing are from H...H (45.9%), H...N/N...H (23.3%), H...C/C...H (16.2%) and H...O/O...H (12.3%) interactions. Hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions are the dominant interactions in the crystal packing. The volume of the crystal voids and the percentage of free space were calculated to be 100.94 Å3 and 13.20%, showing that there is no large cavity in the crystal packing. Evaluation of the electrostatic, dispersion and total energy frameworks indicates that the stabilization is dominated by the electrostatic energy contributions in the title compound. Moreover, the DFT-optimized structure at the B3LYP/6–311 G(d,p) level is compared with the experimentally determined molecular structure in the solid state. The HOMO–LUMO behaviour was elucidated to determine the energy gap.

Deciphering insights into the binding mechanism and plasticity of Telacebec with M. tuberculosis cytochrome bcc-aa3 supercomplex through an unbiased molecular dynamics simulation, free-energy analysis, and DFT study

The cytochrome bcc-aa3 supercomplex, a key component in the electron transport chain pathway involved in bacterial energy production and homeostasis, is a clinically validated target for tuberculosis (TB), leading to Telacebec (Q203). Telacebec is a potent candidate drug under Phase II clinical development for the treatment of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB. Recently, the cryo-electron microscopy structure of this supercomplex from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) complexed with Q203 was resolved at 6.9 Å resolution (PDB ID: 7E1W). To understand the binding site (QP site) flexibility and Q203’s stability at the QP site of the Mtb cytochrome bcc complex, we conducted molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and free energy analysis on this complex in an explicit hydrated lipid bilayer environment for 500 ns. Through this study, the persistence of a range of direct and indirect interactions was observed over the course of the simulation. The significance of the interactions with His375, Tyr161, Ala178, Ala179, Ile183, His355, Leu356, and Thr313 is underlined. Electrostatic energy was the primary source of the net binding free energy, regardless of the important interacting residues. The overall binding free energy for Q203 was −112.84 ± 7.73 kcal/mol, of which the electrostatic and lipophilic energy contributions were −116.31 ± 1.14 and −21.32 ± 2.35 kcal/mol, respectively. Meanwhile, DFT calculations were utilized to elucidate Q203’s molecular properties. Overall, this study deciphers key insights into the cytochrome bcc-aa3 supercomplex with Q203 on the ground of molecular mechanics and quantum mechanics that may facilitate structure-based drug design and optimization for the discovery of the next-generation antitubercular drug(s). Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis, inter-molecular inter-action energies, energy frameworks and DFT calculations of 4-amino-1-(prop-2-yn-1-yl)pyrimidin-2(1H)-one.

In the title mol-ecule, C7H7N3O, the pyrimidine ring is essentially planar, with the propynyl group rotated out of this plane by 15.31 (4)°. In the crystal, a tri-periodic network is formed by N-H⋯O, N-H⋯N and C-H⋯O hydrogen-bonding and slipped π-π stacking inter-actions, leading to narrow channels extending parallel to the c axis. Hirshfeld surface analysis of the crystal structure reveals that the most important contributions for the crystal packing are from H⋯H (36.2%), H⋯C/C⋯H (20.9%), H⋯O/O⋯H (17.8%) and H⋯N/N⋯H (12.2%) inter-actions, showing that hydrogen-bonding and van der Waals inter-actions are the dominant inter-actions in the crystal packing. Evaluation of the electrostatic, dispersion and total energy frameworks indicates that the stabilization is dominated by the electrostatic energy contributions. The mol-ecular structure optimized by density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-311 G(d,p) level is compared with the experimentally determined structure in the solid state. The HOMO-LUMO behaviour was also elucidated to determine the energy gap.

Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface and crystal void analysis, inter-molecular inter-action energies, DFT calculations and energy frameworks of 2H-benzo[b][1,4]thia-zin-3(4H)-one 1,1-dioxide.

In the title mol-ecule, C8H7NO3S, the nitro-gen atom has a planar environment, and the thia-zine ring exhibits a screw-boat conformation. In the crystal, corrugated layers of mol-ecules parallel to the ab plane are formed by N-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds together with C-H⋯π(ring) and S=O⋯π(ring) inter-actions. The layers are connected by additional C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds and π-stacking inter-actions. Hirshfeld surface analysis indicates that the most important contributions for the crystal packing are from H⋯O/O⋯H (49.4%), H⋯H (23.0%) and H⋯C/C⋯H (14.1%) inter-actions. The volume of the crystal voids and the percentage of free space were calculated as 75.4 Å3 and 9.3%. Density functional theory (DFT) computations revealed N-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen-bonding energies of 43.3, 34.7 and 34.4 kJ mol-1, respectively. Evaluation of the electrostatic, dispersion and total energy frameworks indicate that the stabilization is dominated via the electrostatic energy contribution. Moreover, the DFT-optimized structure at the B3LYP/ 6-311 G(d,p) level is compared with the experimentally determined mol-ecular structure in the solid state. The HOMO-LUMO behaviour was elucidated to determine the energy gap.

The role of glycerol–water mixtures in the stability of FKBP12-rapalog-FRB complexes

The thermodynamic and biophysical implications of the introduction of a co-solvent during protein-ligand binding remain elusive. Using ternary complexes of 12-kDa FK506 binding protein (FKBP12), FKBP-rapamycin binding (FRB) domain of the mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase, and rapamycin analogs (rapalogs) in glycerol–water mixtures, the influence of solvent composition on ligand binding dynamics was explored. The pharmaceutical potential of rapalogs and the utility of glycerol as a co-solvent in drug delivery applications were critical in deciding the system to be studied. Consolidation of existing studies on rapamycin modification was first performed to strategically design a new rapalog called T1. The results from 100-ns dual-boost Gaussian accelerated molecular dynamics simulations showed that protein stability was induced in the presence of glycerol. Reweighting of the trajectories revealed that the glycerol-rich solvent system lowers the energy barrier in the conformational space of the protein while also preserving native contacts between the ligand and the residues in the binding site. Calculated binding free energies using MM/GBSA also showed that electrostatic energy and polar contribution of solvation energy are heavily influenced by the changes in solvation. Glycerol molecules are preferentially excluded through electrostatic interactions from the solvation shell which induce complex stability as seen in existing experiments. Hence, using glycerol as a co-solvent in rapamycin delivery has a significant role in maintaining stability. In addition, compound T1 is a potential mTORC1-selective inhibitor with strong affinity for the FKBP12-FRB complex. This study aims to provide insights on the design of new rapalogs, and the applicability of glycerol as co-solvent for FKBP12-rapalog-FRB complexes.

Graphene Oxide Hosting a pH-Sensitive Prodrug: An In Silico Investigation of Graphene Oxide-Based Nanovehicle toward Cancer Therapy.

Prodrug and drug delivery systems are two effective strategies for improving the selectivity of chemotherapeutics. Herein, via molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and free energy calculation, the effectiveness of the graphene oxide (GO) decorated with the pH-sensitive prodrug (PD) molecules in cancer therapy is investigated. PEI-CA-DOX (prodrug) was loaded onto the GO surface, in which the hydrogen bonding and pi-pi stacking interactions play the main role in the stability of the GO-PD complex. Due to the strong interaction of GO and PD (about -800 kJ/mol), the GO-PD complex remains stable during the membrane penetration process. The obtained results confirm that GO is a suitable surface for hosting the prodrug and passing it through the membrane. Furthermore, the investigation of the release process shows that the PD can be released under acidic conditions. This phenomenon is due to the reduction of the contribution of electrostatic energy in the GO and PD interaction and the entry of water into the drug delivery system. Moreover, it is found that an external electrical field does not have much effect on drug release. Our results provide a deep understanding of the prodrug delivery systems, which helps the combination of nanocarriers and modified chemotherapy drugs in the future.

Synthesis of Spirooxindoles and Study of their Self‐Assembly features; Hirshfeld Surface, Energy Framework andIn Silicoanalysis

AbstractIn this study, the 2‐oxospiro[indoline‐3,4′‐pyran]‐5′‐carbonitrile derivatives were synthesized, crystallized, and their molecular geometries were established by the SCXRD method. The significance of weak intermolecular interactions in the self‐assembly of 2‐oxospiro[indoline‐3,4′‐pyran]‐5′‐carbonitriles was then investigated. The supramolecular framework analysis indicated that 2‐oxospiro[indoline‐3,4′‐pyran]‐5′‐carbonitriles establish their network in self‐assembly mainly by N−H⋅⋅⋅O, N−H⋅⋅⋅N, C−H⋅⋅⋅O, C−H⋅⋅⋅C, C−H⋅⋅⋅N, and C−H⋅⋅⋅π interactions. The energy framework analysis revealed the dominant contribution of electrostatic energy in the crystal packing of the titled compounds. The PASS prediction of the titled compounds has shown a reasonably good affinity towards Insulin‐regulated aminopeptidase. Further, the molecular docking study with Insulin‐regulated aminopeptidase receptor has shown the higher affinity of the titled compounds to the zinc binding pocket over the other pockets.

Molecular electrostatics and pKa shifts calculations with the Generalized Born model. A tutorial through examples with Bluues2

Biomolecular electrostatics is of key importance for biological function and recognition. The continuum electrostatic model based on the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation has been widely used to study biomolecular electrostatics. The solution of the PB equation gives the electrostatic potential over the space enclosing the molecule(s) of interest, typically obtained at points of a suitable grid.The Generalized Born (GB) model has been used to provide a useful approximation to the solution obtained by solving numerically the PB equation. The main advantage of the GB approach is to express the electrostatic energy of the system as the sum of pairwise interactions. The latter depend on geometric parameters (the GB radii) which depend on all atoms, and their radii, of the system. In this work we present a tutorial through examples for a more efficient and general version of the program Bluues which is able to compute:1) the generalized Born radius of each atom;2) the electrostatic potential at the surface of the molecule mapped to solvent accessible atoms;3) the solvent accessible surface in a PDB formatted file;4) the electrostatic potential in the volume surrounding the molecule;5) the electrostatic free energy and different contributions to it;6) the pH-dependent properties of proteins (total charge and pH-dependent free energy of folding) in the pH range −4 to 18;7) the pKa shifts due to molecular structure of all ionizable groups. Program summaryProgram Title: bluues2CPC Library link to program files:https://doi.org/10.17632/bx98gcrzbg.1Developer's repository link:https://github.com/federico-fogolari/bluues2Code Ocean capsule:https://codeocean.com/capsule/9338710Licensing provisions: GPLv3Programming language: CNature of problem: Biomolecular electrostatics is of key importance for biological function and recognition. Computation of electrostatic effects and their dissection in atomic contributions is a general problem in molecular modeling.Solution method: The GBR6 version of the Generalized Born (GB) model is implemented through surface integrals and all common molecular electrostatic analyses are performed by a single command line program.Additional comments including restrictions and unusual features: The program requires, as input, files in pqr format, which may be generated by independent software (e.g. babel, pdb2pqr). For the optional generation of the solvent excluded surface, the software msms must be installed and present in the path.

Hydrogen-bonding interactions involving the Imidazol-2‑ylidene and its Heavy-atom analogues

The hydrogen-bonded complexes formed between the imidazol-2‑ylidene and its heavier congeners C2H4N2T: (T = C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb) and the three selected electron acceptors (HF, HCN and C2H2) have been optimized at the aug-cc-pVTZ level, and the nature of these complexes has been investigated by natural bond orbital (NBO), atoms in molecules (AIM) and energy decomposition analyses. The complexes can be classified into type-A structure and type-B structure according to the location of the electron acceptors. The electron acceptors are around T atoms of C2H4N2T: for the type-A complexes, and the electron acceptors are above the five-membered ring (π-system) of C2H4N2T: for the type-B complexes. The electron-donating ability of T atoms becomes weaker, and that of π-systems becomes stronger when T atoms become heavier for C2H4N2T:, which is consistent with the molecular electrostatic potentials (MEP) maps of C2H4N2T:. For a given C2H4N2T:, the Eint values of the type-A complexes go in the order HF > HCN > C2H2, and the Eint values of the type-B complexes go in the order HF ≈ HCN > C2H2. The contribution of electrostatic energy to the interaction energy of complexes becomes smaller for the type-A complexes when the T atoms become heavier. The interaction energies are dominated by the electrostatic energies for all the type-B complexes involving HF, and the interaction energies are dominated by the dispersion energies for most type-B complexes involving HCN and C2H2. The relaxed potential energy surface scans were performed for some selected complexes involving HF and HCN to examine the difference in binding behavior between HF and HCN.

Study of self-assembly features in 4H-pyrans: Synthesis, Hirshfeld surface, and energy framework analysis

In this study, the 4H-pyran derivatives were synthesized and crystallized, and their structures were established by the single-crystal x-ray diffraction method. The importance of noncovalent interactions in the supramolecular framework of the 4H-pyrans was investigated and demonstrated. The supramolecular framework analysis showed that 4H-pyrans expand their network in crystal packing mainly by NH···N, NH···O, CH···N, CH···O hydrogen bonds, and CH···π interactions. The energy framework calculations showed the high contribution of electrostatic energy for the molecular pairs connected by NH···N interactions. Further, the molecular docking study was performed to study the noncovalent interactions between the 4H-pyran derivatives and the beta-adrenoreceptors (β1-AR and β2-AR). This gave insights about the antagonistic property of 4H-pyrans as anti-ischemic agents.

Insights into Binding Affinity of Flavonoid Compounds from Thai Herbs against 2009 H1N1 Hemagglutinin

Outbreak of influenza virus is one of serious concerns for public health. Hemagglutinin (HA), a spike-shaped glycoprotein on the viral surface, plays an important role during the early stage of influenza infection. In the present work, a set of flavonoids were screened against 2009 H1N1 HA by computational chemistry techniques. Among 35 flavonoids, the docking results showed that the epicatechin gallate (ECG) and puerarin exhibited a good binding affinity towards 2009 H1N1 HA. These 2 compounds were then studied by all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The predicted binding free energy of the H1-puerarin complex (–25.86 ± 2.92 kcal/mol) was slightly greater than that of H1-ECG (–22.81 ± 2.19 kcal/mol), suggesting that the puerarin and ECG could provide similar binding affinity towards 2009 H1 HA target. However, the stronger electrostatic energy contribution of ~10 kcal/mol was found in the puerarin binding to 2009 H1N1 HA. This molecular information of ligand-protein interaction could be helpful in further drug design and development for influenza treatment.
 HIGHLIGHTS
 
 The 35 flavonoid bioactive compounds were screened against 2009 H1N1 HA by molecular docking
 The epicatechin gallate (ECG) and puerarin exhibited a good binding affinity and were then studied by all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations
 The predicted binding free energy revealed that the puerarin and ECG could provide similar binding affinity towards 2009 H1 HA target
 
 GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Molecular Docking as a Tool to Examine Organic Cation Sorption to Organic Matter.

Molecular docking simulations were performed to examine the structural effects of organic cations on their sorption to organic matter. A set of benzylamine compounds was used to assess the sorption trends arising from the systematic structural differences between ring or nitrogen substituents. Binding simulations were performed using AutoDock 4.2 with Schulten's proposed soil organic matter as a representative organic matter structure. The calculated binding energies for the sorbate compounds correlated strongly with the measured sorption energies for Pahokee peat, indicating that the simulated binding energies and their associated sorbate orientations were representative of the experimental conditions. Graphical docking orientations showed primary, secondary, and tertiary aminium compounds to form hydrogen-bond interactions with deprotonated carboxylic acid groups in a pocket of the organic matter structure. Quaternary ammonium compounds formed pi-pi or cation-pi interactions with the aromatic groups elsewhere in the same organic matter pocket. Ring substituents showed no clear trends in sorption energies with the substituent group type for primary aminium compounds. Rather, substituent groups altered the simulated van der Waals, electrostatic, hydrogen-bond, and desolvation energy contributions to the overall sorption energies, in part because of the variations in docking orientations between compounds. Increasing methyl substitution of the aminium nitrogen group was associated with an increase in van der Waals energy contributions and a decrease in electrostatic energy contributions to the overall compound sorption energies because of aminium charge delocalization into methyl substituents and steric hindrance from methyl substituents to form specific interactions. The findings illustrate how molecular docking can be used to explore the effects of organic cation structure on sorption interactions with organic matter.

Crystal engineering of a co-crystal of antipyrine and 2-chlorobenzoic acid: relative energetic contributions based on multipolar refinement

The growth and stability of a new 1 : 1 antipyrene–dichlorobenzoic acid cocrystal system has been analyzed in terms of electron density analysis and electrostatic interaction energy contributions.

Insight into structure, stability and hydrogen bond in complexes of guanine and thymine at the molecular level using computational chemical method

Nine stable structures of complexes formed by interaction of guanine with thymine were located on potential energy surface at B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p). The complexes are quite stable with interaction energy from -5,8 to -17,7 kcal.mol-1. Strength of complexes are contributed by hydrogen bonds, in which a pivotal role of N−H×××O/N overcoming C−H×××O/N hydrogen bond, up to to 3.5 times, determines stabilization of complexes investigated. It is found that polarity of N/C−H covalent bond over proton affinity of N/O site governs stability of hydrogen bond in the complexes. The obtained results show that the N/C−H×××O/N red-shifting hydrogen bonds occur in all complexes, and a larger magnitude of an elongation of N−H compared C-H bond length accompanied by a decrease of its stretching frequency is detected in the N/C−H×××O/N hydrogen bond upon complexation. The SAPT2+ analysis indicates the substantial contribution of attractive electrostatic energy versus the induction and dispersion terms in stabilizing the complexes.

Molecular interpretation of the carbon nitride performance as a template for the transport of anti-cancer drug into the biological membrane

Evaluation of interaction mechanism between 2-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials and cell membranes is a critical issue in providing guidelines for biomedical applications. Recent progress in computer-aided molecular design tools, especially molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, afford a cost-effective approach to achieving this goal. In this work, based on this hypothesis, by utilizing theoretical methods including MD simulation and free energy calculations, a process is evaluated in which the Doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded onto carbon nitride (CN) nanosheet faced with bilayer membrane. It should be mentioned that to achieve an efficient CN-based drug delivery system (DDS), in the first place, the intermolecular interaction between the carrier and DOX is investigated. The obtained results show that the DOX prefers a parallel orientation with respect to the CN surface via the formation of π–π stacking and H-bond interactions. Furthermore, the adsorption energy value between the drug and the carrier is evaluated at about − 312 kJ/mol. Moreover, the investigation of the interaction between the CN-DOX complex and the membrane reveals that due to the presence of polar heads in the lipid bilayer, the contribution of electrostatic energy is higher than the van der Waals energy. The global minimum in free energy surface of the DDS is located between the head groups of the cell membrane. Overall, it can be concluded that the CN nanosheet is a suitable candidate for transfer and stabilize DOX on the membrane.

Deciphering the competitive inhibition of dihydropteroate synthase by 8 marcaptoguanine analogs: enhanced potency in phenylsulfonyl fragments

The emergence of sulfa-drug resistance and reduced efficacy of pterin-based analogs towards Dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) inhibition dictate a pressing need of developing novel antimicrobial agents for immune-compromised patients. Recently, a series of 8-Marcaptoguanin (8-MG) derivatives synthesized for 6-Hydroxymethyl-7,8-dihydropterin pyrophosphokinase (experimental KD ∼ 100–.0.36) showed remarkable homology with the pteroic-acid and serve as a template for product antagonism in DHPS. The present work integrates ligand-based drug discovery techniques with structure-based docking, enhanced MD simulation, and MM/PBSA techniques to demonstrate the essential features of 8-MG analogs which make it a potent inhibitor for DHPS. The delicate balance in hydrophilic, hydrophobic substitutions on the 8-MG core is the crucial signature for DHPS inhibition. It is found that the dynamic interactions of active compounds are mainly dominated by consistent hydrogen bonding network with Asp 96, Asn 115, Asp 185, Ser 222, Arg 255 and π-π stacking, π-cation interactions with Phe 190, Lys 221. Further, two new 8-MG compounds containing N-phenylacetamide (compound S1, ΔGbind-eff = –62.03 kJ/mol) and phenylsulfonyl (compound S3, ΔGbind-eff = −71.29 kJ/mol) fragments were found to be the most potent inhibitor of DHPS, which stabilize the flexible pABA binding loop, thereby increasing their binding affinity. MM/PBSA calculation shows electrostatic energy contribution to be the principal component in stabilizing the inhibitors in the binding pocket. This fact is further confirmed by the higher energy barrier obtained in umbrella sampling for this class of inhibitors.

Hidden electrostatic energy contributions define dynamic allosteric communications within p53 during molecular recognition

Molecular recognition is fundamental to transcription regulation. As a transcription factor, the tumor suppressor p53 has to recognize either specific DNA sequences or repressor protein partners. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the p53 conformational switch from the DNA-bound to repressor-bound states is not fully characterized. The highly charged nature of these interacting molecules prompted us to explore the nonbonded energy contributions behind molecular recognition of either a DNA or the repressor protein iASPP by p53 DNA binding domain (p53DBD), using molecular dynamics simulation followed by rigorous analyses of energy terms. Our results illuminate the allosteric pathway by which iASPP binding to p53 diminishes binding affinity between p53 and DNA. Even though the p53DBD uses a common framework of residues for recognizing both DNA and iASPP, a comparison of the electrostatics in the two p53DBD complexes revealed significant differences in residue-wise contributions to the electrostatic energy. We found that an electrostatic allosteric communication path exists in the presence of both substrates. It consists of evolutionarily conserved residues, from residue K120 of the binding loop L1 to a distal residue R213 of p53DBD. K120 is near the DNA in the p53DBD-DNA complex, whereas iASPP binding moves it away from its DNA binding position in the p53DBD-iASPP complex. The “energy hubs” (the residues show a higher degree of connectivity with other residues in the electrostatic networks) determined from the electrostatic network analysis established that this conformational change in K120 completely rewires the electrostatic network from K120 to R213, thereby impeding DNA binding. Furthermore, we found shifting populations of hydrogen bonds and salt bridges reduce pairwise electrostatic energies within p53DBD in its DNA-bound state.