Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis of the new potent sulfonylureas using comparative molecular similarity indices analysis

The present study describes the implementation of a new three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) technique: comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) to a set of novel herbicidal sulfonylureas targeted acetolactate synthase. Field expressions in terms of similarity indices in CoMSIA were applied instead of the usually used Lennard-Jones and Coulomb-type potentials in CoMFA. Two different kinds of alignment techniques including field-fit alignment and atom-by-atom fits were used to produce the molecular aggregate. The results indicated that those two alignment rules generated comparative 3D-QSAR models with similar statistical significance. However, from the predictive ability of the test set, the models from the alignment after maximal steric and electrostatic optimization were slightly better than those from the simple atom-by-atom fits. Moreover, systematic variations of some parameters in CoMSIA were performed to search the best 3D-QSAR model. A significant cross-validated q2 was obtained, indicating the predictive potential of the model for the untested compounds; meanwhile the predicted biological activities of the five compounds in the test set were in good agreement with the experimental values. The CoMSIA coefficient contour plots identified several key features explaining the wide range of activities, which were very valuable for us in tracing the properties that really matter and getting insight into the potential mechanisms of the intermolecular interactions between inhibitor and receptor, especially with respect to the design of new compounds.     

Implementation and use of the method of prudent ascent in conformational analysis using molecular mechanics

In two-dimensional conformational analysis the current practice is to perform an energy minimization for all possible combinations of two dihedral angles in the molecule, in a fixed order, and apply a certain dihedral angle step-size. A newly developed method is presented in which the order of the evaluation points on the energy-surface is not fixed, but is dependent on all previous results in a way which we call “the method of prudent ascent.” In this method the most promising calculation is carried out first, thus minimizing the risk of atomic collisions. In order to be able to take care of the many additional degrees of conformational freedom present in, e.g., carbohydrate molecules, all minimizations are performed using a set of different promising starting conformations on the basis of previous calculations, and only the lowest energy result for each point is saved. An application of the method to conformational analysis of methyl-cellobiose and the artificial sweetener trichlorogalactosucrose is also presented.     

Camdas: An automated conformational analysis system using molecular dynamics

We present an automated conformational analysis program, CAMDAS (Conformational Analyzer with Molecular Dynamics And Sampling). CAMDAS performs molecular dynamics (MD) calculations for a target molecule and samples conformers from the trajectory of the MD. The program then evaluates the similarities between each of the sampled conformers in terms of the root- mean-square deviations of the atomic positions, clusters similar conformers, and finally prints out the clustered conformers. This MD-based conformational analysis is a broadly used method, and CAMDAS is intended to provide a convenient framework for the method. CAMDAS has the ability to find the representative conformers automatically from an arbitrarily given structure of the molecule. The accuracy of the program was examined using N- acetylalanine-N-methylamide, and the obtained result was consistent with that of the systematic search method. In the test calculation of cyclodecane, CAMDAS could identify most of the known conformers and their conformational enantiomers by examining only 5000 conformers. In addition, the potential-scaled method, which we have developed previously as an accelerating technique for MD, could find two additional conformers of cyclodecane that have not been reported. CAMDAS presents a convenient way to find the energetically possible conformers of a molecule, which is needed especially in the early stage of drug design.     

Design and synthesis of N-terminal cyclic motilin partial peptides: a novel pure motilin antagonist

Motilin antagonist was designed and synthesized on the basis of the structure-activity relationship analysis of porcine motilin that we reported recently. The drug design was performed on a specific concept to reduce a flexibility of peptide conformation of porcine motilin partial peptide by its cyclization. The cyclic peptide was synthesized using Boc (tert-butyloxycarbonyl) solid phase methodology, followed by cyclization using the azide procedure, and tested for the binding activity to motilin receptor and smooth muscle contractile activity. The cyclic peptides 3, 4, and 5 showed antagonistic property on contraction assay (pA2 [the negative logarithm of molar concentration of antagonist causing a 2-hold shift to the right of the concentration-response curve for motilin]: 4.5, 4.34, and 4.04, respectively, in rabbit duodenum) and no contractile activity even at high concentration.     

Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship of nucleosides acting at the A3 adenosine receptor: analysis of binding and relative efficacy

The binding affinity and relative maximal efficacy of human A3 adenosine receptor (AR) agonists were each subjected to ligand-based three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis. Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) used as training sets a series of 91 structurally diverse adenosine analogues with modifications at the N6 and C2 positions of the adenine ring and at the 3', 4', and 5' positions of the ribose moiety. The CoMFA and CoMSIA models yielded significant cross-validated q2 values of 0.53 (r2 = 0.92) and 0.59 (r2 = 0.92), respectively, and were further validated by an external test set (25 adenosine derivatives), resulting in the best predictive r2 values of 0.84 and 0.70 in each model. Both the CoMFA and the CoMSIA maps for steric or hydrophobic, electrostatic, and hydrogen-bonding interactions well reflected the nature of the putative binding site previously obtained by molecular docking. A conformationally restricted bulky group at the N6 or C2 position of the adenine ring and a hydrophilic and/or H-bonding group at the 5' position were predicted to increase A3AR binding affinity. A small hydrophobic group at N6 promotes receptor activation. A hydrophilic and hydrogen-bonding moiety at the 5' position appears to contribute to the receptor activation process, associated with the conformational change of transmembrane domains 5, 6, and 7. The 3D-CoMFA/CoMSIA model correlates well with previous receptor-docking results, current data of A3AR agonists, and the successful conversion of the A3AR agonist into antagonists by substitution (at N6) or conformational constraint (at 5'-N-methyluronamide).     

Photo-hydrogen-evolving molecular devices driving visible-light-induced water reduction into molecular hydrogen: structure-activity relationship and reaction mechanism

This article summarizes the ongoing studies on the photo-hydrogen-evolving molecular devices (PHEMDs) made up of polypyridyl Ru(II) photosensitizers and Pt(II)-based molecular catalysts, carried out in the authors' group in the last two decades. The H(2)-evolving activities of Pt(II)-based molecular catalysts demonstrated by various experimental evidences are first described. Then the structure-activity relationship, some important factors required for the higher catalytic activity, and several important insights into the mechanism of photochemical H(2) evolution catalyzed by the Ru(II)Pt(II)-based PHEMDs will be discussed in detail.     

An approximate method in using molecular mechanics simulations to study slow protein conformational changes

The broad range of characteristic motions in proteins has limited the applicability of molecular dynamics simulations in studying large-scale conformational transitions. We present an approximate method, making use of standard MD simulations and using a much larger integration time step, to obtain the structural changes for slow systematic motions of large complex systems. We show the applicability of this method by simulating the open to closed Calmodulin calcium binding domain conformational changes. Starting with the Ca2+-bound X-ray structure, and after the removal of the Ca2+ ions, our calculation yielded intermediate conformations during the rearrangement of helices in each Ca2+ binding pocket, leading to a structure with a lowest rmsd of 1.56 A compared to the NMR apo-calmodulin structure.     

ELECT++: Faster conformational search method for docking flexible molecules using molecular similarity

We have developed a program, ELECT++ (Effective LEssening of Conformations by Template molecules in C++), to speed up the conformational search for small flexible molecules using the similar property principle. We apply this principle to molecular shape and, importantly, to molecular flexibility. After molecules in a database are clustered according to flexibility and shape (FCLUST++), additional reagents are generated to screen the conformational space of molecules in each cluster (TEMPLATE++). We call these representative reagents of each cluster template reagents. Template reagents and clustered reagents produce, after reaction, template molecules and clustered molecules, respectively (tREACT++). The conformations of a template molecule are searched in the context of a macromolecular target. Acceptable conformational choices are then applied to all molecules in its cluster, thus effectively biasing conformational space to speed up conformational searches (tSEARCH++). In our incremental search method, it is necessary to calculate the root-mean-square deviations (RMSD) matrix of distances between different conformations of the same molecule to reduce the number of conformations. Instead of calculating the RMSD matrix for all molecules in a cluster, the RMSD matrix of a template molecule is chosen as a reference and applied to all the molecules in its cluster. We demonstrate that FCLUST++ clusters the primary amine reagents from the Available Chemicals Directory (ACD) successfully. The program tSEARCH++ was applied to dihydrofolate reductase with virtual molecules generated by tREACT++ using clustered primary amine reagents. The conformational search by the program tSEARCH++ was about 4.8 times faster than by SEARCH++, with an acceptable range of errors. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 19: 1834–1852, 1998     

Comparative analysis of the conformational profile of substance P using simulated annealing and molecular dynamics

The present study describes an extensive conformational search of substance P using two different computational methods. On the one hand, the peptide was studied using the iterative simulated annealing, and on the other, molecular dynamics simulations at 300 and 400 K. With the former method, the peptide was studied in vacuo with a dielectric constant of 80, whereas using the latter study the peptide was studied in a box of TIP3P water molecules. Analysis of the results obtained using both methodologies was carried out using an in-house methodology using a cluster analysis method based on information theory. Comparison of the two sampling methodologies and the different environment used in the calculations is also analyzed. Finally, the conformational motifs that are characteristic of substance P in a hydrophilic environment are presented and compared with the experimental results available in the literature.     

Quantum-mechanical and molecular mechanics conformational analysis of 1,5-cyclooctadiene

The 1,5-cyclooctadiene (COD) molecule can easily form complexes with transition metals with the molecular structure of various of these complexes being proposed with the aid of X-ray diffraction methods. The fact that the complexes exhibit weak metal-COD bonds makes it very important in inorganic synthesis and catalysis. In this work the potential energy surface (PES) for the COD molecule was comprehensively investigated: first with molecular mechanics (using the MM3 force field); and, in a second stage, at the ab initio Hartree-Fock level of theory employing the 3-21G^*, 6-31G, and 6-31G^* basis sets and also including electron correlation effects at the Moller-Plesset second-order perturbation theory level. This work revealed that there are three distinct conformers of the COD molecule with the predicted lowest energy conformation being in agreement with the proposed structure based on experimental electron diffraction data. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Ginkgolides and glycine receptors: a structure-activity relationship study

Ginkgolides from the Ginkgo biloba tree are diterpenes with a cage structure consisting of six five-membered rings and a unique tBu group. They exert a variety of biological properties. In addition to being antagonists of the platelet activating factor receptor (PAFR), it has recently been shown that native ginkgolides are potent and selective antagonists of the inhibitory glycine receptor. Forty new ginkgolide derivatives have been prepared in good to high yields on milligram scales and investigated for their antagonistic properties at homomeric alpha 1 glycine receptors, thus providing the first structure-activity relationship study of ginkgolides at glycine receptors. A high-throughput screening assay showed that native ginkgolide C was the most potent ligand, and that manipulation of any of the hydroxyl groups led to loss of activity at alpha 1 glycine receptors.     

Geometry optimization and conformational analysis of (C60)N clusters using a dynamic lattice-searching method.

A newly developed unbiased global optimization method, named dynamic lattice searching (DLS), is used to locate putative global minima for all (C6O)N clusters with Girifalco potential up to N=150. A simple greedy strategy is adopted for the basic frame, so DLS has a very high convergence speed and may converge at various configurations. As most structures are packed by basic tetrahedra, some sequences are defined by both configurations and the size of the basic tetrahedra. A sequence-based conformational analysis is carried out with the defined sequences by counting the hit number over 10,000 independent DLS runs for all the cases up to N = 5. It was found that the hit rate of a sequence is related to the size of the basic tetrahedra. U.e of this method proved that the Leary tetrahedral sequence is dominant in a certain range of cluster sizes, although the sequence has no potential energy advantage. The calculation results are also consistent with those of annealing experiments at high temperature, both in magic numbers and height of the peaks in the mass spectrum.     

Vibrational circular dichroism analysis reveals a conformational change of the baccatin III ring of paclitaxel: visualization of conformations using a new code for structure-activity relationships

The comparison between measured and conformer-weighted calculated VCD spectra of the baccatin III ring of paclitaxel and visualization of the conformations using the new code for structure-activity relationships are reported for the first time. The VCD spectrum of paclitaxel closely resembles that of the baccatin III ring. The large characteristic nuCO VCD bands with bisignate signs (1732 cm-1, Deltaepsilon = -1.6 x 10(-1); 1715 cm(-1), Deltaepsilon = 2.4 x 10(-1)) strongly reflect the structural property of the family of conformations bacc-ABC32F defined using the new code. The comparison with the conformation of the baccatin III core in the electron micrograph of the crystal structure of tubulin-paclitaxel (1JFF) suggests a conformational change of paclitaxel corresponding to a switch through the binding with beta-tublin and the intermolecular interactions involving the hydroxyl group (D) and carbonyl of acetoxy group (E). The representation of conformational codes allows complicated conformations to be very easily compared and facilitates future computational analyses such as those for the large-molecule calculations as well as genome analysis.