Xiao-Lei Zhu

Subnanomolar Inhibitor of Cytochrome bc1 Complex Designed by Optimizing Interaction with Conformationally Flexible Residues

Cytochrome bc(1) complex (EC 1.10.2.2, bc(1)), an essential component of the cellular respiratory chain and the photosynthetic apparatus in photosynthetic bacteria, has been identified as a promising target for new drugs and agricultural fungicides. X-ray diffraction structures of the free bc(1) complex and its complexes with various inhibitors revealed that the phenyl group of Phe274 in the binding pocket exhibited significant conformational flexibility upon different inhibitors binding to optimize respective pi-pi interactions, whereas the side chains of other hydrophobic residues showed conformational stability. Therefore, in the present study, a strategy of optimizing the pi-pi interaction with conformationally flexible residues was proposed to design and discover new bc(1) inhibitors with a higher potency. Eight new compounds were designed and synthesized, among which compound 5c, with a K(i) value of 570 pM, was identified as the most promising drug or fungicide candidate, significantly more potent than the commercially available bc(1) inhibitors, including azoxystrobin (AZ), kresoxim-methyl (KM), and pyraclostrobin (PY). To our knowledge, this is the first bc(1) inhibitor discovered from structure-based design with a potency of subnanomolar K(i) value. For all of the compounds synthesized and assayed, the calculated binding free energies correlated reasonably well with the binding free energies derived from the experimental K(i) values, with a correlation coefficient of r(2) = 0.89. The further inhibitory kinetics studies revealed that 5c is a noncompetitive inhibitor with respect to substrate cytochrome c, but it is a competitive inhibitor with respect to substrate ubiquinol. Due to its subnanomolar K(i) potency and slow dissociation rate constant (k(-0) = 0.00358 s(-1)), 5c could be used as a specific probe for further elucidation of the mechanism of bc(1) function and as a new lead compound for future drug discovery.

Computational Discovery of Picomolar Qo Site Inhibitors of Cytochrome bc1 Complex

A critical challenge to the fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) is its low-throughput nature due to the necessity of biophysical method-based fragment screening. Herein, a method of pharmacophore-linked fragment virtual screening (PFVS) was successfully developed. Its application yielded the first picomolar-range Q(o) site inhibitors of the cytochrome bc(1) complex, an important membrane protein for drug and fungicide discovery. Compared with the original hit compound 4 (K(i) = 881.80 nM, porcine bc(1)), the most potent compound 4f displayed 20 507-fold improved binding affinity (K(i) = 43.00 pM). Compound 4f was proved to be a noncompetitive inhibitor with respect to the substrate cytochrome c, but a competitive inhibitor with respect to the substrate ubiquinol. Additionally, we determined the crystal structure of compound 4e (K(i) = 83.00 pM) bound to the chicken bc(1) at 2.70 Å resolution, providing a molecular basis for understanding its ultrapotency. To our knowledge, this study is the first application of the FBDD method in the discovery of picomolar inhibitors of a membrane protein. This work demonstrates that the novel PFVS approach is a high-throughput drug discovery method, independent of biophysical screening techniques.

Design, synthesis, and 3D-QSAR analysis of novel 1,3,4-oxadiazol-2(3H)-ones as protoporphyrinogen oxidase inhibitors.

Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO, EC 1.3.3.4) has been identified as one of the most significant action targets for a large chemically diverse family of herbicides that exhibit some interesting characteristics, such as low use rate, low toxicity to mammals, and low environmental impact. As a continuation of research work on the development of new PPO inhibitors, some benzothiazole analogues of oxadiargyl, an important PPO-inhibiting commercial herbicide, were designed and synthesized by ring-closing of the substituents at the C-4 and C-5 positions. The bioassay results indicated that the series 8, 9, and 10 have good PPO inhibition activity with k(i) values ranging from 0.25 to 18.63 microM. Most interestingly, 9l, ethyl 2-((5-(5-tert-butyl-2-oxo-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2(3H)-yl)-6-fluorobenzothiazol-2-yl)sulfanyl) propanoate, was identified as the most promising candidate due to its high PPO inhibition effect (k(i) = 1.42 microM) and broad spectrum postemergence herbicidal activity at the concentration of 37.5 g of ai/ha.

Syntheses of coumarin–tacrine hybrids as dual-site acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and their activity against butylcholinesterase, Aβ aggregation, and β-secretase

Exploring small-molecule acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors to slow the breakdown of acetylcholine (Ach) represents the mainstream direction for Alzheimers disease (AD) therapy. As the first acetylcholinesterase inhibitor approved for the clinical treatment of AD, tacrine has been widely used as a pharmacophore to design hybrid compounds in order to combine its potent AChE inhibition with other multi-target profiles. In present study, a series of novel tacrine-coumarin hybrids were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potent dual-site AChE inhibitors. Moreover, compound 1g was identified as the most potent candidate with about 2-fold higher potency (Ki=16.7nM) against human AChE and about 2-fold lower potency (Ki=16.1nM) against BChE than tacrine (Ki=35.7nM for AChE, Ki=8.7nM for BChE), respectively. In addition, some of the tacrine-coumarin hybrids showed simultaneous inhibitory effects against both Aβ aggregation and β-secretase. We therefore conclude that tacrine-coumarin hybrid is an interesting multifunctional lead for the AD drug discovery.

Understanding the mechanism of drug resistance due to a codon deletion in protoporphyrinogen oxidase through computational modeling.

Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO; EC 1.3.3.4) is the last common enzyme for the enzymatic transformation of protoporphyrinogen-IX to protoporphyrin-IX, which is the key common intermediate leading to heme and chlorophyll. Hence, PPO has been identified as one of the most importance action targets for the treatment of some important diseases including cancer and variegated porphyria (VP). In the agricultural field, PPO inhibitors have been used as herbicides for many years. Recently, a unique drug resistance was found to be associated with a nonactive site residue (Gly210) deletion rather than substitution in A. tuberculatus PPO. In the present study, extensive computational simulations, including homology modeling, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and molecular mechanics-Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) calculations, have been carried out to uncover the detailed molecular mechanism of drug resistance associated with Gly210 deletion. Although Gly210 in the wild-type A. tuberculatus PPO has no direct interaction with the inhibitors, all the computational models and energetic results indicated that Gly210 deletion has great effects on the hydrogen-bonding network and the conformational change of the binding pocket. An interchain hydrogen bond between Gly210 with Ser424, playing an important role in stabilizing the local conformation of the wild-type enzyme, disappeared after Gly210 deletion. As a result, the mutant-type PPO has a lower affinity than the wild-type enzyme, which accounts for the molecular mechanism of drug resistance. The structural and mechanistic insights obtained from the present study provide a new starting point for future rational design of novel PPO inhibitors to overcome drug resistance associated with Gly210 deletion.

Design, synthesis, and bioevaluation of benzamides: novel acetylcholinesterase inhibitors with multi-functions on butylcholinesterase, Aβ aggregation, and β-secretase.

Alzheimers disease (AD) is a multifactorial syndrome with several target proteins contributing to its etiology. In this study, we conducted a structure-based design and successfully produced a series of new multi-site AChE inhibitors with a novel framework. Compound 2e, characterized by a central benzamide moiety linked to an isoquinoline at one side and acetophenone at the other, was the most potent candidate with K(i) of 6.47nM against human AChE. Particularly, it showed simultaneous inhibitory effects against BChE, Aβ aggregation, and β-secretase. We therefore conclude that compound 2e is a very promising multi-function lead for the treatment of AD.

Ametoctradin is a Potent Qo Site Inhibitor of the Mitochondrial Respiration Complex III

Ametoctradin is a new Oomycete-specific fungicide under development by BASF. It is a potent inhibitor of the bc1 complex in mitochondrial respiration. However, its detailed action mechanism remains unknown. In the present work, the binding mode of ametoctradin was first uncovered by integrating molecular docking, MD simulations, and MM/PBSA calculations, which showed that ametoctradin should be a Q(o) site inhibitor of bc1 complex. Subsequently, a series of new 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine derivatives were designed and synthesized to further understand the substituent effects on the 5- and 6-position of 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine. The calculated binding free energies (ΔG(cal)) of newly synthesized analogues as Qo site inhibitors correlated very well (R(2) = 0.96) with their experimental binding free energies (ΔG(exp)). Two compounds (4a and 4c) with higher inhibitory activity against porcine SQR than ametoctradin were successfully identified. The structural and mechanistic insights obtained from the present study will provide a valuable clue for future designing of a new promising bc1 inhibitor.

Computational simulations of structural role of the active-site W374C mutation of acetyl-coenzyme-A carboxylase: Multi-drug resistance mechanism

Herbicides targeting grass plastidic acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase, EC 6.4.1.2) are selectively effective against graminicides. The intensive worldwide use of this herbicide family has selected for resistance genes in a number of grass weed species. Recently, the active-site W374C mutation was found to confer multi-drug resistance toward haloxyfop (HF), fenoxaprop (FR), Diclofop (DF), and clodinafop (CF) in A. myosuroides. In order to uncover the resistance mechanism due to W374C mutation, the binding of above-mentioned four herbicides to both wild-type and the mutant-type ACCase was investigated in the current work by molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The binding free energies were calculated by molecular mechanics-Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM/PBSA) method. The calculated binding free energy values for four herbicides were qualitatively consistent with the experimental order of IC50 values. All the computational model and energetic results indicated that the W374C mutation has great effects on the conformational change of the binding pocket and the ligand-protein interactions. The most significant conformational change was found to be associated with the aromatic amino acid residues, such as Phe377, Tyr161′ and Trp346. As a result, the π-π interaction between the ligand and the residue of Phe377 and Tyr161′, which make important contributions to the binding affinity, was decreased after mutation and the binding affinity for the inhibitors to the mutant-type ACCase was less than that to the wild-type enzyme, which accounts for the molecular basis of herbicidal resistance. The structural role and mechanistic insights obtained from computational simulations will provide a new starting point for the rational design of novel inhibitors to overcome drug resistance associated with W374C mutation.

Discovery of Potent Succinate-Ubiquinone Oxidoreductase Inhibitors via Pharmacophore-linked Fragment Virtual Screening Approach

Succinate-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (SQR) is an attractive target for fungicide discovery. Herein, we report the discovery of novel SQR inhibitors using a pharmacophore-linked fragment virtual screening approach, a new drug design method developed in our laboratory. Among newly designed compounds, compound 9s was identified as the most potent inhibitor with a Ki value of 34 nM against porcine SQR, displaying approximately 10-fold higher potency than that of the commercial control penthiopyrad. Further inhibitory kinetics studies revealed that compound 9s is a noncompetitive inhibitor with respect to the substrate cytochrome c and DCIP. Interestingly, compounds 8a, 9h, 9j, and 9k exhibited good in vivo preventive effects against Rhizoctonia solani. The results obtained from molecular modeling showed that the orientation of the R(2) group had a significant effect on binding with the protein.

Computational and Experimental Insight into the Molecular Mechanism of Carboxamide Inhibitors of Succinate‐Ubquinone Oxidoreductase

Succinate‐ubiquinone oxidoreductase (SQR, EC 1.3.5.1), also known as mitochondrial respiratory complex II or succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), catalyzes the oxidation of succinate to fumarate as part of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. SQR has been identified as a novel target of a large family of agricultural fungicides. However, the detailed mechanism of action between the fungicides and SQR is still unclear, and the bioactive conformation of fungicides in the SQR binding pocket has not been identified. In this study, the kinetics of porcine SQR inhibition by ten commercial carboxamide fungicides were measured, and noncompetitive inhibition was observed with respect to succinate, DCIP, and cytochrome c, while competitive inhibition was observed with respect to ubiquinone. With the aim to uncover the binding conformation of these fungicides, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and molecular mechanics/Poisson–Boltzmann surface area (MM/PBSA) calculations were then performed. The excellent correlation (r2=0.94) between the calculated (ΔGcal) and experimental (ΔGexp) binding free energies indicates that the obtained docking conformation could be the bioactive conformation. The acid moiety of carboxamide fungicides inserts into the ubiquinone binding site (Q‐site) of SQR, forming van der Waals (vdW) interactions with C_R46, C_S42, B_I218, and B_P169, while the amine moiety extends to the mouth of the Q‐site, forming vdW interactions with C_W35, C_I43, and C_I30. The carbonyl oxygen atom of the carboxamide forms hydrogen bonds with B_W173 and D_Y91. These findings provide valuable information for the design of more potent and specific inhibitors of SQR.