Long chain fatty acid conjugation remarkably decreases the aggregation induced toxicity of Amphotericin B.

Amphotericin B is an antimicrobial membrane-acting drug used in the treatment of systemic fungal infections. However, the clinical utility of AmB is often low as a result of (i) dose-limiting toxicity which is closely associated with its aggregation wherein the selectivity for its target i.e. ergosterol in fungal membranes is diminished and (ii) limited oral bioavailablity. The latter is attributed to the unfavorable physicochemical properties of the AmB e.g., low solubility, gastrointestinal instability, and poor intestinal permeability. The hypothesis of present work was that by applying a lipid conjugation approach the aggregation induced toxicity of AmB vis-à-vis permeability can be overcome. From the array of fatty acids, the oleic acid (OA) was selected for conjugation due to its great impact on increasing the Caco-2 permeability of AmB. AmB-OA conjugate was synthesized using standard carbodiimide chemistry and characterized thoroughly. Due to the reported strong correlation between the self-aggregation of AmB and toxicity, the aggregation behavior of AmB and AmB-OA was studied by in silico modeling and confirmed experimentally. In vitro hemolytic studies and viability assays in kidney cells (HEK 293 cells) suggested that AmB in aggregated was state highly toxic but not AmB-OA. In silico modeling suggested possible aggregation conformation of AmB-OA dimers that retains the selectivity for cholesterol even in aggregated state when embedded in in silico generated lipid bilayers. The results were further confirmed by assessing the interactions of monomeric and aggregated state of AmB and AmB-OA with that of cholesterol and ergosterol containing liposomes employing circular dichroism spectroscopy. The findings were subsequently corroborated by in vivo nephrotoxicity studies. To conclude, the lipid conjugation approach may be a promising strategy for reducing the dose-limiting toxicity of AmB.

Toward Understanding the Catalytic Mechanism of Human Paraoxonase 1: Site-Specific Mutagenesis at Position 192.

Human paraoxonase 1 (h-PON1) is a serum enzyme that can hydrolyze a variety of substrates. The enzyme exhibits anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-atherogenic, anti-diabetic, anti-microbial and organophosphate-hydrolyzing activities. Thus, h-PON1 is a strong candidate for the development of therapeutic intervention against a variety conditions in human. However, the crystal structure of h-PON1 is not solved and the molecular details of how the enzyme hydrolyzes different substrates are not clear yet. Understanding the catalytic mechanism(s) of h-PON1 is important in developing the enzyme for therapeutic use. Literature suggests that R/Q polymorphism at position 192 in h-PON1 dramatically modulates the substrate specificity of the enzyme. In order to understand the role of the amino acid residue at position 192 of h-PON1 in its various hydrolytic activities, site-specific mutagenesis at position 192 was done in this study. The mutant enzymes were produced using Escherichia coli expression system and their hydrolytic activities were compared against a panel of substrates. Molecular dynamics simulation studies were employed on selected recombinant h-PON1 (rh-PON1) mutants to understand the effect of amino acid substitutions at position 192 on the structural features of the active site of the enzyme. Our results suggest that, depending on the type of substrate, presence of a particular amino acid residue at position 192 differentially alters the micro-environment of the active site of the enzyme resulting in the engagement of different subsets of amino acid residues in the binding and the processing of substrates. The result advances our understanding of the catalytic mechanism of h-PON1.

Pregnane X Receptor and P-glycoprotein: a connexion for Alzheimer's disease management.

The translational failure between preclinical animal models and clinical outcome has alarmed us to search for a new strategy in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Interlink between Pregnane X Receptor (PXR) and P-glycoprotein (Pgp) at the blood brain barrier (BBB) has raised hope toward a new disease modifying therapy in AD. Pgp is a major efflux transporter for beta amyloid (Aß) at human BBB. A literature survey reveals diminished expression of Pgp transporter at the BBB in AD patients. Pregnane X Receptor is a major transcriptional regulator of Pgp. Restoration of Pgp at the BBB enhances the elimination of the Aß from brain alongside and inhibits the apical to basolateral movement of Aß from the circulatory blood. This review concentrates on in vitro, in vivo, and in silico advancements on the study of the PXR in context to Pgp and discusses the substrate and inhibitor specificity between PXR and Pgp.

Translocation mechanism of P-glycoprotein and conformational changes occurring at drug-binding site: Insights from multi-targeted molecular dynamics.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is well known for multidrug resistance in drug therapy. Its over-expression results into the increased efflux of therapeutic agents rendering them inefficacious. A clear understanding of P-gp efflux mechanism and substrate/inhibitor interactions during the course of efflux cycle will be crucial for designing effective P-gp inhibitors, and therapeutic agents that are non-substrate to P-gp. In the present work, we have modeled P-gp in three different catalytic states. These models were utilized for elucidation of P-gp translocation mechanism using multi-targeted molecular dynamics (MTMD). The gradual changes occurring in P-gp structure from inward open to outward open conformation were sampled out. A detailed investigation of conformational changes occurring in trans-membrane domains (TMDs) during the course of catalytic cycle was carried out. Movements of each TM helices in response to pronounced twisting and translatory motion of NBDs were measured quantitatively. The role of intracellular coupling helices (ICHs) during the structural transition of P-gp was studied, and observed as vital links for structural transition. A close observation of displacements and conformational changes in the residues lining drug-binding pocket was also carried out. Further, we have analyzed the molecular interactions of P-gp substrates/inhibitors during the P-gp translocation to find out how stable binding interactions of a compound at drug-binding site(s) in open conformation, becomes highly destabilized in closed conformation. The study revealed striking differences between the molecular interactions of substrate and inhibitor; inhibitors showed a tendency to maintain stable binding interactions during the catalytic transition cycle.

In silico model for P-glycoprotein substrate prediction: insights from molecular dynamics and in vitro studies.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is a plasma membrane efflux transporter belonging to ATP-binding cassette superfamily, responsible for multidrug resistance in tumor cells. Over-expression of P-gp in cancer cells limits the efficacy of many anticancer drugs. A clear understanding of P-gp substrate binding will be advantageous in early drug discovery process. However, substrate poly-specificity of P-gp is a limiting factor in rational drug design. In this investigation, we report a dynamic trans-membrane model of P-gp that accurately identified the substrate binding residues of known anticancer agents. The study included homology modeling of human P-gp based on the crystal structure of C. elegans P-gp, molecular docking, molecular dynamics analyses and binding free energy calculations. The model was further utilized to speculate substrate propensity of in-house anticancer compounds. The model demonstrated promising results with one anticancer compound (NSC745689). As per our observations, the molecule could be a potential lead for anticancer agents devoid of P-gp mediated multiple drug resistance. The in silico results were further validated experimentally using Caco-2 cell lines studies, where NSC745689 exhibited poor permeability (P app 1.03 ± 0.16 × 10(-6) cm/s) and low efflux ratio of 0.26.