Defense mechanisms of alfalfa against cyclic tetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX) stress.

Much attention has been paid to the environmental toxicity and ecological risk caused by cyclic tetramethylene tetranitramine (HMX) pollution in military activity sites. In this study, the response mechanism of alfalfa plants to HMX was analyzed from the aspects of the photosynthetic system, micromorphology, antioxidant enzyme system, mineral metabolism, and secondary metabolism, in order to improve the efficiency of plant restoration. Exposure to 5 mg·L-1 HMX resulted in a significant increase in leaf N content and a significant increase and drift of the Fourier transform infrared protein peak area. Transmission electron microscopy images revealed damage to the root system subcellular morphology, but the plant leaves effectively resisted HMX pressure, and the photosynthetic parameters essentially maintained steady-state levels. The root proline content decreased significantly by 23.1-47.2 %, and the root reactive oxygen species content increased significantly by 1.66-1.80 fold. The roots regulate the transport/absorption of many elements that impart stress resistance, and Cu, Mn, and Na uptake is significantly associated with secondary metabolism. The metabolism of roots was upregulated in general by HMX exposure, with the main differences appearing in the content of lipids and lipid-like molecules, further confirming damage to the root biofilm structure. HMX causes an imbalance in the energy supply from oxidative phosphorylation in roots and generates important biomarkers in the form of pyrophosphate and dihydrogen phosphate. Interestingly, HMX had no significant effect on basic metabolic networks (i.e., glycolysis/gluconeogenesis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle), confirming that alfalfa has good stress resistance. Alfalfa plants apparently regulate multiple network systems to resist/overcome HMX toxicity. These findings provide a scientific basis for improving plant stress tolerance and understanding the HMX toxicity mechanism.

An Overview of Treatment Approaches for Octahydro-1, 3, 5, 7-tetranitro-1, 3, 5, 7-tetrazocine (HMX) Explosive in Soil, Groundwater, and Wastewater.

Octahydro-1, 3, 5, 7-tetranitro-1, 3, 5, 7-tetrazocine (HMX) is extensively exploited in the manufacturing of explosives; therefore, a significant level of HMX contamination can be encountered near explosive production plants. For instance, up to 12 ppm HMX concentrations have been observed in the wastewater effluent of a munitions manufacturing facility, while up to 45,000 mg/kg of HMX has been found in a soil sample taken from a location close to a high-explosive production site. Owing to their immense demand for a variety of applications, the large-scale production of explosives has culminated in severe environmental issues. Soil and water contaminated with HMX can pose a detrimental impact on flora and fauna and hence, remediation of HMX is paramount. There is a rising demand to establish a sustainable technology for HMX abatement. Physiochemical and bioremediation approaches have been employed to treat HMX in the soil, groundwater, and wastewater. It has been revealed that treatment methods such as photo-peroxidation and photo-Fenton oxidation can eliminate approximately 98% of HMX from wastewater. Fenton's reagents were found to be very effective at mineralizing HMX. In the photocatalytic degradation of HMX, approximately 59% TOC removal was achieved by using a TiO2 photocatalyst, and a dextrose co-substrate was used in a bioremediation approach to accomplish 98.5% HMX degradation under anaerobic conditions. However, each technology has some pros and cons which need to be taken into consideration when choosing an HMX remediation approach. In this review, various physiochemical and bioremediation approaches are considered and the mechanism of HMX degradation is discussed. Further, the advantages and disadvantages of the technologies are also discussed along with the challenges of HMX treatment technologies, thus giving an overview of the HMX remediation strategies.

Uncovering the structure and function of specialist bacterial lineages in environments routinely exposed to explosives.

Environmental contamination by hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX), the two most widely used compounds for military operations, is a long-standing problem at the manufacturing and decommissioning plants. Since explosives contamination has previously been shown to favour the growth of specific bacterial communities, the present study attempts to identify the specialist bacterial communities and their potential functional and metabolic roles by using amplicon targeted and whole-metagenome sequencing approaches in samples collected from two distinct explosives manufacturing sites. We hypothesize that the community structure and functional attributes of bacterial population are substantially altered by the concentration of explosives and physicochemical conditions. The results highlight the predominance of Planctomycetes in contrast to previous reports from similar habitats. The detailed phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of operational taxonomic units related to bacterial members known for their explosives degradation. Further, the functional and metabolic analyses highlighted the abundance of putative genes and unidentified taxa possibly associated with xenobiotic biodegradation. Our findings suggest that microbial species capable of utilizing explosives as a carbon, energy or electron source are favoured by certain selective pressures based on the prevailing physicochemical and geographical conditions.

Fluorescence activation mechanism and imaging of drug permeation with new sensors for smoking-cessation ligands.

Nicotinic partial agonists provide an accepted aid for smoking cessation and thus contribute to decreasing tobacco-related disease. Improved drugs constitute a continued area of study. However, there remains no reductionist method to examine the cellular and subcellular pharmacokinetic properties of these compounds in living cells. Here, we developed new intensity-based drug-sensing fluorescent reporters (iDrugSnFRs) for the nicotinic partial agonists dianicline, cytisine, and two cytisine derivatives - 10-fluorocytisine and 9-bromo-10-ethylcytisine. We report the first atomic-scale structures of liganded periplasmic binding protein-based biosensors, accelerating development of iDrugSnFRs and also explaining the activation mechanism. The nicotinic iDrugSnFRs detect their drug partners in solution, as well as at the plasma membrane (PM) and in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of cell lines and mouse hippocampal neurons. At the PM, the speed of solution changes limits the growth and decay rates of the fluorescence response in almost all cases. In contrast, we found that rates of membrane crossing differ among these nicotinic drugs by >30-fold. The new nicotinic iDrugSnFRs provide insight into the real-time pharmacokinetic properties of nicotinic agonists and provide a methodology whereby iDrugSnFRs can inform both pharmaceutical neuroscience and addiction neuroscience.

Cytisine attenuates bone loss of ovariectomy mouse by preventing RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis.

Postmenopausal Osteoporosis (PMOP) is oestrogen withdrawal characterized of much production and activation by osteoclast in the elderly female. Cytisine is a quinolizidine alkaloid that comes from seeds or other plants of the Leguminosae (Fabaceae) family. Cytisine has been shown several potential pharmacological functions. However, its effects on PMOP remain unknown. This study designed to explore whether Cytisine is able to suppress RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis and prevent the bone loss induced by oestrogen deficiency in ovariectomized (OVX) mice. In this study, we investigated the effect of Cytisine on RAW 264.7 cells and bone marrow monocytes (BMMs) derived osteoclast culture system in vitro and observed the effect of Cytisine on ovariectomized (OVX) mice model to imitate postmenopausal osteoporosis in vivo. We found that Cytisine inhibited F-actin ring formation and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining in dose-dependent ways, as well as bone resorption by pit formation assays. For molecular mechanism, Cytisine suppressed RANK-related trigger RANKL by phosphorylation JNK/ERK/p38-MAPK, IκBα/p65-NF-κB, and PI3K/AKT axis and significantly inhibited these signalling pathways. However, the suppression of PI3K-AKT-NFATc1 axis was rescued by AKT activator SC79. Meanwhile, Cytisine inhibited RANKL-induced RANK-TRAF6 association and RANKL-related gene and protein markers such as NFATc1, Cathepsin K, MMP-9 and TRAP. Our study indicated that Cytisine could suppress bone loss in OVX mouse through inhibited osteoclastogenesis. All data provide the evidence that Cytisine may be a promising agent in the treatment of osteoclast-related diseases such as osteoporosis.

The thermodynamic profile and molecular interactions of a C(9)-cytisine derivative-binding acetylcholine-binding protein from Aplysia californica.

Cytisine, a natural product with high affinity for clinically relevant nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), is used as a smoking-cessation agent. The compound displays an excellent clinical profile and hence there is an interest in derivatives that may be further improved or find use in the treatment of other conditions. Here, the binding of a cytisine derivative modified by the addition of a 3-(hydroxypropyl) moiety (ligand 4) to Aplysia californica acetylcholine-binding protein (AcAChBP), a surrogate for nAChR orthosteric binding sites, was investigated. Isothermal titration calorimetry revealed that the favorable binding of cytisine and its derivative to AcAChBP is driven by the enthalpic contribution, which dominates an unfavorable entropic component. Although ligand 4 had a less unfavorable entropic contribution compared with cytisine, the affinity for AcAChBP was significantly diminished owing to the magnitude of the reduction in the enthalpic component. The high-resolution crystal structure of the AcAChBP-4 complex indicated close similarities in the protein-ligand interactions involving the parts of 4 common to cytisine. The point of difference, the 3-(hydroxypropyl) substituent, appears to influence the conformation of the Met133 side chain and helps to form an ordered solvent structure at the edge of the orthosteric binding site.

Negative allosteric modulators of the GluN2B NMDA receptor with phenylethylamine structure embedded in ring-expanded and ring-contracted scaffolds.

A set of GluN2B NMDA receptor antagonists with conformationally restricted phenylethylamine substructure was prepared and pharmacologically evaluated. The phenylethylamine substructure was embedded in ring expanded 3-benzazocines 4 as well as ring-contracted tetralinamines 6 and indanamines 7. The ligands 4, 6 and 7 were synthesized by reductive alkylation of secondary amine 11, reductive amination of ketones 12 and 16 and nucleophilic substitution of nosylates 14 and 17. The moderate GluN2B affinity of 3-benzazocine 4d (Ki = 32 nM) translated into moderate cytoprotective activity (IC50 = 890 nM) and moderate ion channel inhibition (60% at 10 µM) in two-electrode voltage clamp experiments with GluN1a/GluN2B expressing oocytes. Although some of the tetralinamines 6 and indanamines 7 showed very high GluN2B affinity (e.g. Ki (7f) = 3.2 nM), they could not inhibit glutamate/glycine inducted cytotoxicity. The low cytoprotective activity of 3-benzazocines 4, tetralinamines 6 and indanamines 7 was attributed to the missing OH moiety at the benzene ring and/or in benzylic position. Docking studies showed that the novel GluN2B ligands adopt similar binding poses as Ro 25-6981 with the central H-bond interaction between the protonated amino moiety of the ligands and the carbamoyl moiety of Gln110. However, due to the lack of a second H-bond forming group, the ligands can adopt two binding poses within the ifenprodil binding pocket.

Degradation of High Energy Materials Using Biological Reduction: A Rational Way to Reach Bioremediation.

Explosives molecules have been widely used since World War II, leading to considerable contamination of soil and groundwater. Recently, bioremediation has emerged as an environmentally friendly approach to solve such contamination issues. However, the 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocane (HMX) explosive, which has very low solubility in water, does not provide satisfying results with this approach. In this study, we used a rational design strategy for improving the specificity of the nitroreductase from E. Cloacae (PDB ID 5J8G) toward HMX. We used the Coupled Moves algorithm from Rosetta to redesign the active site around HMX. Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations and affinity calculations allowed us to study the newly designed protein. Five mutations were performed. The designed nitroreductase has a better fit with HMX. We observed more H-bonds, which productively stabilized the HMX molecule for the mutant than for the wild type enzyme. Thus, HMX's nitro groups are close enough to the reductive cofactor to enable a hydride transfer. Also, the HMX affinity for the designed enzyme is better than for the wild type. These results are encouraging. However, the total reduction reaction implies numerous HMX derivatives, and each of them has to be tested to check how far the reaction can' go.

Polyamine modification by acrolein exclusively produces 1,5-diazacyclooctanes: a previously unrecognized mechanism for acrolein-mediated oxidative stress.

Acrolein, a toxic unsaturated aldehyde generated as a result of oxidative stress, readily reacts with a variety of nucleophilic biomolecules. Polyamines, which produced acrolein in the presence of amine oxidase, were then found to react with acrolein to produce 1,5-diazacyclooctane, a previously unrecognized but significant downstream product of oxidative stress. Although diazacyclooctane formation effectively neutralized acrolein toxicity, the diazacyclooctane hydrogel produced through a sequential diazacyclooctane polymerization reaction was highly cytotoxic. This study suggests that diazacyclooctane formation is involved in the mechanism underlying acrolein-mediated oxidative stress.

Ruminal bioremediation of the high energy melting explosive (HMX) by sheep microorganisms.

The ability of ruminal microorganisms to degrade octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (high melting explosive, HMX) as consortia from whole rumen fluid (WRF), and individually as 23 commercially available ruminal strains, was compared under anaerobic conditions. Compound degradation was monitored by high-performance liquid chromatography, followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for delineation of the metabolic pathway. In WRF, 30 µM HMX was degraded to 5 µM HMX within 24 h. Metabolites consistent with m/z 149, 193 and 229 were present throughout the incubation period. We propose that peaks with an m/z of 149 and 193 are arrived at through reduction of HMX to nitroso or hydroxylamino intermediates, then direct enzymatic ring cleavage to produce these HMX derivatives. Possible structures of m/z 229 are still being investigated and require further LC-MS/MS analysis. None of the 23 ruminal strains tested were able to degrade HMX as a pure culture when grown in either a low carbon or low nitrogen basal medium over 120 h. We conclude that microorganisms from the rumen, while sometimes capable as individuals in the bioremediation of other explosives, excel as a community in the case of HMX breakdown.

Synergetic toxic effect of an explosive material mixture in soil.

Explosives materials are stable in soil and recalcitrant to biodegradation. Different authors report that TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene), RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine) and HMX (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine) are toxic, but most investigations have been performed in artificial soil with individual substances. The aim of the presented research was to assess the toxicity of forest soil contaminated with these substances both individually as well in combinations of these substances. TNT was the most toxic substance. Although RDX and HMX did not have adverse effects on plants, these compounds did cause earthworm mortality, which has not been reported in earlier research. Synergistic effects of explosives mixture were observed.

Pilot-scale in situ bioremediation of HMX and RDX in soil pore water in Hawaii.

A nine-month in situ bioremediation study was conducted in Makua Military Reservation (MMR) in Oahu, Hawaii (USA) to evaluate the potential of molasses to enhance biodegradation of royal demolition explosive (RDX) and high-melting explosive (HMX) contaminated soil below the root zone. MMR has been in operation since the 1940's resulting in subsurface contamination that in some locations exceeds USEPA preliminary remediation goals for these chemicals. A molasses-water mixture (1 : 40 dilution) was applied to a treatment plot and clean water was applied to a control plot via seven flood irrigation events. Pore water samples were collected from 12 lysimeters installed at different depths in 3 boreholes in each test plot. The difference in mean concentrations of RDX in pore water samples from the two test plots was very highly significant (p < 0.001). The concentrations differences with depth were also very highly significant (p < 0.001) and degradation was greatly enhanced at depths from 5 to 13.5 ft. biodegradation was modeled as first order and the rate constant was 0.063 per day at 5 ft and decreased to 0.023 per day at 11 ft to 13.5 ft depth. Enhanced biodegradation of HMX was also observed in molasses treated plot samples but only at a depth of 5 ft. The difference in mean TOC concentration (surrogate for molasses) was highly significant with depth (p = 0.003) and very highly significant with treatment (p < 0.001). Mean total nitrogen concentrations also differed significantly with treatment (p < 0.001) and depth (p = 0.059). The molasses water mixture had a similar infiltration rate to that of plain water (average 4.12 ft per day) and reached the deepest sensor (31 ft) within 5 days of application. Most of the molasses was consumed by soil microorganisms by about 13.5 feet below ground surface and treatment of deeper depths may require greater molasses concentrations and/or more frequent flood irrigation. Use of the bioremediation method described herein could allow the sustainable use of live fire training ranges by enhancing biodegradation of explosives in situ and preventing them from migrating to through the vadose zone to underlying ground water and off-site.

Incorporation and mineralization of TNT and other anthropogenic organics by natural microbial assemblages from a small, tropical estuary.

2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) metabolism was compared across salinity transects in Kahana Bay, a small tropical estuary on Oahu, HI. In surface water, TNT incorporation rates (range: 3-121 µg C L(-1) d(-1)) were often 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than mineralization rates suggesting that it may serve as organic nitrogen for coastal microbial assemblages. These rates were often an order of magnitude more rapid than those for RDX and two orders more than HMX. During average or high stream flow, TNT incorporation was most rapid at the riverine end member and generally decreased with increasing salinity. This pattern was not seen during low flow periods. Although TNT metabolism was not correlated with heterotrophic growth rate, it may be related to metabolism of other aromatic compounds. With most TNT ring-carbon incorporation efficiencies at greater than 97%, production of new biomass appears to be a more significant product of microbial TNT metabolism than mineralization.

Functional and structural interaction of (-)-reboxetine with the human α4ß2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

The interaction of the selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (-)-reboxetine with the human α4ß2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in different conformational states was studied by several functional and structural approaches. Patch-clamp and Ca(2+)-influx results indicate that (-)-reboxetine does not activate hα4ß2 nAChRs via interaction with the orthosteric sites, but inhibits agonist-induced hα4ß2 activation by a noncompetitive mechanism. Consistently, the results from the electrophysiology-based functional approach suggest that (-)-reboxetine may act via open channel block; therefore, it is capable of producing a use-dependent type of inhibition of the hα4ß2 nAChR function. We tested whether (-)-reboxetine binds to the luminal [(3)H]imipramine site. The results indicate that, although (-)-reboxetine binds with low affinity to this site, it discriminates between the resting and desensitized hα4ß2 nAChR ion channels. Patch-clamp results also indicate that (-)-reboxetine progressively inhibits the hα4ß2 nAChR with two-fold higher potency at the end of one-second application of agonist, compared with the peak current. The molecular docking studies show that (-)-reboxetine blocks the ion channel at the level of the imipramine locus, between M2 rings 6' and 14'. In addition, we found a (-)-reboxetine conformer that docks in the helix bundle of the α4 subunit, near the middle region. According to molecular dynamics simulations, (-)-reboxetine binding is stable for both sites, albeit less stable than imipramine. The interaction of these drugs with the helix bundle might alter allostericaly the functionality of the channel. In conclusion, the clinical action of (-)-reboxetine may be produced (at least partially) by its inhibitory action on hα4ß2 nAChRs.

Phytoremediation of explosives (TNT, RDX, HMX) by wild-type and transgenic plants.

The large-scale production and processing of munitions has led to vast environmental pollution by the compounds TNT(2,4,6-trinitrotoluene), RDX(hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine) and HMX(octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine). Explosives contain these toxic and mutagenic xenobiotics, which are stable in the environment and recalcitrant to remediation. Certain technologies used thus far (incineration, adsorption, advanced oxidations processes, chemical reduction etc.) have not only been very expensive but also caused additional environmental problems. During recent decades, the most popular technologies have been biotechnological methods, such as phytoremediation, which is relatively cheap, environmentally friendly, and a highly accepted solution by society. The most promising of these technologies is the usage of genetically modified plants, which combines the ability of bacterial genes to detoxify compounds with the phytoremediation benefits of plants. This paper is a review related to the latest and most important achievements in the field of phytoremediation of water and soil contaminated with TNT, RDX and HMX.

Anaerobic transformation of octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) by ovine rumen microorganisms.

Explosives such as octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) provide a challenge in terms of bioremediation. In the present study, sheep rumen was studied for its potential to detoxify HMX using analytical chemistry and molecular microbial ecology tools. Results indicated significant loss (p < 0.05) of HMX at 8 h post-incubation and complete disappearance of the parent molecule after 16 h. Qualitative LC-MS/MS analysis provided evidence for the formation of 1-NO-HMX and MEDINA metabolites. A total of 1006 16S rRNA-V3 clones were sequenced and the Classifier tool of the RDPII database was used to sort the sequences at their phylum level. Most sequences were associated with either the phylum Bacteroidetes or Firmicutes. Significant differences at the phylum level (p < 0.001) were found between 0 h and 8 h HMX treatments. Using LibCompare analysis, 8 h HMX treatment showed enrichment of clones (p < 0.01) belonging to the genus Prevotella. From these results, it could be concluded that members of the genus Prevotella are enriched in the rumen and are capable of detoxifying HMX.

Neuronal nicotinic receptor ligands modulate chronic nicotine-induced ethanol consumption in C57BL/6J mice.

Alcohol and nicotine are commonly abused drugs in humans and evidence suggests that neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the midbrain dopamine system are common targets for the neurobehavioral interactions between alcohol (ethanol) and nicotine. The present study examined the efficacy of nAChR ligands with different pharmacological profiles such as cytisine, lobeline and dihydro-ß-erythroidine (DHßE) to modulate chronic nicotine-induced increase in ethanol intake by C57BL/6J mice, using a two-bottle choice procedure. After establishment of baseline ethanol preference (10%, v/v), animals received daily subcutaneous injections of saline, nicotine (0.4 mg/kg) or different doses of cytisine, lobeline or DHßE 15 min prior to nicotine, for 10 days. Ethanol and water were presented immediately after the last (saline or nicotine) injection and fluid levels were monitored for post 1 h and 2 h treatment. Compared to control, nicotine injection significantly increased mean ethanol intake over 10 days, at both post 1 h and 2 h. Pretreatment with cytisine (0.5, 1.5 or 3.0 mg/kg) or lobeline (4.0 or 10.0 mg/kg) significantly reduced nicotine-induced increase in ethanol intake post 1 h and 2 h, without affecting water consumption. DHßE (0.5 or 2.0 mg/kg) failed to suppress nicotine-induced ethanol intake across 2 h post injection. These results indicate that nAChRmediated signaling is critical in regulating nicotine-induced ethanol drinking behaviors.

Use of an α3ß4 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit concatamer to characterize ganglionic receptor subtypes with specific subunit composition reveals species-specific pharmacologic properties.

Drug development for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) is challenged by subtype diversity arising from variations in subunit composition. On-target activity for neuronal heteromeric receptors is typically associated with CNS receptors that contain α4 and other subunits, while off-target activity could be associated with ganglionic-type receptors containing α3ß4 binding sites and other subunits, including ß4, ß2, α5, or α3 as a structural subunit in the pentamer. Additional interest in α3 ß4 α5-containing receptors arises from genome-wide association studies linking these genes, and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in α5 in particular, to lung cancer and heavy smoking. While α3 and ß4 readily form receptors in expression system such as the Xenopus oocyte, since α5 is not required for function, simple co-expression approaches may under-represent α5-containing receptors. We used a concatamer of human α3 and ß4 subunits to form ligand-binding domains, and show that we can force the insertions of alternative structural subunits into the functional pentamers. These α3ß4 variants differ in sensitivity to ACh, nicotine, varenicline, and cytisine. Our data indicated lower efficacy for varenicline and cytisine than expected for ß4-containing receptors, based on previous studies of rodent receptors. We confirm that these therapeutically important α4 receptor partial agonists may present different autonomic-based side-effect profiles in humans than will be seen in rodent models, with varenicline being more potent for human than rat receptors and cytisine less potent. Our initial characterizations failed to find functional effects of the α5 SNP. However, our data validate this approach for further investigations.

Structural characterization of binding mode of smoking cessation drugs to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors through study of ligand complexes with acetylcholine-binding protein.

Smoking cessation is an important aim in public health worldwide as tobacco smoking causes many preventable deaths. Addiction to tobacco smoking results from the binding of nicotine to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the brain, in particular the α4ß2 receptor. One way to aid smoking cessation is by the use of nicotine replacement therapies or partial nAChR agonists like cytisine or varenicline. Here we present the co-crystal structures of cytisine and varenicline in complex with Aplysia californica acetylcholine-binding protein and use these as models to investigate binding of these ligands binding to nAChRs. This analysis of the binding properties of these two partial agonists provides insight into differences with nicotine binding to nAChRs. A mutational analysis reveals that the residues conveying subtype selectivity in nAChRs reside on the binding site complementary face and include features extending beyond the first shell of contacting residues.

Evaluation of natural and nitramine binding energies to 3-D models of the S1S2 domains in the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor.

Overactivation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) in postsynaptic neurons leads to glutamate-related excitotoxicity in the central nervous system of mammals. We have built 3-D models of each domain for the universal screening of potential toxicants and their binding mechanisms. Our docking results show that the calculated pK (i) values of glycine and L: -glutamate significantly increase (>1) when the NR1 and NR2A S1S2 domains are closing, respectively. Inversely, D: -cycloserine (DCS) and 5,7-dichlorokynurenic acid (5,7-DCKA) do not show such a dependence on domain closure. Replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) confirmed 5 different conformational states of the S1S2 domain along the 308.2 K temperature trajectory. Analysis of residue fluctuations during this temperature trajectory showed that residues in loop 1, loop 2, the amino terminal domain (ATD), and the area linked to ion channel α-helices are involved in this movement. This further implicates the notion that efficacious ligands act through S1S2 lobe movement which can culminate in the opening or closing of the ion channel. We further tested this by docking hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocane (HMX) to the S1S2 domain. Our results predict that these nitramines are not efficacious and thus do not produce excitoxicity when they bind to the S1S2 domain of the NMDAR.