Structural and Functional Insights into the Biofilm-Associated BceF Tyrosine Kinase Domain from Burkholderia cepacia.

BceF is a bacterial tyrosine kinase (BY-kinase) from Burkholderia cepacia, a Gram-negative bacterium accountable for respiratory infections in immunocompromised and cystic fibrosis patients. BceF is involved in the production of exopolysaccharides secreted to the biofilm matrix and promotes resistant and aggressive infections. BY-kinases share no homology with mammalian kinases, and thereby offer a means to develop novel and specific antivirulence drugs. Here, we report the crystal structure of the BceF kinase domain at 1.85 Å resolution. The isolated BceF kinase domain is assembled as a dimer in solution and crystallized as a dimer in the asymmetric unit with endogenous adenosine-diphosphate bound at the active sites. The low enzymatic efficiency measured in solution may be explained by the partial obstruction of the active sites at the crystallographic dimer interface. This study provides insights into self-assembly and the specific activity of isolated catalytic domains. Several unique variations around the active site compared to other BY-kinases may allow for structure-based design of specific inhibitors to target Burkholderia cepacia virulence.

Crystal structure of dopamine D1 receptor in complex with G protein and a non-catechol agonist.

Dopamine D1 receptor (D1R) is an important drug target implicated in many psychiatric and neurological disorders. Selective agonism of D1R are sought to be the therapeutic strategy for these disorders. Most selective D1R agonists share a dopamine-like catechol moiety in their molecular structure, and their therapeutic potential is therefore limited by poor pharmacological properties in vivo. Recently, a class of non-catechol D1R selective agonists with a distinct scaffold and pharmacological properties were reported. Here, we report the crystal structure of D1R in complex with stimulatory G protein (Gs) and a non-catechol agonist Compound 1 at 3.8 Å resolution. The structure reveals the ligand bound to D1R in an extended conformation, spanning from the orthosteric site to extracellular loop 2 (ECL2). Structural analysis reveals that the unique features of D1R ligand binding pocket explains the remarkable selectivity of this scaffold for D1R over other aminergic receptors, and sheds light on the mechanism for D1R activation by the non-catechol agonist.

Structure-guided development of selective M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists.

Drugs that treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by antagonizing the M3 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (M3R) have had a significant effect on health, but can suffer from their lack of selectivity against the M2R subtype, which modulates heart rate. Beginning with the crystal structures of M2R and M3R, we exploited a single amino acid difference in their orthosteric binding pockets using molecular docking and structure-based design. The resulting M3R antagonists had up to 100-fold selectivity over M2R in affinity and over 1,000-fold selectivity in vivo. The crystal structure of the M3R-selective antagonist in complex with M3R corresponded closely to the docking-predicted geometry, providing a template for further optimization.

Structure-Based Design and Discovery of New M2 Receptor Agonists.

Muscarinic receptor agonists are characterized by apparently strict restraints on their tertiary or quaternary amine and their distance to an ester or related center. On the basis of the active state crystal structure of the muscarinic M2 receptor in complex with iperoxo, we explored potential agonists that lacked the highly conserved functionalities of previously known ligands. Using structure-guided pharmacophore design followed by docking, we found two agonists (compounds 3 and 17), out of 19 docked and synthesized compounds, that fit the receptor well and were predicted to form a hydrogen-bond conserved among known agonists. Structural optimization led to compound 28, which was 4-fold more potent than its parent 3. Fortified by the discovery of this new scaffold, we sought a broader range of chemotypes by docking 2.2 million fragments, which revealed another three micromolar agonists unrelated either to 28 or known muscarinics. Even pockets as tightly defined and as deeply studied as that of the muscarinic reveal opportunities for the structure-based design and the discovery of new chemotypes.

Identification of Novel Smoothened Ligands Using Structure-Based Docking.

The seven transmembrane protein Smoothened is required for Hedgehog signaling during embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis. Inappropriate activation of the Hedgehog signalling pathway leads to cancers such as basal cell carcinoma and medulloblastoma, and Smoothened inhibitors are now available clinically to treat these diseases. However, resistance to these inhibitors rapidly develops thereby limiting their efficacy. The determination of Smoothened crystal structures enables structure-based discovery of new ligands with new chemotypes that will be critical to combat resistance. In this study, we docked 3.2 million available, lead-like molecules against Smoothened, looking for those with high physical complementarity to its structure; this represents the first such campaign against the class Frizzled G-protein coupled receptor family. Twenty-one high-ranking compounds were selected for experimental testing, and four, representing three different chemotypes, were identified to antagonize Smoothened with IC50 values better than 50 µM. A screen for analogs revealed another six molecules, with IC50 values in the low micromolar range. Importantly, one of the most active of the new antagonists continued to be efficacious at the D473H mutant of Smoothened, which confers clinical resistance to the antagonist vismodegib in cancer treatment.

Metal binding spectrum and model structure of the Bacillus anthracis virulence determinant MntA.

The potentially lethal human pathogen Bacillus anthracis expresses a putative metal import system, MntBCA, which belongs to the large family of ABC transporters. MntBCA is essential for virulence of Bacillus anthracis: deletion of MntA, the system's substrate binding protein, yields a completely non-virulent strain. Here we determined the metal binding spectrum of MntA. In contrast to what can be inferred from growth complementation studies we find no evidence that MntA binds Fe(2+) or Fe(3+). Rather, MntA binds a variety of other metal ions, including Mn(2+), Zn(2+), Cd(2+), Co(2+), and Ni(2+) with affinities ranging from 10(-6) to 10(-8) M. Binding of Zn(2+) and Co(2+) have a pronounced thermo-stabilizing effect on MntA, with Mn(2+) having a milder effect. The thermodynamic stability of MntA, competition experiments, and metal binding and release experiments all suggest that Mn(2+) is the metal that is likely transported by MntBCA and is therefore the limiting factor for virulence of Bacillus anthracis. A homology-model of MntA shows a single, highly conserved metal binding site, with four residues that participate in metal coordination: two histidines, a glutamate, and an aspartate. The metals bind to this site in a mutually exclusive manner, yet surprisingly, mutational analysis shows that for proper coordination each metal requires a different subset of these four residues. ConSurf evolutionary analysis and structural comparison of MntA and its homologues suggest that substrate binding proteins (SBPs) of metal ions use a pair of highly conserved prolines to interact with their cognate ABC transporters. This proline pair is found exclusively in ABC import systems of metal ions.

Increasing chemical space coverage by combining empirical and computational fragment screens.

Most libraries for fragment-based drug discovery are restricted to 1,000-10,000 compounds, but over 500,000 fragments are commercially available and potentially accessible by virtual screening. Whether this larger set would increase chemotype coverage, and whether a computational screen can pragmatically prioritize them, is debated. To investigate this question, a 1281-fragment library was screened by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) against AmpC ß-lactamase, and hits were confirmed by surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Nine hits with novel chemotypes were confirmed biochemically with KI values from 0.2 to low mM. We also computationally docked 290,000 purchasable fragments with chemotypes unrepresented in the empirical library, finding 10 that had KI values from 0.03 to low mM. Though less novel than those discovered by NMR, the docking-derived fragments filled chemotype holes from the empirical library. Crystal structures of nine of the fragments in complex with AmpC ß-lactamase revealed new binding sites and explained the relatively high affinity of the docking-derived fragments. The existence of chemotype holes is likely a general feature of fragment libraries, as calculation suggests that to represent the fragment substructures of even known biogenic molecules would demand a library of minimally over 32,000 fragments. Combining computational and empirical fragment screens enables the discovery of unexpected chemotypes, here by the NMR screen, while capturing chemotypes missing from the empirical library and tailored to the target, with little extra cost in resources.

Blind prediction of charged ligand binding affinities in a model binding site.

Predicting absolute protein-ligand binding affinities remains a frontier challenge in ligand discovery and design. This becomes more difficult when ionic interactions are involved because of the large opposing solvation and electrostatic attraction energies. In a blind test, we examined whether alchemical free-energy calculations could predict binding affinities of 14 charged and 5 neutral compounds previously untested as ligands for a cavity binding site in cytochrome c peroxidase. In this simplified site, polar and cationic ligands compete with solvent to interact with a buried aspartate. Predictions were tested by calorimetry, spectroscopy, and crystallography. Of the 15 compounds predicted to bind, 13 were experimentally confirmed, while 4 compounds were false negative predictions. Predictions had a root-mean-square error of 1.95 kcal/mol to the experimental affinities, and predicted poses had an average RMSD of 1.7Å to the crystallographic poses. This test serves as a benchmark for these thermodynamically rigorous calculations at predicting binding affinities for charged compounds and gives insights into the existing sources of error, which are primarily electrostatic interactions inside proteins. Our experiments also provide a useful set of ionic binding affinities in a simplified system for testing new affinity prediction methods.

Roles for ordered and bulk solvent in ligand recognition and docking in two related cavities.

A key challenge in structure-based discovery is accounting for modulation of protein-ligand interactions by ordered and bulk solvent. To investigate this, we compared ligand binding to a buried cavity in Cytochrome c Peroxidase (CcP), where affinity is dominated by a single ionic interaction, versus a cavity variant partly opened to solvent by loop deletion. This opening had unexpected effects on ligand orientation, affinity, and ordered water structure. Some ligands lost over ten-fold in affinity and reoriented in the cavity, while others retained their geometries, formed new interactions with water networks, and improved affinity. To test our ability to discover new ligands against this opened site prospectively, a 534,000 fragment library was docked against the open cavity using two models of ligand solvation. Using an older solvation model that prioritized many neutral molecules, three such uncharged docking hits were tested, none of which was observed to bind; these molecules were not highly ranked by the new, context-dependent solvation score. Using this new method, another 15 highly-ranked molecules were tested for binding. In contrast to the previous result, 14 of these bound detectably, with affinities ranging from 8 µM to 2 mM. In crystal structures, four of these new ligands superposed well with the docking predictions but two did not, reflecting unanticipated interactions with newly ordered waters molecules. Comparing recognition between this open cavity and its buried analog begins to isolate the roles of ordered solvent in a system that lends itself readily to prospective testing and that may be broadly useful to the community.