scholarly journals Prediction of Ordered Water Molecules in Protein Binding Sites from Molecular Dynamics Simulations: The Impact of Ligand Binding on Hydration Networks

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 350-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Rudling ◽  
Adolfo Orro ◽  
Jens Carlsson
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Ligand Binding ◽  
Protein Binding ◽  
Molecular Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Water Molecules ◽  
Protein Binding Sites ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Ordered Water ◽  
The Impact

Searching for protein binding sites from Molecular Dynamics simulations and paramagnetic fragment-based NMR studies

2014 ◽  
Vol 1844 (3) ◽  
pp. 561-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Bernini ◽  
Lucia Henrici De Angelis ◽  
Edoardo Morandi ◽  
Ottavia Spiga ◽  
Annalisa Santucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Protein Binding ◽  
Molecular Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Nmr Studies ◽  
Protein Binding Sites ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

scholarly journals Origin and control of ionic hydration patterns in nanopores

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miraslau L. Barabash ◽  
William A. T. Gibby ◽  
Carlo Guardiani ◽  
Alex Smolyanitsky ◽  
Dmitry G. Luchinsky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Molecular Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Distribution Functions ◽  
Water Molecules ◽  
Surrounding Water ◽  
Ionic Hydration ◽  
Hydration Shells ◽  
Water Layers ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
And Control

AbstractIn order to permeate a nanopore, an ion must overcome a dehydration energy barrier caused by the redistribution of surrounding water molecules. The redistribution is inhomogeneous, anisotropic and strongly position-dependent, resulting in complex patterns that are routinely observed in molecular dynamics simulations. Here, we study the physical origin of these patterns and of how they can be predicted and controlled. We introduce an analytic model able to predict the patterns in a graphene nanopore in terms of experimentally accessible radial distribution functions, giving results that agree well with molecular dynamics simulations. The patterns are attributable to a complex interplay of ionic hydration shells with water layers adjacent to the graphene membrane and with the hydration cloud of the nanopore rim atoms, and we discuss ways of controlling them. Our findings pave the way to designing required transport properties into nanoionic devices by optimising the structure of the hydration patterns.

scholarly journals The Interplay of Cholesterol and Ligand Binding in hTSPO from Classical Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1250
Author(s):  
Hien T. T. Lai ◽  
Alejandro Giorgetti ◽  
Giulia Rossetti ◽  
Toan T. Nguyen ◽  
Paolo Carloni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Ligand Binding ◽  
Molecular Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Binding Site ◽  
Transmembrane Protein ◽  
Free Form ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Terminal Part ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Cholesterol Binding

The translocator protein (TSPO) is a 18kDa transmembrane protein, ubiquitously present in human mitochondria. It is overexpressed in tumor cells and at the sites of neuroinflammation, thus representing an important biomarker, as well as a promising drug target. In mammalian TSPO, there are cholesterol–binding motifs, as well as a binding cavity able to accommodate different chemical compounds. Given the lack of structural information for the human protein, we built a model of human (h) TSPO in the apo state and in complex with PK11195, a molecule routinely used in positron emission tomography (PET) for imaging of neuroinflammatory sites. To better understand the interactions of PK11195 and cholesterol with this pharmacologically relevant protein, we ran molecular dynamics simulations of the apo and holo proteins embedded in a model membrane. We found that: (i) PK11195 stabilizes hTSPO structural fold; (ii) PK11195 might enter in the binding site through transmembrane helices I and II of hTSPO; (iii) PK11195 reduces the frequency of cholesterol binding to the lower, N–terminal part of hTSPO in the inner membrane leaflet, while this impact is less pronounced for the upper, C–terminal part in the outer membrane leaflet, where the ligand binding site is located; (iv) very interestingly, cholesterol most frequently binds simultaneously to the so-called CRAC and CARC regions in TM V in the free form (residues L150–X–Y152–X(3)–R156 and R135–X(2)–Y138–X(2)–L141, respectively). However, when the protein is in complex with PK11195, cholesterol binds equally frequently to the CRAC–resembling motif that we observed in TM I (residues L17–X(2)–F20–X(3)–R24) and to CRAC in TM V. We expect that the CRAC–like motif in TM I will be of interest in future experimental investigations. Thus, our MD simulations provide insight into the structural features of hTSPO and the previously unknown interplay between PK11195 and cholesterol interactions with this pharmacologically relevant protein.

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