Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 62

Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology

Crystal Structure Of Human Thymidylate Synthase: A Structural Mechanism For Guiding Substrates Into The Active Site, Celia Schiffer, Ian Clifton, V. Jo Davisson, Daniel Santi, Robert Stroud Nov 2011

Crystal Structure Of Human Thymidylate Synthase: A Structural Mechanism For Guiding Substrates Into The Active Site, Celia Schiffer, Ian Clifton, V. Jo Davisson, Daniel Santi, Robert Stroud

Celia A. Schiffer

The crystal structure of human thymidylate synthase, a target for anti-cancer drugs, is determined to 3.0 A resolution and refined to a crystallographic residual of 17.8%. The structure implicates the enzyme in a mechanism for facilitating the docking of substrates into the active site. This mechanism involves a twist of approximately 180 degrees of the active site loop, pivoted around the neighboring residues 184 and 204, and implicates ordering of external, eukaryote specific loops along with the well-characterized closure of the active site upon substrate binding. The highly conserved, but eukaryote-specific insertion of twelve residues 90-101 (h117-128), and of eight …


Molecular Basis For Drug Resistance In Hiv-1 Protease, Akbar Ali, Rajintha M. Bandaranayake, Yufeng Cai, Nancy M. King, Madhavi Kolli, Seema Mittal, Jennifer E. Foulkes-Murzycki, Madhavi N. L. Nalam, Ellen A. Nalivaika, Aysegul Ozen, Moses Prabu-Jeyabalan, Kelly Thayer, Celia A. Schiffer Nov 2011

Molecular Basis For Drug Resistance In Hiv-1 Protease, Akbar Ali, Rajintha M. Bandaranayake, Yufeng Cai, Nancy M. King, Madhavi Kolli, Seema Mittal, Jennifer E. Foulkes-Murzycki, Madhavi N. L. Nalam, Ellen A. Nalivaika, Aysegul Ozen, Moses Prabu-Jeyabalan, Kelly Thayer, Celia A. Schiffer

Celia A. Schiffer

HIV-1 protease is one of the major antiviral targets in the treatment of patients infected with HIV-1. The nine FDA approved HIV-1 protease inhibitors were developed with extensive use of structure-based drug design, thus the atomic details of how the inhibitors bind are well characterized. From this structural understanding the molecular basis for drug resistance in HIV-1 protease can be elucidated. Selected mutations in response to therapy and diversity between clades in HIV-1 protease have altered the shape of the active site, potentially altered the dynamics and even altered the sequence of the cleavage sites in the Gag polyprotein. All …


Evaluation Of The Substrate Envelope Hypothesis For Inhibitors Of Hiv-1 Protease, Sripriya Chellappan, Visvaldas Kairys, Miguel Fernandes, Celia Schiffer, Michael Gilson Nov 2011

Evaluation Of The Substrate Envelope Hypothesis For Inhibitors Of Hiv-1 Protease, Sripriya Chellappan, Visvaldas Kairys, Miguel Fernandes, Celia Schiffer, Michael Gilson

Celia A. Schiffer

Crystallographic data show that various substrates of HIV protease occupy a remarkably uniform region within the binding site; this region has been termed the substrate envelope. It has been suggested that an inhibitor that fits within the substrate envelope should tend to evade viral resistance because a protease mutation that reduces the affinity of the inhibitor will also tend to reduce the affinity of substrate, and will hence decrease the activity of the enzyme. Accordingly, inhibitors that fit the substrate envelope better should be less susceptible to clinically observed resistant mutations, since these must also allow substrates to bind. The …


Expression, Purification, And Characterization Of Thymidylate Synthase From Lactococcus Lactis, Patricia Greene, Pak-Lam Yu, Jia Zhao, Celia Schiffer, Daniel Santi Nov 2011

Expression, Purification, And Characterization Of Thymidylate Synthase From Lactococcus Lactis, Patricia Greene, Pak-Lam Yu, Jia Zhao, Celia Schiffer, Daniel Santi

Celia A. Schiffer

The thymidylate synthase (TS) gene from Lactococcus lactis has been highly expressed in Escherichia coli. The TS protein was purified by sequential chromatography on Q-Sepharose and phenyl-Sepharose. Six grams of cell pellet yielded 140 mg of homogeneous TS. TS is a highly conserved enzyme, and several of the conserved amino acid residues that have been implicated in catalytic function are altered in L. lactis TS. By use of a 3-dimensional homology model, we have predicted covariant changes that might compensate for these differences. With the large amounts of L. lactis TS now available, studies can be pursued to understand the …


Investigations Of Peptide Hydration Using Nmr And Molecular Dynamics Simulations: A Study Of Effects Of Water On The Conformation And Dynamics Of Antamanide, Jeffrey Peng, Celia Schiffer, Ping Xu, Wilfred Van Gunsteren, Richard Ernst Nov 2011

Investigations Of Peptide Hydration Using Nmr And Molecular Dynamics Simulations: A Study Of Effects Of Water On The Conformation And Dynamics Of Antamanide, Jeffrey Peng, Celia Schiffer, Ping Xu, Wilfred Van Gunsteren, Richard Ernst

Celia A. Schiffer

The influence of water binding on the conformational dynamics of the cyclic decapeptide antamanide dissolved in the model lipophilic environment chloroform is investigated by NMR relaxation measurements. The water-peptide complex has a lifetime of 35 mgrs at 250 K, which is longer than typical lifetimes of water-peptide complexes reported in aqueous solution. In addition, there is a rapid intracomplex mobility that probably involves librational motions of the bound water or water molecules hopping between different binding sites. Water binding restricts the flexibility of antamanide. The experimental findings are compared with GROMOS molecular dynamics simulations of antamanide with up to eight …


Discovery Of Hiv-1 Protease Inhibitors With Picomolar Affinities Incorporating N-Aryl-Oxazolidinone-5-Carboxamides As Novel P2 Ligands, Akbar Ali, G. S. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Hong Cao, Saima Anjum, Madhavi Nalam, Celia Schiffer, Tariq Rana Nov 2011

Discovery Of Hiv-1 Protease Inhibitors With Picomolar Affinities Incorporating N-Aryl-Oxazolidinone-5-Carboxamides As Novel P2 Ligands, Akbar Ali, G. S. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Hong Cao, Saima Anjum, Madhavi Nalam, Celia Schiffer, Tariq Rana

Celia A. Schiffer

Here, we describe the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of novel HIV-1 protease inhibitors incorporating N-phenyloxazolidinone-5-carboxamides into the (hydroxyethylamino)sulfonamide scaffold as P2 ligands. Series of inhibitors with variations at the P2 phenyloxazolidinone and the P2' phenylsulfonamide moieties were synthesized. Compounds with the (S)-enantiomer of substituted phenyloxazolidinones at P2 show highly potent inhibitory activities against HIV-1 protease. The inhibitors possessing 3-acetyl, 4-acetyl, and 3-trifluoromethyl groups at the phenyl ring of the oxazolidinone fragment are the most potent in each series, with K(i) values in the low picomolar (pM) range. The electron-donating groups 4-methoxy and 1,3-dioxolane are preferred at P2' phenyl ring, …


The Role Of Protein-Solvent Interactions In Protein Unfolding, Celia Schiffer, Volker Dötsch Nov 2011

The Role Of Protein-Solvent Interactions In Protein Unfolding, Celia Schiffer, Volker Dötsch

Celia A. Schiffer

Protein unfolding occurs when the balance of forces between the protein's interaction with itself and the protein's interaction with its environment is disrupted. The disruption of this balance of forces may be as simple as a perturbance of the normal water structure around the protein. A decrease in the normal water-water interaction will result in an increase in the relative interaction of water with the protein. An increase in the number of interactions between water and the protein may initiate a protein's unfolding. This model for protein unfolding is supported by a range of recent experimental and computational data.


Association Of A Novel Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Protease Substrate Cleft Mutation, L23i, With Protease Inhibitor Therapy And In Vitro Drug Resistance, Elizabeth Johnston, Mark Winters, Soo-Yon Rhee, Thomas Merigan, Celia Schiffer, Robert Shafer Nov 2011

Association Of A Novel Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Protease Substrate Cleft Mutation, L23i, With Protease Inhibitor Therapy And In Vitro Drug Resistance, Elizabeth Johnston, Mark Winters, Soo-Yon Rhee, Thomas Merigan, Celia Schiffer, Robert Shafer

Celia A. Schiffer

We observed a previously uncharacterized mutation in the protease substrate cleft, L23I, in 31 of 4,303 persons undergoing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 genotypic resistance testing. In combination with V82I, L23I was associated with a sevenfold reduction in nelfinavir susceptibility and a decrease in replication capacity. In combination with other drug resistance mutations, L23I was associated with multidrug resistance and a compensatory increase in replication capacity.


Co-Evolution Of Nelfinavir-Resistant Hiv-1 Protease And The P1-P6 Substrate, Madhavi Kolli, Stephane Lastere, Celia Schiffer Nov 2011

Co-Evolution Of Nelfinavir-Resistant Hiv-1 Protease And The P1-P6 Substrate, Madhavi Kolli, Stephane Lastere, Celia Schiffer

Celia A. Schiffer

The selective pressure of the competitive protease inhibitors causes both HIV-1 protease and occasionally its substrates to evolve drug resistance. We hypothesize that this occurs particularly in substrates that protrude beyond the substrate envelope and contact residues that mutate in response to a particular protease inhibitor. To validate this hypothesis, we analyzed substrate and protease sequences for covariation. Using the chi2 test, we show a positive correlation between the nelfinavir-resistant D30N/N88D protease mutations and mutations at the p1-p6 cleavage site as compared to the other cleavage sites. Both nelfinavir and the substrate p1-p6 protrude beyond the substrate envelope and contact …


Reca Dimers Serve As A Functional Unit For Assembly Of Active Nucleoprotein Filaments, Anthony Forget, Michelle Kudron, Dharia Mcgrew, Melissa Calmann, Celia Schiffer, Kendall Knight Nov 2011

Reca Dimers Serve As A Functional Unit For Assembly Of Active Nucleoprotein Filaments, Anthony Forget, Michelle Kudron, Dharia Mcgrew, Melissa Calmann, Celia Schiffer, Kendall Knight

Celia A. Schiffer

All RecA-like recombinase enzymes catalyze DNA strand exchange as elongated filaments on DNA. Despite numerous biochemical and structural studies of RecA and the related Rad51 and RadA proteins, the unit oligomer(s) responsible for nucleoprotein filament assembly and coordinated filament activity remains undefined. We have created a RecA fused dimer protein and show that it maintains in vivo DNA repair and LexA co-protease activities, as well as in vitro ATPase and DNA strand exchange activities. Our results support the idea that dimeric RecA is an important functional unit both for assembly of nucleoprotein filaments and for their coordinated activity during the …


Substrate Shape Determines Specificity Of Recognition For Hiv-1 Protease: Analysis Of Crystal Structures Of Six Substrate Complexes, Moses Prabu-Jeyabalan, Ellen Nalivaika, Celia Schiffer Nov 2011

Substrate Shape Determines Specificity Of Recognition For Hiv-1 Protease: Analysis Of Crystal Structures Of Six Substrate Complexes, Moses Prabu-Jeyabalan, Ellen Nalivaika, Celia Schiffer

Celia A. Schiffer

The homodimeric HIV-1 protease is the target of some of the most effective antiviral AIDS therapy, as it facilitates viral maturation by cleaving ten asymmetric and nonhomologous sequences in the Gag and Pol polyproteins. Since the specificity of this enzyme is not easily determined from the sequences of these cleavage sites alone, we solved the crystal structures of complexes of an inactive variant (D25N) of HIV-1 protease with six peptides that correspond to the natural substrate cleavage sites. When the protease binds to its substrate and buries nearly 1000 A2 of surface area, the symmetry of the protease is broken, …


Rationale For More Diverse Inhibitors In Competition With Substrates In Hiv-1 Protease, Nevra Ozer, Celia Schiffer, Turkan Haliloglu Nov 2011

Rationale For More Diverse Inhibitors In Competition With Substrates In Hiv-1 Protease, Nevra Ozer, Celia Schiffer, Turkan Haliloglu

Celia A. Schiffer

The structural fluctuations of HIV-1 protease in interaction with its substrates versus inhibitors were analyzed using the anisotropic network model. The directions of fluctuations in the most cooperative functional modes differ mainly around the dynamically key regions, i.e., the hinge axes, which appear to be more flexible in substrate complexes. The flexibility of HIV-1 protease is likely optimized for the substrates' turnover, resulting in substrate complexes being dynamic. In contrast, in an inhibitor complex, the inhibitor should bind and lock down to inactivate the active site. Protease and ligands are not independent. Substrates are also more flexible than inhibitors and …


Molecular Mechanisms Of Viral And Host Cell Substrate Recognition By Hepatitis C Virus Ns3/4a Protease, Keith Romano, Jennifer Laine, Laura Deveau, Hong Cao, Francesca Massi, Celia Schiffer Nov 2011

Molecular Mechanisms Of Viral And Host Cell Substrate Recognition By Hepatitis C Virus Ns3/4a Protease, Keith Romano, Jennifer Laine, Laura Deveau, Hong Cao, Francesca Massi, Celia Schiffer

Celia A. Schiffer

Hepatitis C NS3/4A protease is a prime therapeutic target that is responsible for cleaving the viral polyprotein at junctions 3-4A, 4A4B, 4B5A, and 5A5B and two host cell adaptor proteins of the innate immune response, TRIF and MAVS. In this study, NS3/4A crystal structures of both host cell cleavage sites were determined and compared to the crystal structures of viral substrates. Two distinct protease conformations were observed and correlated with substrate specificity: (i) 3-4A, 4A4B, 5A5B, and MAVS, which are processed more efficiently by the protease, form extensive electrostatic networks when in complex with the protease, and (ii) TRIF and …


Therapeutic Targeting Of C-Terminal Binding Protein In Human Cancer, Michael W. Straza, Seema Paliwal, Ramesh C. Kovi, Barur R. Rajeshkumar, Peter Trenh, Daniel Parker, Giles F. Whalen, Stephen Lyle, Celia A. Schiffer, Steven R. Grossman Nov 2011

Therapeutic Targeting Of C-Terminal Binding Protein In Human Cancer, Michael W. Straza, Seema Paliwal, Ramesh C. Kovi, Barur R. Rajeshkumar, Peter Trenh, Daniel Parker, Giles F. Whalen, Stephen Lyle, Celia A. Schiffer, Steven R. Grossman

Celia A. Schiffer

The CtBP transcriptional corepressors promote cancer cell survival and migration/invasion. CtBP senses cellular metabolism via a regulatory dehydrogenase domain, and is antagonized by p14/p19(ARF) tumor suppressors. The CtBP dehydrogenase substrate 4-methylthio-2-oxobutyric acid (MTOB) can act as a CtBP inhibitor at high concentrations, and is cytotoxic to cancer cells. MTOB induced apoptosis was p53-independent, correlated with the derepression of the proapoptotic CtBP repression target Bik, and was rescued by CtBP overexpression or Bik silencing. MTOB did not induce apoptosis in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), but was increasingly cytotoxic to immortalized and transformed MEFs, suggesting that CtBP inhibition may provide a suitable …


Accounting For Molecular Mobility In Structure Determination Based On Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic And X-Ray Diffraction Data, Wilfred Van Gunsteren, Roger Brunne, P. Gros, René Van Schaik, Celia Schiffer, Andrew Torda Nov 2011

Accounting For Molecular Mobility In Structure Determination Based On Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic And X-Ray Diffraction Data, Wilfred Van Gunsteren, Roger Brunne, P. Gros, René Van Schaik, Celia Schiffer, Andrew Torda

Celia A. Schiffer

No abstract provided.


Substrate Specificity In Hiv-1 Protease By A Biased Sequence Search Method, Nevra Ozer, Turkan Haliloglu, Celia Schiffer Nov 2011

Substrate Specificity In Hiv-1 Protease By A Biased Sequence Search Method, Nevra Ozer, Turkan Haliloglu, Celia Schiffer

Celia A. Schiffer

Drug resistance in HIV-1 protease can also occasionally confer a change in the substrate specificity. Through the use of computational techniques, a relationship can be determined between the substrate sequence and three-dimensional structure of HIV-1 protease, and be utilized to predict substrate specificity. In this study, we introduce a biased sequence search threading (BSST) methodology to analyze the preferences of substrate positions and correlations between them that might also identify which positions within known substrates can likely tolerate sequence variability and which cannot. The potential sequence space was efficiently explored using a low-resolution knowledge-based scoring function. The low-energy substrate sequences …


Additivity In The Analysis And Design Of Hiv Protease Inhibitors, Robert Jorissen, G. S. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Akbar Ali, Michael Altman, Sripriya Chellappan, Saima Anjum, Bruce Tidor, Celia Schiffer, Tariq Rana, Michael Gilson Nov 2011

Additivity In The Analysis And Design Of Hiv Protease Inhibitors, Robert Jorissen, G. S. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Akbar Ali, Michael Altman, Sripriya Chellappan, Saima Anjum, Bruce Tidor, Celia Schiffer, Tariq Rana, Michael Gilson

Celia A. Schiffer

We explore the applicability of an additive treatment of substituent effects to the analysis and design of HIV protease inhibitors. Affinity data for a set of inhibitors with a common chemical framework were analyzed to provide estimates of the free energy contribution of each chemical substituent. These estimates were then used to design new inhibitors whose high affinities were confirmed by synthesis and experimental testing. Derivations of additive models by least-squares and ridge-regression methods were found to yield statistically similar results. The additivity approach was also compared with standard molecular descriptor-based QSAR; the latter was not found to provide superior …


Insights Into Interferon Regulatory Factor Activation From The Crystal Structure Of Dimeric Irf5, Weijun Chen, Suvana Lam, Hema Srinath, Zhaozhao Jiang, John Correia, Celia Schiffer, Katherine Fitzgerald, Kai Lin, William Royer Nov 2011

Insights Into Interferon Regulatory Factor Activation From The Crystal Structure Of Dimeric Irf5, Weijun Chen, Suvana Lam, Hema Srinath, Zhaozhao Jiang, John Correia, Celia Schiffer, Katherine Fitzgerald, Kai Lin, William Royer

Celia A. Schiffer

Interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) are essential in the innate immune response and other physiological processes. Activation of these proteins in the cytoplasm is triggered by phosphorylation of serine and threonine residues in a C-terminal autoinhibitory region, which stimulates dimerization, transport into the nucleus, assembly with the coactivator CBP/p300 and initiation of transcription. The crystal structure of the transactivation domain of pseudophosphorylated human IRF5 strikingly reveals a dimer in which the bulk of intersubunit interactions involve a highly extended C-terminal region. The corresponding region has previously been shown to block CBP/p300 binding to unphosphorylated IRF3. Mutation of key interface residues supports …


Crystal Structure Of The Apobec3g Catalytic Domain Reveals Potential Oligomerization Interfaces., Shivender Shandilya, Madhavi Nalam, Ellen Nalivaika, Phillip Gross, Johnathan Valesano, Keisuke Shindo, Ming Li, Mary Munson, William Royer, Elena Harjes, Takahide Kono, Hiroshi Matsuo, Reuben Harris, Mohan Somasundaran, Celia Schiffer Nov 2011

Crystal Structure Of The Apobec3g Catalytic Domain Reveals Potential Oligomerization Interfaces., Shivender Shandilya, Madhavi Nalam, Ellen Nalivaika, Phillip Gross, Johnathan Valesano, Keisuke Shindo, Ming Li, Mary Munson, William Royer, Elena Harjes, Takahide Kono, Hiroshi Matsuo, Reuben Harris, Mohan Somasundaran, Celia Schiffer

Celia A. Schiffer

APOBEC3G is a DNA cytidine deaminase that has antiviral activity against HIV-1 and other pathogenic viruses. In this study the crystal structure of the catalytically active C-terminal domain was determined to 2.25 A. This structure corroborates features previously observed in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies, a bulge in the second beta strand and a lengthening of the second alpha helix. Oligomerization is postulated to be critical for the function of APOBEC3G. In this structure, four extensive intermolecular interfaces are observed, suggesting potential models for APOBEC3G oligomerization. The structural and functional significance of these interfaces was probed by solution NMR and …


The Challenge Of Developing Robust Drugs To Overcome Resistance, Amy Anderson, Michael Pollastri, Celia Schiffer, Norton Peet Nov 2011

The Challenge Of Developing Robust Drugs To Overcome Resistance, Amy Anderson, Michael Pollastri, Celia Schiffer, Norton Peet

Celia A. Schiffer

Drug resistance is problematic in microbial disease, viral disease and cancer. Understanding at the outset that resistance will impact the effectiveness of any new drug that is developed for these disease categories is imperative. In this Feature, we detail approaches that have been taken with selected drug targets to reduce the susceptibility of new drugs to resistance mechanisms. We will also define the concepts of robust drugs and resilient targets, and discuss how the design of robust drugs and the selection of resilient targets can lead to successful strategies for combating resistance.


How Does A Symmetric Dimer Recognize An Asymmetric Substrate? A Substrate Complex Of Hiv-1 Protease, Moses Prabu-Jeyabalan, Ellen Nalivaika, Celia Schiffer Nov 2011

How Does A Symmetric Dimer Recognize An Asymmetric Substrate? A Substrate Complex Of Hiv-1 Protease, Moses Prabu-Jeyabalan, Ellen Nalivaika, Celia Schiffer

Celia A. Schiffer

The crystal structure of an actual HIV-1 protease-substrate complex is presented at 2.0 A resolution (R-value of 19.7 % (R(free) 23.3 %)) between an inactive variant (D25N) of HIV-1 protease and a long substrate peptide, Lys-Ala-Arg-Val-Leu-Ala-Glu-Ala-Met-Ser, which covers a full binding epitope of capsid(CA)-p2, cleavage site. The substrate peptide is asymmetric in both size and charge distribution. To accommodate this asymmetry the two protease monomers adopt different conformations burying a total of 1038 A(2) of surface area at the protease-substrate interface. The specificity for the CA-p2 substrate peptide is mainly hydrophobic, as most of the hydrogen bonds are made with …


Toward The Design Of Mutation-Resistant Enzyme Inhibitors: Further Evaluation Of The Substrate Envelope Hypothesis, Visvaldas Kairys, Michael Gilson, Viney Lather, Celia Schiffer, Miguel Fernandes Nov 2011

Toward The Design Of Mutation-Resistant Enzyme Inhibitors: Further Evaluation Of The Substrate Envelope Hypothesis, Visvaldas Kairys, Michael Gilson, Viney Lather, Celia Schiffer, Miguel Fernandes

Celia A. Schiffer

Previous studies have shown the usefulness of the substrate envelope concept in the analysis and prediction of drug resistance profiles for human immunodeficiency virus protease mutants. This study tests its applicability to several other therapeutic targets: Abl kinase, chitinase, thymidylate synthase, dihydrofolate reductase, and neuraminidase. For the targets where many (> or =6) mutation data are available to compute the average mutation sensitivity of inhibitors, the total volume of an inhibitor molecule that projects outside the substrate envelope V(out), is found to correlate with average mutation sensitivity. Analysis of a locally computed volume suggests that the same correlation would hold …


Inclusion Of Solvation Free Energy With Molecular Mechanics Energy: Alanyl Dipeptide As A Test Case, Celia Schiffer, James Caldwell, Robert Stroud, Peter Kollman Nov 2011

Inclusion Of Solvation Free Energy With Molecular Mechanics Energy: Alanyl Dipeptide As A Test Case, Celia Schiffer, James Caldwell, Robert Stroud, Peter Kollman

Celia A. Schiffer

A combined force field of molecular mechanics and solvation free energy is tested by carrying out energy minimization and molecular dynamics on several conformations of the alanyl dipeptide. Our results are qualitatively consistent with previous experimental and computational studies, in that the addition of solvation energy stabilizes the C5 conformation of the alanyl dipeptide relative to the C7.


Design Of Hiv-1 Protease Inhibitors Active On Multidrug-Resistant Virus, Dominique Surleraux, Herman De Kock, Wim Verschueren, Geert Pille, Louis Maes, Anik Peeters, Sandrine Vendeville, Sandra De Meyer, Hilde Azijn, Rudi Pauwels, Marie-Pierre De Bethune, Nancy King, Moses Prabu-Jeyabalan, Celia Schiffer, Piet Wigerinck Nov 2011

Design Of Hiv-1 Protease Inhibitors Active On Multidrug-Resistant Virus, Dominique Surleraux, Herman De Kock, Wim Verschueren, Geert Pille, Louis Maes, Anik Peeters, Sandrine Vendeville, Sandra De Meyer, Hilde Azijn, Rudi Pauwels, Marie-Pierre De Bethune, Nancy King, Moses Prabu-Jeyabalan, Celia Schiffer, Piet Wigerinck

Celia A. Schiffer

On the basis of structural data gathered during our ongoing HIV-1 protease inhibitors program, from which our clinical candidate TMC114 9 was selected, we have discovered new series of fused heteroaromatic sulfonamides. The further extension into the P2' region was aimed at identifying new classes of compounds with an improved broad spectrum activity and acceptable pharmacokinetic properties. Several of these compounds display an exceptional broad spectrum activity against a panel of highly cross-resistant mutants. Certain members of these series exhibit favorable pharmacokinetic profiles in rat and dog. Crystal structures and molecular modeling were used to rationalize the broad spectrum profile …


Pten Enters The Nucleus By Diffusion, Fenghua Liu, Stefan Wagner, Robert Campbell, Jeffrey Nickerson, Celia Schiffer, Alonzo Ross Nov 2011

Pten Enters The Nucleus By Diffusion, Fenghua Liu, Stefan Wagner, Robert Campbell, Jeffrey Nickerson, Celia Schiffer, Alonzo Ross

Celia A. Schiffer

Despite much evidence for phosphatidylinositol phosphate (PIP)-triggered signaling pathways in the nucleus, there is little understanding of how the levels and activities of these proteins are regulated. As a first step to elucidating this problem, we determined whether phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) enters the nucleus by passive diffusion or active transport. We expressed various PTEN fusion proteins in tsBN2, HeLa, LNCaP, and U87MG cells and determined that the largest PTEN fusion proteins showed little or no nuclear localization. Because diffusion through nuclear pores is limited to proteins of 60,000 Da or less, this suggests that …


Protein Structure Prediction With A Combined Solvation Free Energy-Molecular Mechanics Force Field, Celia Schiffer, James Caldwell, Peter Kollman, Robert Stroud Nov 2011

Protein Structure Prediction With A Combined Solvation Free Energy-Molecular Mechanics Force Field, Celia Schiffer, James Caldwell, Peter Kollman, Robert Stroud

Celia A. Schiffer

Models of protein structure are frequently used to determine the physical characteristics of a protein when the crystal structure is not available. We developed a procedure to optimize such models, by use of a combined solvation free energy and molecular mechanics force field. Appropriately chosen atomic solvation parameters were defined using the criterion that the resulting protein model should deviate least from the crystal structure upon a forty picosecond molecular dynamics simulation carried out using the combined force field. Several tests were performed to refine the set of atomic solvation parameters which best complement the molecular mechanics forces. Four sets …


Dynamics Of Preferential Substrate Recognition In Hiv-1 Protease: Redefining The Substrate Envelope, Aysegul Ozen, Turkan Haliloglu, Celia Schiffer Nov 2011

Dynamics Of Preferential Substrate Recognition In Hiv-1 Protease: Redefining The Substrate Envelope, Aysegul Ozen, Turkan Haliloglu, Celia Schiffer

Celia A. Schiffer

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease (PR) permits viral maturation by processing the gag and gag-pro-pol polyproteins. HIV-1 PR inhibitors (PIs) are used in combination antiviral therapy but the emergence of drug resistance has limited their efficacy. The rapid evolution of HIV-1 necessitates consideration of drug resistance in novel drug design. Drug-resistant HIV-1 PR variants no longer inhibited efficiently, continue to hydrolyze the natural viral substrates. Though highly diverse in sequence, the HIV-1 PR substrates bind in a conserved three-dimensional shape we termed the substrate envelope. Earlier, we showed that resistance mutations arise where PIs protrude beyond the substrate …


N88d Facilitates The Co-Occurrence Of D30n And L90m And The Development Of Multidrug Resistance In Hiv Type 1 Protease Following Nelfinavir Treatment Failure, Yumi Mitsuya, Mark Winters, W. Jeffrey Fessel, Soo-Yon Rhee, Leo Hurley, Michael Horberg, Celia Schiffer, Andrew Zolopa, Robert Shafer Nov 2011

N88d Facilitates The Co-Occurrence Of D30n And L90m And The Development Of Multidrug Resistance In Hiv Type 1 Protease Following Nelfinavir Treatment Failure, Yumi Mitsuya, Mark Winters, W. Jeffrey Fessel, Soo-Yon Rhee, Leo Hurley, Michael Horberg, Celia Schiffer, Andrew Zolopa, Robert Shafer

Celia A. Schiffer

Nelfinavir was once one of the most commonly used protease inhibitors (PIs). To investigate the genetic mechanisms of multidrug resistance in protease isolates with the primary nelfinavir resistance mutation D30N, we analyzed patterns of protease mutations in 582 viruses with D30N from 460 persons undergoing HIV-1 genotypic resistance testing at Stanford University Hospital from 1997 to 2005. Three patterns of mutational associations were identified. First, D30N was positively associated with N88D but negatively associated with N88S. Second, D30N and L90M were negatively associated except in the presence of N88D, which facilitated the co-occurrence of D30N and L90M. Third, D30N+N88D+L90M formed …


Tmc310911, A Novel Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Protease Inhibitor, Shows In Vitro An Improved Resistance Profile And Higher Genetic Barrier To Resistance Compared With Current Protease Inhibitors, Inge Dierynck, Herwig Van Marck, Marcia Van Ginderen, Tim Jonckers, Madhavi Nalam, Celia Schiffer, Araz Raoof, Guenter Kraus, Gaston Picchio Nov 2011

Tmc310911, A Novel Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Protease Inhibitor, Shows In Vitro An Improved Resistance Profile And Higher Genetic Barrier To Resistance Compared With Current Protease Inhibitors, Inge Dierynck, Herwig Van Marck, Marcia Van Ginderen, Tim Jonckers, Madhavi Nalam, Celia Schiffer, Araz Raoof, Guenter Kraus, Gaston Picchio

Celia A. Schiffer

TMC310911 is a novel human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease inhibitor (PI) structurally closely related to darunavir (DRV) but with improved virological characteristics. TMC310911 has potent activity against wild-type (WT) HIV-1 (median 50% effective concentration [EC(50)], 14 nM) and a wide spectrum of recombinant HIV-1 clinical isolates, including multiple-PI-resistant strains with decreased susceptibility to currently approved PIs (fold change [FC] in EC(50), >10). For a panel of 2,011 recombinant clinical isolates with decreased susceptibility to at least one of the currently approved PIs, the FC in TMC310911 EC(50) was


Cooperative Fluctuations Of Unliganded And Substrate-Bound Hiv-1 Protease: A Structure-Based Analysis On A Variety Of Conformations From Crystallography And Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Nese Kurt, Walter Scott, Celia Schiffer, Turkan Haliloglu Nov 2011

Cooperative Fluctuations Of Unliganded And Substrate-Bound Hiv-1 Protease: A Structure-Based Analysis On A Variety Of Conformations From Crystallography And Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Nese Kurt, Walter Scott, Celia Schiffer, Turkan Haliloglu

Celia A. Schiffer

The dynamics of HIV-1 protease, both in unliganded and substrate-bound forms have been analyzed by using an analytical method, Gaussian network model (GNM). The method is applied to different conformations accessible to the protein backbone in the native state, observed in crystal structures and snapshots from fully atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulation trajectories. The modes of motion obtained from GNM on different conformations of HIV-1 protease are conserved throughout the MD simulations. The flaps and 40's loop of the unliganded HIV-1 protease structure are identified as the most mobile regions. However, in the liganded structure these flaps lose mobility, and …