Computational Insights Into the Effects of the R190K and N121Q Mutations on the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Complex With Biliverdin.

The SARS-CoV-2 spike has been regarded as the main target of antibody design against COVID-19. Two single-site mutations, R190K and N121Q, were deemed to weaken the binding affinity of biliverdin although the underlying molecular mechanism is still unknown. Meanwhile, the effect of the two mutations on the conformational changes of "lip" and "gate" loops was also elusive. Thus, molecular dynamics simulation and molecular mechanics/generalized Born surface area (MM/GBSA) free energy calculation were conducted on the wild-type and two other SARS-CoV-2 spike mutants. Our simulations indicated that the R190K mutation causes Lys190 to form six hydrogen bonds, guided by Asn99 and Ile101, which brings Lys190 closer to Arg102 and Asn121, thereby weakening the interaction energy between biliverdin and Ile101 as well as Lys190. For the N121Q mutation, Gln121 still maintained a hydrogen bond with biliverdin; nevertheless, the overall binding mode deviated significantly under the reversal of the side chain of Phe175. Moreover, the two mutants would stabilize the lip loop, which would restrain the meaningful upward movement of the lip. In addition, N121Q significantly promoted the gate loop deviating to the biliverdin binding site and compressed the site. This work would be useful in understanding the dynamics binding biliverdin to the SARS-CoV-2 spike.

Discovery of a Potent Candidate for RET-Specific Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer-A Combined In Silico and In Vitro Strategy.

Rearranged during transfection (RET) is a tyrosine kinase oncogenic receptor, activated in several cancers including non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Multiple kinase inhibitors vandetanib and cabozantinib are commonly used in the treatment of RET-positive NSCLC. However, specificity, toxicity, and reduced efficacy limit the usage of multiple kinase inhibitors in targeting RET protein. Thus, in the present investigation, we aimed to figure out novel and potent candidates for the inhibition of RET protein using combined in silico and in vitro strategies. In the present study, screening of 11,808 compounds from the DrugBank repository was accomplished by different hypotheses such as pharmacophore, e-pharmacophore, and receptor cavity-based models in the initial stage. The results from the different hypotheses were then integrated to eliminate the false positive prediction. The inhibitory activities of the screened compounds were tested by the glide docking algorithm. Moreover, RF score, Tanimoto coefficient, prime-MM/GBSA, and density functional theory calculations were utilized to re-score the binding free energy of the docked complexes with high precision. This procedure resulted in three lead molecules, namely DB07194, DB03496, and DB11982, against the RET protein. The screened lead molecules together with reference compounds were then subjected to a long molecular dynamics simulation with a 200 ns time duration to validate the inhibitory activity. Further analysis of compounds using MM-PBSA and mutation studies resulted in the identification of potent compound DB07194. In essence, a cell viability assay with RET-specific lung cancer cell line LC-2/ad was also carried out to confirm the in vitro biological activity of the resultant compound, DB07194. Indeed, the results from our study conclude that DB07194 can be effectively translated for this new therapeutic purpose, in contrast to the properties for which it was originally designed and synthesized.