Soaking suggests "alternative facts": Only co-crystallization discloses major ligand-induced interface rearrangements of a homodimeric tRNA-binding protein indicating a novel mode-of-inhibition.

For the efficient pathogenesis of Shigella, the causative agent of bacillary dysentery, full functionality of tRNA-guanine transglycosylase (TGT) is mandatory. TGT performs post-transcriptional modifications of tRNAs in the anticodon loop taking impact on virulence development. This suggests TGT as a putative target for selective anti-shigellosis drug therapy. Since bacterial TGT is only functional as homodimer, its activity can be inhibited either by blocking its active site or by preventing dimerization. Recently, we discovered that in some crystal structures obtained by soaking the full conformational adaptation most likely induced in solution upon ligand binding is not displayed. Thus, soaked structures may be misleading and suggest irrelevant binding modes. Accordingly, we re-investigated these complexes by co-crystallization. The obtained structures revealed large conformational rearrangements not visible in the soaked complexes. They result from spatial perturbations in the ribose-34/phosphate-35 recognition pocket and, consequently, an extended loop-helix motif required to prevent access of water molecules into the dimer interface loses its geometric integrity. Thermodynamic profiles of ligand binding in solution indicate favorable entropic contributions to complex formation when large conformational adaptations in the dimer interface are involved. Native MS titration experiments reveal the extent to which the homodimer is destabilized in the presence of each inhibitor. Unexpectedly, one ligand causes a complete rearrangement of subunit packing within the homodimer, never observed in any other TGT crystal structure before. Likely, this novel twisted dimer is catalytically inactive and, therefore, suggests that stabilizing this non-productive subunit arrangement may be used as a further strategy for TGT inhibition.

Efficient synthesis of fluorescent alkynyl C-nucleosides via Sonogashira coupling for the preparation of DNA-based polyfluorophores.

A facile and general procedure for the preparation of alkynyl C-nucleosides with varied fluorophores is presented. Sonogashira coupling was used as a key reaction to conjugate the dyes to an easily accessible ethynyl functionalized deoxyribose derivative. The new C-nucleosides were used for the preparation of DNA-based polyfluorophores.

Organocatalytic removal of formaldehyde adducts from RNA and DNA bases.

Formaldehyde is universally used to fix tissue specimens, where it forms hemiaminal and aminal adducts with biomolecules, hindering the ability to retrieve molecular information. Common methods for removing these adducts involve extended heating, which can cause extensive degradation of nucleic acids, particularly RNA. Here, we show that water-soluble bifunctional catalysts (anthranilates and phosphanilates) speed the reversal of formaldehyde adducts of mononucleotides over standard buffers. Studies with formaldehyde-treated RNA oligonucleotides show that the catalysts enhance adduct removal, restoring unmodified RNA at 37 °C even when extensively modified, while avoiding the high temperatures that promote RNA degradation. Experiments with formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded cell samples show that the catalysis is compatible with common RNA extraction protocols, with detectable RNA yields increased by 1.5-2.4-fold using a catalyst under optimized conditions and by 7-25-fold compared with a commercial kit. Such catalytic strategies show promise for general use in reversing formaldehyde adducts in clinical specimens.

Replacement of water molecules in a phosphate binding site by furanoside-appended lin-benzoguanine ligands of tRNA-guanine transglycosylase (TGT).

The enzyme tRNA-guanine transglycosylase has been identified as a drug target for the foodborne illness shigellosis. A key challenge in structure-based design for this enzyme is the filling of the polar ribose-34 pocket. Herein, we describe a novel series of ligands consisting of furanoside-appended lin-benzoguanines. They were designed to replace a conserved water cluster and differ by the functional groups at C(2) and C(3) of the furanosyl moiety being either OH or OMe. The unfavorable desolvation of Asp102 and Asp280, which are located close to the ribose-34 pocket, had a significant impact on binding affinity. While the enzyme has tRNA as its natural substrate, X-ray co-crystal structures revealed that the furanosyl moieties of the ligands are not accommodated in the tRNA ribose-34 site, but at the location of the adjacent phosphate group. A remarkable similarity of the position of the oxygen atoms in these two structures suggests furanosides as a potential phosphate isoster.

Beyond affinity: enthalpy-entropy factorization unravels complexity of a flat structure-activity relationship for inhibition of a tRNA-modifying enzyme.

Lead optimization focuses on binding-affinity improvement. If a flat structure-activity relationship is detected, usually optimization strategies are abolished as unattractive. Nonetheless, as affinity is composed of an enthalpic and entropic contribution, factorization of both can unravel the complexity of a flat, on first sight tedious SAR. In such cases, the binding free energy of different ligands can be rather similar, but it can factorize into enthalpy and entropy distinctly. We investigated the thermodynamic signature of two classes of lin-benzopurines binding to tRNA-guanine transglycosylase. While the differences are hardly visible in the free energy, they involve striking enthalpic and entropic changes. Analyzing thermodynamics along with structural features revealed that one ligand set binds to the protein without inducing significant changes compared to the apo structure; however, the second series provokes complex adaptation, leading to a conformation similar to the substrate-bound state. In the latter state, a cross-talk between two pockets is suggested.

Chasing protons: how isothermal titration calorimetry, mutagenesis, and pKa calculations trace the locus of charge in ligand binding to a tRNA-binding enzyme.

Drug molecules should remain uncharged while traveling through the body and crossing membranes and should only adopt charged state upon protein binding, particularly if charge-assisted interactions can be established in deeply buried binding pockets. Such strategy requires careful pKa design and methods to elucidate whether and where protonation-state changes occur. We investigated the protonation inventory in a series of lin-benzoguanines binding to tRNA-guanine transglycosylase, showing pronounced buffer dependency during ITC measurements. Chemical modifications of the parent scaffold along with ITC measurements, pKa calculations, and site-directed mutagenesis allow elucidating the protonation site. The parent scaffold exhibits two guanidine-type portions, both likely candidates for proton uptake. Even mutually compensating effects resulting from proton release of the protein and simultaneous uptake by the ligand can be excluded. Two adjacent aspartates induce a strong pKa shift at the ligand site, resulting in protonation-state transition. Furthermore, an array of two parallel H-bonds avoiding secondary repulsive effects contributes to the high-affinity binding of the lin-benzoguanines.

Impact of protein and ligand impurities on ITC-derived protein-ligand thermodynamics.

BACKGROUND: The thermodynamic characterization of protein-ligand interactions by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is a powerful tool in drug design, giving valuable insight into the interaction driving forces. ITC is thought to require protein and ligand solutions of high quality, meaning both the absence of contaminants as well as accurately determined concentrations. METHODS: Ligands synthesized to deviating purity and protein of different pureness were titrated by ITC. Data curation was attempted also considering information from analytical techniques to correct stoichiometry. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We used trypsin and tRNA-guanine transglycosylase (TGT), together with high affinity ligands to investigate the effect of errors in protein concentration as well as the impact of ligand impurities on the apparent thermodynamics. We found that errors in protein concentration did not change the thermodynamic properties obtained significantly. However, most ligand impurities led to pronounced changes in binding enthalpy. If protein binding of the respective impurity is not expected, the actual ligand concentration was corrected for and the thus revised data compared to thermodynamic properties obtained with the respective pure ligand. Even in these cases, we observed differences in binding enthalpy of about 4kJ⋅mol(-1), which is considered significant. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Our results indicate that ligand purity is the critical parameter to monitor if accurate thermodynamic data of a protein-ligand complex are to be recorded. Furthermore, artificially changing fitting parameters to obtain a sound interaction stoichiometry in the presence of uncharacterized ligand impurities may lead to thermodynamic parameters significantly deviating from the accurate thermodynamic signature.

High-affinity inhibitors of Zymomonas mobilis tRNA-guanine transglycosylase through convergent optimization.

The tRNA-modifying enzyme tRNA-guanine transglycosylase (TGT) has been recognized as a drug target for the treatment of the foodborne illness shigellosis. The active site of TGT consists of three pockets: the central guanine/preQ1 recognition site and the ribose-33 and ribose-34 pockets. In previous work, lin-benzoguanines and lin-benzohypoxanthines, which differ by the presence of an exocyclic NH2 group in the former and its absence in the latter, were used as central scaffolds that bind to the guanine/preQ1 recognition site and allow suitable functionalization along exit vectors targeting the two ribose pockets. The substituents for both of these two pockets have been optimized individually. Here, a series of bifunctionalized inhibitors that occupy both ribose pockets are reported for the first time. Dissociation constants Kd down to the picomolar range were measured for the bifunctionalized lin-benzoguanine-based ligands and Kd values in the nanomolar range were measured for the corresponding lin-benzohypoxanthine-based ligands. The binding mode of all inhibitors was elucidated by X-ray crystal structure analysis. A remarkable influence of the crystallization protocol on the solvation pattern in the solid state and the residual mobility of the bound ligands was observed.

Launching spiking ligands into a protein-protein interface: a promising strategy to destabilize and break interface formation in a tRNA modifying enzyme.

Apart from competitive active-site inhibition of protein function, perturbance of protein-protein interactions by small molecules in oligodomain enzymes opens new perspectives for innovative therapeutics. tRNA-guanine transglycosylase (TGT), a potential target to treat shigellosis, is active only as the homodimer. Consequently, disruption of the dimer interface by small molecules provides a novel inhibition mode. A special feature of this enzyme is the short distance between active site and rim of the dimer interface. This suggests design of expanded active-site inhibitors decorated with rigid, needle-type substituents to spike into potential hot spots of the interaction interface. Ligands with attached ethinyl-type substituents have been synthesized and characterized by Kd measurements, crystallography, noncovalent mass spectrometry, and computer simulations. In contrast to previously determined crystal structures with nonextended active-site inhibitors, a well-defined loop-helix motif, involved in several contacts across the dimer interface, falls apart and suggests enhanced flexibility once the spiking ligands are bound. Mass spectrometry indicates significant destabilization but not full disruption of the complexed TGT homodimer in solution. As directed interactions of the loop-helix motif obviously do not determine dimer stability, a structurally conserved hydrophobic patch composed of several aromatic amino acids is suggested as interaction hot spot. The residues of this patch reside on a structurally highly conserved helix-turn-helix motif, which remains unaffected by the bound spiking ligands. Nevertheless, it is shielded from solvent access by the loop-helix motif that becomes perturbed upon binding of the spiking ligands, which serves as a possible explanation for reduced interface stability.

Total synthesis and configurational assignment of the marine natural product haliclamide.

The marine natural product haliclamide has been synthesized based on macrocyclization by ring-closing olefin metathesis. Using either enantiomer of two of the four building blocks that were employed to assemble the diene precursor for the metathesis reaction, three non-natural isomers of haliclamide were also prepared. On the basis of the comparison of the (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra of the individual stereoisomers with literature data for the natural product, the configuration of the previously unassigned stereocenters at C9 and C20 of haliclamide could be determined to be S for both carbons. The absolute configuration of haliclamide thus is 2S, 9S, 14R, 20S. The antiproliferative activity of synthetic haliclamide against several human cancer cell lines was found to be in the high µM range. The compound showed no antifungal or antibiotic activity.

Free enthalpies of replacing water molecules in protein binding pockets.

Water molecules in the binding pocket of a protein and their role in ligand binding have increasingly raised interest in recent years. Displacement of such water molecules by ligand atoms can be either favourable or unfavourable for ligand binding depending on the change in free enthalpy. In this study, we investigate the displacement of water molecules by an apolar probe in the binding pocket of two proteins, cyclin-dependent kinase 2 and tRNA-guanine transglycosylase, using the method of enveloping distribution sampling (EDS) to obtain free enthalpy differences. In both cases, a ligand core is placed inside the respective pocket and the remaining water molecules are converted to apolar probes, both individually and in pairs. The free enthalpy difference between a water molecule and a CH(3) group at the same location in the pocket in comparison to their presence in bulk solution calculated from EDS molecular dynamics simulations corresponds to the binding free enthalpy of CH(3) at this location. From the free enthalpy difference and the enthalpy difference, the entropic contribution of the displacement can be obtained too. The overlay of the resulting occupancy volumes of the water molecules with crystal structures of analogous ligands shows qualitative correlation between experimentally measured inhibition constants and the calculated free enthalpy differences. Thus, such an EDS analysis of the water molecules in the binding pocket may give valuable insight for potency optimization in drug design.

From lin-benzoguanines to lin-benzohypoxanthines as ligands for Zymomonas mobilis tRNA-guanine transglycosylase: replacement of protein-ligand hydrogen bonding by importing water clusters.

The foodborne illness shigellosis is caused by Shigella bacteria that secrete the highly cytotoxic Shiga toxin, which is also formed by the closely related enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). It has been shown that tRNA-guanine transglycosylase (TGT) is essential for the pathogenicity of Shigella flexneri. Herein, the molecular recognition properties of a guanine binding pocket in Zymomonas mobilis TGT are investigated with a series of lin-benzohypoxanthine- and lin-benzoguanine-based inhibitors that bear substituents to occupy either the ribose-33 or the ribose-34 pocket. The three inhibitor scaffolds differ by the substituent at C(6) being H, NH(2), or NH-alkyl. These differences lead to major changes in the inhibition constants, pK(a) values, and binding modes. Compared to the lin-benzoguanines, with an exocyclic NH(2) at C(6), the lin-benzohypoxanthines without an exocyclic NH(2) group have a weaker affinity as several ionic protein-ligand hydrogen bonds are lost. X-ray cocrystal structure analysis reveals that a new water cluster is imported into the space vacated by the lacking NH(2) group and by a conformational shift of the side chain of catalytic Asp102. In the presence of an N-alkyl group at C(6) in lin-benzoguanine ligands, this water cluster is largely maintained but replacement of one of the water molecules in the cluster leads to a substantial loss in binding affinity. This study provides new insight into the role of water clusters at enzyme active sites and their challenging substitution by ligand parts, a topic of general interest in contemporary structure-based drug design.

Inhibitors of the kinase IspE: structure-activity relationships and co-crystal structure analysis.

Enzymes of the non-mevalonate pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis are therapeutic targets for the treatment of important infectious diseases. Whereas this pathway is absent in humans, it is used by plants, many eubacteria and apicomplexan protozoa, including major human pathogens such as Plasmodium falciparum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Herein, we report on the design, preparation and biological evaluation of a new series of ligands for IspE protein, a kinase from this pathway. These inhibitors were developed for the inhibition of IspE from Escherichia coli, using structure-based design approaches. Structure-activity relationships (SARs) and a co-crystal structure of Aquifex aeolicus IspE bound to a representative inhibitor validate the proposed binding mode. The crystal structure shows that the ligand binds in the substrate-rather than the adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP)-binding pocket. As predicted, a cyclopropyl substituent occupies a small cavity not used by the substrate. The optimal volume occupancy of this cavity is explored in detail. In the co-crystal structure, a diphosphate anion binds to the Gly-rich loop, which normally accepts the triphosphate moiety of ATP. This structure provides useful insights for future structure-based developments of inhibitors for the parasite enzymes.