Virtual screening for the identification of novel inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell wall synthesis: inhibitors targeting RmlB and RmlC.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis remains one of the deadliest infectious diseases in humans. It has caused more than 100 million deaths since its discovery in 1882. Currently, more than 5 million people are infected with TB bacterium each year. The cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis plays an important role in maintaining the ability of mycobacteria to survive in a hostile environment. Therefore, we report a virtual screening (VS) study aiming to identify novel inhibitors that simultaneously target RmlB and RmlC, which are two essential enzymes for the synthesis of the cell wall of M. tuberculosis. METHODS: A hybrid VS method that combines drug-likeness prediction, pharmacophore modeling and molecular docking studies was used to indentify inhibitors targeting RmlB and RmlC. RESULTS: The pharmacophore models HypoB and HypoC of RmlB inhibitors and RmlC inhibitors, respectively, were developed based on ligands complexing with their corresponding receptors. In total, 20 compounds with good absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity properties were carefully selected using the hybird VS method. DISCUSSION: We have established a hybrid VS method to discover novel inhibitors with new scaffolds. The molecular interactions of the selected potential inhibitors with the active-site residues are discussed in detail. These compounds will be further evaluated using biological activity assays and deserve consideration for further structure-activity relationship studies.

Expression, purification and preliminary crystallographic studies of the C-terminal SH3 domain of human Tks4.

The Src homology 3 (SH3) domain is a small, noncatalytic domain with a conserved sequence of about 60 amino-acid residues that interacts with proline-rich peptides to form a protein complex. In this study, the C-terminal SH3 domain of human Tks4 (residues 853-911) was expressed, purified and crystallized. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 2.3 Šresolution. The crystal belonged to the trigonal space group P3121 (or P3221), with unit-cell parameters a = b = 83.87, c = 108.44 Å, α = ß = 90, γ = 120°. Calculating the self-rotation and the native Patterson function did not lead to the detection of any noncrystallographic translational symmetry. Six, seven or eight protein molecules are likely to be present in the asymmetric unit, resulting in a Matthews coefficient and approximate solvent content of 2.71 Å(3) Da(-1) and 55%, 2.32 Å(3) Da(-1) and 47%, and 2.03 Å(3) Da(-1) and 39%, respectively. To solve the crystal structure of the C-terminal SH3 domain of human Tks4, the isomorphous replacement method is presently being utilized.

Structural basis of human transcription factor Sry-related box 17 binding to DNA.

Sry-related box (Sox) transcription factors share a conserved high-mobility-group box domain (HMG-domain) that binds DNA in the minor groove and bends DNA for further assembly of transcriptional machineries. During organogenesis, each member of the Sox family triggers a specific cell lineage differentiation, indicating that their interactions with DNA are different from each other. Therefore, investigating structural rearrangement of each Sox transcription factor HMG-domain upon binding to DNA would help to elucidate the distinctive molecular mechanism by which they interact with DNA. Previous studies have determined the crystal structures of Sox2 HMG-domain/DNA, Sox4 HMGdomain/ DNA, Sox9 HMG-domain/DNA and Sox17 HMG-domain/DNA complexes. However, major gaps remain in the structural information on the Sox transcription factor HMG-domains. Here, we report the crystal structure of the human Sox17 HMG-domain alone at 2.4 A resolution. Comparing this structure and the structure of the mouse Sox17 HMGdomain/ DNA complex provides structural understanding of the mechanism of Sox17 binding to DNA. Specifically, after electrostatic interactions attract Sox17 to DNA, Asn73, Ser99, and Trp106 form hydrogen bonds with DNA, Arg70, Lys80, Arg83, His94, and Asn95 on Sox17 undergo conformational changes and form hydrogen bonds with DNA, contributing to the electrostatic interaction between Sox17 and DNA.