Quantitative structure activity relationships in computer aided molecular design

The drug development process requires the complete evaluation and identification of the chosen substance as well as its properties. It involves extensive chemical examination to achieve the best therapeutic effects which demands huge expenditure both in terms of time and money. Computer aided molecular design (CAMD) allows the production of new substances with pre-decided properties. Additionally, in order to illustrate and determine the interrelationship between the chemical structure of a compound and its biological activity, Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) is applied by employing a mathematical model and arranging molecular descriptors. This paper presents review of CAMD and QSAR techniques. The most common chemometric techniques are also emphasized. CAMD and QSAR are considered to be extremely efficient instruments in molecular design and accelerate the initial steps of drug development process. Furthermore, they enhance the effectiveness and reduce the cost of newly developed drugs

3D QSAR Pharmacophore Modeling, in Silico Screening, and Density Functional Theory (DFT) Approaches for Identification of Human Chymase Inhibitors

Human chymase is a very important target for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Using a series of theoretical methods like pharmacophore modeling, database screening, molecular docking and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, an investigation for identification of novel chymase inhibitors, and to specify the key factors crucial for the binding and interaction between chymase and inhibitors is performed. A highly correlating (r = 0.942) pharmacophore model (Hypo1) with two hydrogen bond acceptors, and three hydrophobic aromatic features is generated. After successfully validating “Hypo1”, it is further applied in database screening. Hit compounds are subjected to various drug-like filtrations and molecular docking studies. Finally, three structurally diverse compounds with high GOLD fitness scores and interactions with key active site amino acids are identified as potent chymase hits. Moreover, DFT study is performed which confirms very clear trends between electronic properties and inhibitory activity (IC50) data thus successfully validating “Hypo1” by DFT method. Therefore, this research exertion can be helpful in the development of new potent hits for chymase. In addition, the combinational use of docking, orbital energies and molecular electrostatic potential analysis is also demonstrated as a good endeavor to gain an insight into the interaction between chymase and inhibitors

Fundamentals of drug design from a biophysical viewpoint

Drug design means many things to many people. Commercially the aim is the development of compounds that can be patented and meet a variety of regulatory standards. In drug design, for medical purposes, toxicity and bio-availability are major consideration

Evaluation of pesticide toxicity: a hierarchical QSAR approach to model the acute aquatic toxicity and avian oral toxicity of pesticides

The thesis aimed to extract information relevant to the hazard and risk assessment of pesticides. In particular, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) approaches have been used to build up a mathematical model able to predict the aquatic acute toxicity, LC50, and the avian oral toxicity, LD50, for pesticides. Ecotoxicological values were collected from several databases, and screened according to quality criteria. A hierarchical QSAR approach was applied for the prediction of acute aquatic toxicity. Chemical structures were encoded into molecular descriptors by an automated, seamless procedure available within the OpenMolGRID system. Different linear and non-linear regression techniques were used to obtain reliable and thoroughly validated QSARs. The final model was developed by a counter-propagation neural network coupled with genetic algorithms for variable selection. The proposed QSAR is consistent with McFarland's principle for biological activity and makes use of seven molecular descriptors. The model was assessed thoroughly in test (R2 = 0.8) and validation sets (R2 = 0.72), the y-scrambling test and a sensitivity/stability test. The second endpoint considered in this thesis was avian oral toxicity. As previously, the chemical description of chemicals was generated automatically by the OpenMolGRID system. The best classification model was chosen on the basis of the performances on a validation set of 19 data points, and was obtained from a support vector machine using 94 data points and nine variables selected by genetic algorithms (Error Ratetraining = 0.021, Error Ratevalidation = 0.158). The model allowed for a mechanistic estimation of the toxicological action. In fact, several descriptors selected for the final classification model encode for the interaction of the pesticides with other molecules. The presence of hetero-atoms, e.g. sulphur atoms, is correlated with the toxicity, and the pool of descriptor selected is generally dependent from the 3D conformation of the structures. These suggest that, in the case of avian oral toxicity, pesticides probably exert their toxic action through the interaction with some macromolecule and/or protein of the biological system

NOVEL ALGORITHMS AND TOOLS FOR LIGAND-BASED DRUG DESIGN

Computer-aided drug design (CADD) has become an indispensible component in modern drug discovery projects. The prediction of physicochemical properties and pharmacological properties of candidate compounds effectively increases the probability for drug candidates to pass latter phases of clinic trials. Ligand-based virtual screening exhibits advantages over structure-based drug design, in terms of its wide applicability and high computational efficiency. The established chemical repositories and reported bioassays form a gigantic knowledgebase to derive quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) and structure-property relationship (QSPR). In addition, the rapid advance of machine learning techniques suggests new solutions for data-mining huge compound databases. In this thesis, a novel ligand classification algorithm, Ligand Classifier of Adaptively Boosting Ensemble Decision Stumps (LiCABEDS), was reported for the prediction of diverse categorical pharmacological properties. LiCABEDS was successfully applied to model 5-HT1A ligand functionality, ligand selectivity of cannabinoid receptor subtypes, and blood-brain-barrier (BBB) passage. LiCABEDS was implemented and integrated with graphical user interface, data import/export, automated model training/ prediction, and project management. Besides, a non-linear ligand classifier was proposed, using a novel Topomer kernel function in support vector machine. With the emphasis on green high-performance computing, graphics processing units are alternative platforms for computationally expensive tasks. A novel GPU algorithm was designed and implemented in order to accelerate the calculation of chemical similarities with dense-format molecular fingerprints. Finally, a compound acquisition algorithm was reported to construct structurally diverse screening library in order to enhance hit rates in high-throughput screening

Računarski generisani molekulski deskriptori kao proxi-ji za modelovanje materijala i njihovog uticaja

For the prediction of material's properties and of interaction of molecules with the surroundings, one needs to know their properties. Usually, the molecular properties are revealed through experimental measurements. It can be a tedious, time-consuming, and costly work. On the other hand, computational chemistry readily generates a huge number of data which can provide various molecular descriptors. These can be various observable properties (bond lengths and angles, dipole moments, etc...), but also the unobservable properties (partial atomic charges, electronegativity, various latent variables ....). There is an urgent need to develop accurate and economical screening tools that predict potential toxicity and environmental burden of various chemicals. Equally important is the design of safer alternatives. Molecular modeling methods offer one of several complementary approaches to evaluate the risk to human health and the environment as a result of exposure to environmental chemicals. These tools can streamline the hazard assessment process by simulating possible modes of action and providing virtual screening tools that can help prioritize bioassay requirements. Tailoring these strategies to the particular challenges presented by environmental chemical interactions make them even more effective. Advances in the fields of computational chemistry and molecular toxicology in recent decades allow the development of predictive models that inform the design of molecules with reduced potential to be toxic to humans or to the environment. As an example we present the novel methodology for the computational evaluation of pKa values of various organic bases, based on calculation of partial atomic charges by a simple semiempirical QM method.Za predviđanje osobina materijala i njihove interakcije sa okolinom, treba poznavati njihove osobine. Obično se osobine molekula otkrivaju eksperimentalnim merenjima. To može biti mukotrpan dugotrajan i skup posao. Sa druge strane, računarska hemija lako daje veliki broj podataka koji mogu da obezbede različite deskriptore molekula. To mogu biti razne merljive veličine (dužine i uglovi veza, dipolni momenti, i sl...), ali i nemerljive osobine (parcijalna atomska naelektrisanja, elektronegativnost, razne latentne varijable ....). Postoji velika potreba za razvijanjem pouzdanih i ekonomičnih načina za skrininge kojima se predskazuje potencijalna otrovnost i opterećenje životne okoline raznim hemikalijama. Jednako važan je i dizajn bezbednijih alternativa. Metode molekulskog modelovanja nude jedan od nekoliko komplementarnih pristupa za procenu rizika za zdravlje ljudi i životne sredine kao posledicu izlaganja hemikalijama u okolišu. Ovim postupcima se može neprekidno vršiti procena opasnosti simuliranjem mogućih načina delovanja, a obezbeđivanje virtualnog skrininga može pomoći u određivanju prioriteta kod bio-eseja. Ukrajanjem ovih strategija u određene izazove interakcija hemikalija i životne sredine može iste učiniti efikasnijima. Napredak u računarskoj hemiji i molekulskoj toksikologiji postignut poslednjih decenija dozvoljava razvoj prediktivnih modela za racionalni dizajn molekula sa umanjenim potencijalom otrovnosti za ljude ili za životnu sredinu. Kao primer predstavljamo novu metodologiju za računarsko procenjivanje pKa vrednosti različitih organskih baza na osnovu izračunavanja parcijalnih atomskih naelektrisanja prostim semiempirijskim QM metodom