Structural and biophysical investigation of the interaction of a mutant Grb2 SH2 domain (W121G) with its cognate phosphopeptide

The adaptor protein Grb2 is a key element of mitogenetically important signaling pathways. With its SH2 domain it binds to upstream targets while its SH3 domains bind to downstream proteins thereby relaying signals from the cell membranes to the nucleus. The Grb2 SH2 domain binds to its targets by recognizing a phosphotyrosine (pY) in a pYxNx peptide motif, requiring an Asn at the +2 position C-terminal to the pY with the residue either side of this Asn being hydrophobic. Structural analysis of the Grb2 SH2 domain in complex with its cognate peptide has shown that the peptide adopts a unique β-turn conformation, unlike the extended conformation that phosphopeptides adopt when bound to other SH2 domains. TrpEF1 (W121) is believed to force the peptide into this unusual conformation conferring this unique specificity to the Grb2 SH2 domain. Using X-ray crystallography, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), we describe here a series of experiments that explore the role of TrpEF1 in determining the specificity of the Grb2 SH2 domain. Our results demonstrate that the ligand does not adopt a pre-organized structure before binding to the SH2 domain, rather it is the interaction between the two that imposes the hairpin loop to the peptide. Furthermore, we find that the peptide adopts a similar structure when bound to both the wild-type Grb2 SH2 domain and a TrpEF1Gly mutant. This suggests that TrpEF1 is not the determining factor for the conformation of the phosphopeptide

Synthesis and anticancer activity of epipolythiodiketopiperazine alkaloids

The epipolythiodiketopiperazine (ETP) alkaloids are a highly complex class of natural products with potent anticancer activity. Herein, we report the application of a flexible and scalable synthesis, allowing the construction of dozens of ETP derivatives. The evaluation of these compounds against cancer cell lines in culture allows for the first expansive structure–activity relationship (SAR) to be defined for monomeric and dimeric ETP-containing natural products and their synthetic cognates. Many ETP derivatives demonstrate potent anticancer activity across a broad range of cancer cell lines and kill cancer cells via induction of apoptosis. Several traits that bode well for the translational potential of the ETP class of natural products include concise and efficient synthetic access, potent induction of apoptotic cell death, activity against a wide range of cancer types, and a broad tolerance for modifications at multiple sites that should facilitate small-molecule drug development, mechanistic studies, and evaluation in vivo.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (Grant GM089732)American Society for Engineering Education. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate FellowshipCamille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation. Teacher-Scholar Awards Progra

Concise total synthesis of (+)-gliocladins B and C

The first total synthesis of (+)-gliocladin B is described. Our concise and enantioselective synthesis takes advantage of a new regioselective Friedel–Crafts-based strategy to provide an efficient multigram-scale access to the C3-(3′-indolyl)hexahydropyrroloindole substructure, a molecular foundation present in a significant subset of epipolythiodiketopiperazine natural alkaloids. Our first-generation solution to (+)-gliocladin B involved the stereoselective formation of (+)-12-deoxybionectin A, a plausible biosynthetic precursor. Our synthesis clarified the C15 stereochemistry of (+)-gliocladin B and allowed its full structure confirmation. Further studies of a versatile dihydroxylated diketopiperazine provided a concise and efficient synthesis of (+)-gliocladin B as well as access to (+)-gliocladin C.National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (GM089732)Amgen Inc.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CHE-0946721

Current and emerging opportunities for molecular simulations in structure-based drug design

An overview of the current capabilities and limitations of molecular simulation of biomolecular complexes in the context of computer-aided drug design is provided. Steady improvements in computer hardware coupled with more refined representations of energetics are leading to a new appreciation of the driving forces of molecular recognition. Molecular simulations are poised to more frequently guide the interpretation of biophysical measurements of biomolecular complexes. Ligand design strategies emerge from detailed analyses of computed structural ensembles. The feasibility of routine applications to ligand optimization problems hinges upon successful extensive large scale validation studies and the development of protocols to intelligently automate computations

Design, synthesis, and evaluation of conformationally-constrained Grb2 SH2 ligands and a concise total synthesis of lycopladine A

textConformationally constrained ligands and their flexible analogues were prepared as inhibitors of the Grb2 SH2 domain in order to study the structural and energetic effects of ligand preorganization in protein-ligand interactions. The compounds were prepared by using trans-cyclopropane-containing amino acid mimics, macrocyclization, or [alpha,alpha]-disubstituted amino acid residues. All trans-cyclopropane containing peptides were more potent than their corresponding succinate containing analogues due to an enthalpic advantage. Surprisingly, the binding of constrained peptides to the domain was entropically disfavored relative to their flexible controls. Effects of proton transfer and desolvation as being the source of the unprecedented entropic penalty for the constrained ligands relative to their respective controls were precluded, and X-ray crystallographic studies revealed that the binding conformations for the respective cyclopropane and succinate containing ligands were similar. This led us to believe that differential changes in protein dynamics may occur upon binding of the constrained and flexible ligands, which could contribute to the observed binding energetics. Two 23-membered macrocyclic ligands were slightly more potent than their corresponding linear controls. The amino acids used to link the N- and C-termini of the linear peptides to form the macrocycles were found to affect the energetics of binding. In one case, the 23-membered macrocycle was more potent than its control due to an entropic advantage, whereas the other 23-membered macrocycle was more potent than its control because it benefited from an enthalpic advantage. [alpha,alpha]-Disubstituted and [alpha]-monosubstituted residues that varied in hydrophobic character were incorporated into Grb2 SH2 domain binding tripeptides, and binding became more favorable as nonpolar surface area increased only for the set of tripeptides possessing cyclic [alpha,alpha]-disubstituted residues. The increase in affinity was due to an increasing enthalplic term, whereas the entropy of binding became less favorable. A total synthesis of (±)-lycopladine A was achieved in five steps from known compounds. The tricyclic core of the natural product was prepared utilizing a novel two-step sequence comprising a conjugate addition of a metalated picoline derivative followed by an intramolecular enolate arylation. It was demonstrated that the natural product existed in a solvent dependent equilibrium with its isomeric lactol.Chemistry and Biochemistr

Nucleotide sequence of cloned unintegrated avian sarcoma virus DNA: viral DNA contains direct and inverted repeats similar to those in transposable elements.

We have determined the nucleotide sequence of portions of two circular avian sarcoma virus (ASV) DNA molecules cloned in a prokaryotic host--vector system. The region whose sequence was determined represents the circle junction site--i.e., the site at which the ends of the unintegrated linear DNA are fused to form circular DNA. The sequence from one cloned molecule, SRA-2, shows that the circle junction site is the center of a 330-base-pair (bp) tandem direct repeat, presumably representing the fusion of the long terminal repeat (LTR) units known to be present at the ends of the linear DNA. The circle junction site is also the center of a 15-bp imperfect inverted repeat, which thus appears at the boundaries of the LTR. The structure of ASV DNA--unique coding region flanked by a direct repeat that is, in turn, terminated with a short inverted repeat--is very similar to the structure of certain transposable elements. Several features of the sequence imply that circularization to form the SRA-2 molecule occurred without loss of information from the linear DNA precursor. Circularization of another cloned viral DNA molecule, SRA-1, probably occurred by a different mechanism. The circle junction site of the SRA-1 molecule has a 63-bp deletion, which may have arisen by a mechanism that is analogous to the integration of viral DNA into the host genome. Flanking one side of the tandem direct repeat is the binding site for tRNATrp, the previously described primer for synthesis of the first strand of viral DNA. The other side of the direct repeat is flanked by a polypurine tract, A-G-G-G-A-G-G-G-G-G-A, which may represent the position of the primer for synthesis of the second strand of viral DNA. An A+T-rich region, upstream from the RNA capping site, and the sequence A-A-T-A-A-A are present within the direct repeat sequence. These sequences may serve as a promoter site and poly(A) addition signal, respectively, as proposed for other eukaryotic transcription units

Binding Of Flexible And Constrained Ligands To The Grb2 Sh2 Domain: Structural Effects Of Ligand Preorganization

Structures of the Grb2 SH2 domain complexed with a series of pseudopeptides containing flexible (benzyl succinate) and constrained (aryl cyclopropanedicarboxylate) replacements of the phosphotyrosine (pY) residue in tripeptides derived from Ac-pYXN-NH(2) (where X = V, I, E and Q) were elucidated by X-ray crystallography. Complexes of flexible/constrained pairs having the same pY + 1 amino acid were analyzed in order to ascertain what structural differences might be attributed to constraining the phosphotyrosine replacement. In this context, a given structural dissimilarity between complexes was considered to be significant if it was greater than the corresponding difference in complexes coexisting within the same asymmetric unit. The backbone atoms of the domain generally adopt a similar conformation and orientation relative to the ligands in the complexes of each flexible/constrained pair, although there are some significant differences in the relative orientations of several loop regions, most notably in the BC loop that forms part of the binding pocket for the phosphate group in the tyrosine replacements. These variations are greater in the set of complexes of constrained ligands than in the set of complexes of flexible ligands. The constrained ligands make more direct polar contacts to the domain than their flexible counterparts, whereas the more flexible ligand of each pair makes more single-water-mediated contacts to the domain; there was no correlation between the total number of protein-ligand contacts and whether the phosphotyrosine replacement of the ligand was preorganized. The observed differences in hydrophobic interactions between the complexes of each flexible/constrained ligand pair were generally similar to those observed upon comparing such contacts in coexisting complexes. The average adjusted B factors of the backbone atoms of the domain and loop regions are significantly greater in the complexes of constrained ligands than in the complexes of the corresponding flexible ligands, suggesting greater thermal motion in the crystalline state in the former complexes. There was no apparent correlation between variations in crystal packing and observed structural differences or similarities in the complexes of flexible and constrained ligands, but the possibility that crystal packing might result in structural variations cannot be rigorously excluded. Overall, it appears that there are more variations in the three-dimensional structure of the protein and the ligand in complexes of the constrained ligands than in those of their more flexible counterparts.National Institutes of Health (GM 84965)National Science Foundation (CHE 0750329)Robert AWelch Foundation (F-652)Norman Hackerman Advanced Research ProgramTexas Institute for Drug and Diagnostic DevelopmentWelch Foundation Grant #H-F-0032ChemistryBiochemistr