Drug inhibition and proton conduction mechanisms of the influenza a M2 proton channel.

The influenza A virus matrix protein 2 (M2 protein) is a pH-regulated proton channel embedded in the viral membrane. Inhibition of the M2 proton channel has been used to treat influenza infections for decades due to the crucial role of this protein in viral infection and replication. However, the widely-used M2 inhibitors, amantadine and rimantadine, have gradually lost their efficiencies because of naturally-occurring drug resistant mutations.

Structural and energetic analysis of drug inhibition of the influenza A M2 proton channel.

The type A influenza virus matrix protein 2 (M2) is a highly selective proton channel in the viral envelope. Because of its crucial role in viral infection and replication, the M2 channel has been a target of anti-influenza drugs. Due to the occurrence of drug-resistant mutations in the M2 channel, existing anti-influenza drugs that block the M2 channel, such as amantadine and rimantadine, have lost their efficacy against these mutant channels.

Structural comparison of the wild-type and drug-resistant mutants of the influenza A M2 proton channel by molecular dynamics simulations.

The influenza A M2 channel in the viral envelope is a pH-regulated proton channel that is crucial for viral infection and replication. Amantadine and rimantadine are two M2 inhibitors that have been widely used as anti-influenza drugs. However, due to naturally occurring drug-resistant mutations, their inhibition ability has gradually decreased.

CYP-nsSNP: a specialized database focused on effect of non-synonymous SNPs on function of CYPs.

The cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes play the central role in synthesis of endogenous substances and metabolism of xenobiotics. The substitution of single amino acid caused by non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (nsSNP) will lead to the change in enzymatic activity of CYP isozymes, especially the drugmetabolizing ability. CYP-nsSNP is a specialized database focused on the effect of nsSNPs on enzymatic activity of CYPs.

Atomistic modeling of protein-DNA interaction specificity: progress and applications.

An accurate, predictive understanding of protein-DNA binding specificity is crucial for the successful design and engineering of novel protein-DNA binding complexes. In this review, we summarize recent studies that use atomistic representations of interfaces to predict protein-DNA binding specificity computationally. Although methods with limited structural flexibility have proven successful at recapitulating consensus binding sequences from wild-type complex structures, conformational flexibility is likely important for design and template-based modeling, where non-native conformations need to be sampled and accurately scored.

Recent progress on bioinformatics, functional genomics, and metabolomics research of cytochrome P450 and its impact on drug discovery.

The cytochrome P450 superfamily is responsible primarily for human drug metabolism, which is of critical importance for the drug discovery and development. Rapid advancement of bioinformatics, functional genomics and metabolomics has been made over the last decade. These disciplines are essential in target identification, lead discovery and optimization.

Classification Models for Predicting Cytochrome P450 Enzyme-Substrate Selectivity.

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) is an important drug-metabolizing enzyme family. Different CYPs often have different substrate preferences. In addition, one drug molecule may be preferentially metabolized by one or more CYP enzymes.

Free energy calculations on the two drug binding sites in the M2 proton channel.

Two alternative binding sites of adamantane-type drugs in the influenza A M2 channel have been suggested, one with the drug binding inside the channel pore and the other with four drug molecule S-binding to the C-terminal surface of the transmembrane domain. Recent computational and experimental studies have suggested that the pore binding site is more energetically favorable but the external surface binding site may also exist. Nonetheless, which drug binding site leads to channel inhibition in vivo and how drug-resistant mutations affect these sites are not completely understood.

Long-range effects of a peripheral mutation on the enzymatic activity of cytochrome P450 1A2.

The human cytochrome P450 1A2 is an important drug metabolizing and procarcinogen activating enzyme. An experimental study found that a peripheral mutation, F186L, at ∼26 Å away from the enzyme's active site, caused a significant reduction in the enzymatic activity of 1A2 deethylation reactions. In this paper, we explored the effects of this mutation by carrying out molecular dynamics simulations and structural analyses.

In silico prediction of cytochrome P450-mediated drug metabolism.

The application of combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening technique enables the large number of chemicals to be generated and tested simultaneously, which will facilitate the drug development and discovery. At the same time, it brings about a challenge of how to efficiently identify the potential drug candidates from thousands of compounds. A way used to deal with the challenge is to consider the drug pharmacokinetic properties, such as absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME), in the early stage of drug development.

Tethered-hopping model for protein-DNA binding and unbinding based on Sox2-Oct1-Hoxb1 ternary complex simulations.

The sliding and hopping models encapsulate the essential protein-DNA binding process for binary complex formation and dissociation. However, the effects of a cofactor protein on the protein-DNA binding process that leads to the formation of a ternary complex remain largely unknown. Here we investigate the effect of the cofactor Sox2 on the binding and unbinding of Oct1 with the Hoxb1 control element.