Bromodomains (BRDs) are a diverse family of evolutionarily conserved protein-interaction modules. Among various members of the bromodomain and extra terminal domain family, BRD4 is found to be an important target for many diseases such as cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, multiple myeloma, Burkitt's lymphoma, etc. Therefore, in this study an attempt has been made to screen compounds from NCI Diversity, Drug Bank and Toslab Databases targeting the Kac binding site of BRD4 using molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, MM-PB/GBSA binding free energy calculations and steered molecular dynamics simulations. Using virtual screening and docking, we have identified 11 inhibitors. These new inhibitors exhibit binding energy values higher than that of the (+)JQ1 inhibitor which is effective against BRD4. However, due to the toxicity of (+)JQ1, the designing of new inhibitors becomes significantly important. Thus, these new 11 ligands were systematically analyzed using other computational investigations. Results reveal that the compounds ZINC01411240, ZINC19632618 and ZINC04818522 could be potential drug candidates for targeting BRD4. It can also be seen from the results that there is a linear relationship between the results obtained from the SMD simulation and free energy obtained from the MM-PBSA/GBSA approach. This study clearly illustrates that the steered molecular dynamics can be effectively used for the design of new inhibitors.
Ions play a key role in the destabilization of collagen. This study explores the effect of diethyl methyl ammonium methane sulfonate (AMS), an ionic liquid (IL), on different hierarchical orderings of collagen, namely, at the molecular and fibrillar levels. The rheological behavior and secondary structural changes reveal changes in the hydrogen-bonding environment of collagen, leading to alterations in the triple helical structure of collagen. An increase in the concentration of AMS resulted in swelling of rat-tail tendon fibers, and also, decreased thermal stability signifies that ions are obliged to destabilize collagen at the fibrillar level. Molecular modeling studies confirm that anions are judiciously held responsible for structural deformities in collagen, whereas cations have a tenuous effect. Thus, the preferential role of ions present in an ammonium IL has been elucidated in this study.
Molecular Property Diagnostic Suite (MPDS TB ) is a web tool (http://mpds.osdd.net) designed to assist the in silico drug discovery attempts towards Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). MPDS TB tool has nine modules which are classified into data library (1-3), data processing (4-5) and data analysis (6-9). Module 1 is a repository of literature and related information available on the Mtb. Module 2 deals with the protein target analysis of the chosen disease area. Module 3 is the compound library consisting of 110.31 million unique molecules generated from public domain databases and custom designed search tools. Module 4 contains tools for chemical file format conversions and 2D to 3D coordinate conversions. Module 5 helps in calculating the molecular descriptors. Module 6 specifically handles QSAR model development tools using descriptors generated in the Module 5. Module 7 integrates the AutoDock Vina algorithm for docking, while module 8 provides screening filters. Module 9 provides the necessary visualization tools for both small and large molecules. The workflow-based open source web portal, MPDS TB 1.0.1 can be a potential enabler for scientists engaged in drug discovery in general and in anti-TB research in particular.
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