Very large molecular systems can be calculated with the so called CNDOL approximate Hamiltonians that have been developed by avoiding oversimplifications and only using a priori parameters and formulas from the simpler NDO methods. A new diagonal monoelectronic term named CNDOL/21 shows great consistency and easier SCF convergence when used together with an appropriate function for charge repulsion energies that is derived from traditional formulas. It is possible to obtain a priori molecular orbitals and electron excitation properties after the configuration interaction of single excited determinants with reliability, maintaining interpretative possibilities even being a simplified Hamiltonian. Tests with some unequivocal gas phase maxima of simple molecules (benzene, furfural, acetaldehyde, hexyl alcohol, methyl amine, 2,5 dimethyl 2,4 hexadiene, and ethyl sulfide) ratify the general quality of this approach in comparison with other methods. The calculation of large systems as porphine in gas phase and a model of the complete retinal binding pocket in rhodopsin with 622 basis functions on 280 atoms at the quantum mechanical level show reliability leading to a resulting first allowed transition in 483 nm, very similar to the known experimental value of 500 nm of "dark state." In this very important case, our model gives a central role in this excitation to a charge transfer from the neighboring Glu(-) counterion to the retinaldehyde polyene chain. Tests with gas phase maxima of some important molecules corroborate the reliability of CNDOL/2 Hamiltonians.

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Changes induced by mutations in rhodopsin that are associated with the degenerative visual disease retinitis pigmentosa result in an altered pattern of light absorption according to quantum mechanical simulations and reference experimental works. Eleven single-point mutations associated with retinitis pigmentosa at and in the proximity to the retinal binding pocket of rhodopsin have been modeled in silico and their spectra calculated with the NDOL (Neglect of Differential Overlap accounting L azimuthal quantum number) a priori method. The altered pattern of absorption found would lead to cumulative consequences in energy dissipation with aging. Different energy balances in the case of mutants at the very molecular level, compared to native nonmutated rhodopsin, can cause permanent cellular stress and would play a role in the progression of the retine degenerative process. It could explain the worsening of the pathological condition mostly in adults and suggests the probable beneficial effects of using quenching drugs and protection devices against excess of light in the early stages of life for avoiding or reducing potential damage.

The present work explores the effect of substitution in all free positions of furfural on conformational preferences of formyl group by using ab-initio calculations at the MP2/6-31G(p,d) level of theory. Theoretical modeling was made in vacuo. The selected substituents were -CH(3), NH(2), NO(2) and F groups in 3, 4, 5 and ipso carbonyl positions. Geometries of all derivatives were analyzed and it is ascertained that substitution has not important consequences on furan ring geometry. Differences of energy between OO-cis and trans conformers and energy barriers between them are described and extreme cases are explained. Interesting features appear in the cases of -NH(2) and -NO(2) groups, and particularly when the 3 and ipso carbonyl positions are substituted. Variations in energy barriers are correlated with variations in C2-C6 distances for the transition states and planar forms. Substitution effect on Mülliken charges are analyzed and related with internal rotation energy barriers and differences between conformers.

The IA(3) polypeptide inhibitor from Saccharomyces cerevisiae interacts potently and selectively with its target, the S. cerevisiae vacuolar aspartic proteinase (ScPr). Upon encountering the enzyme, residues 2-32 of the intrinsically unstructured IA(3) polypeptide become ordered into an almost-perfect alpha-helix. In previous IA(3) mutagenesis studies, we identified important characteristics of the enzyme inhibitor interactions and generated a large dataset of variants with K(i) values determined experimentally at pH 3.1 and 4.7. Using this information, the three-dimensional structure of each variant was modelled in silico with the correct protonation for each experimental pH value. A set of descriptors of the inhibitor/ScPr interactions was then calculated and used to establish mathematical models relating the variant sequences to their inhibitory activities at each pH. Cross-validation, external-set validation and five separate selections of the training and test samples confirmed the robustness of the equations. A major contributor to the structure-activity relationship was the free energy of binding calculated by the FoldX program. The mathematical models were challenged further (i) by in silico alanine-scanning mutagenesis of residues 2-32 in IA(3) and relating binding energy to experimentally derived inhibition constants for selected representatives of these variants; and (ii) by predicting inhibitory-potencies for two novel IA(3)-variants. The predictions of the equations for these new IA(3)-variants with ScPr matched almost precisely the kinetic data determined experimentally. The models described represent valuable tools for the future design of novel inhibitor variants active against ScPr and other aspartic proteinases.