Crystal structures of transition and main group element 1,1-dithiolates are shown to be partially sustained by C-H···π(chelate) interactions. For the planar binary bisdithiocarbamates, C-H···π(MS(2)C) interactions lead to aggregation patterns ranging from a 0-D four molecule aggregate to a 3-D architecture but with the majority of structures featuring 1-D or 2-D supramolecular assemblies.
While cooperativity in ligand-induced receptor dimerization has been linked with receptor-receptor couplings via minimal representations of physical observables, effects arising from higher-order oligomer, e.g., trimer and tetramer, formations of unobserved receptors have received less attention. Here we propose a dimerization model of ligand-induced receptors in multivalent form representing physical observables under basis vectors of various aggregated receptor states. Our simulations of multivalent models not only reject Wofsy-Goldstein parameter conditions for cooperativity, but show that higher-order oligomer formations can shift cooperativity from positive to negative.
Melting dynamics of hafnium clusters are investigated using a novel approach based on the idea of the chemical similarity index. Ground state configurations of small hafnium clusters are first derived using Basin-Hopping and Genetic Algorithm in the parallel tempering mode, employing the COMB potential in the energy calculator. These assumed ground state structures are verified by using the Low Lying Structures (LLS) method. The melting process is carried out either by using the direct heating method or prolonged simulated annealing. The melting point is identified by a caloric curve. However, it is found that the global similarity index is much more superior in locating premelting and total melting points of hafnium clusters.
MYB proteins are highly conserved DNA-binding domains (DBD) and mutations in MYB oncoproteins have been reported to cause aberrant and augmented cancer progression. Identification of MYB molecular biomarkers predictive of cancer progression can be used for improving cancer management. To address this, a biomarker discovery pipeline was employed in investigating deleterious non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) in predicting damaging and potential alterations on the properties of proteins. The nsSNP of the MYB family; MYB, MYBL1, and MYBL2 was extracted from the NCBI database. Five in silico tools (PROVEAN, SIFT, PolyPhen-2, SNPs&GO and PhD-SNP) were utilized to investigate the outcomes of nsSNPs. A total of 45 nsSNPs were predicted as high-risk and damaging, and were subjected to PMut and I-Mutant 2.0 for protein stability analysis. This resulted in 32 nsSNPs with decreased stability with a DDG score lower than - 0.5, indicating damaging effect. G111S, N183S, G122S, and S178C located within the helix-turn-helix (HTH) domain were predicted to be conserved, further posttranslational modifications and 3-D protein analysis indicated these nsSNPs to shift DNA-binding specificity of the protein thus altering the protein function. Findings from this study would help in the field of pharmacogenomic and cancer therapy towards better intervention and management of cancer.
Molecular similarity is a pervasive concept in drug design. The basic idea underlying molecular similarity is the similar property principle, which states that structurally similar molecules will exhibit similar physicochemical and biological properties. In this paper, a new graph-based molecular descriptor (GBMD) is introduced. The GBMD is a new method of obtaining a rough description of 2D molecular structure in textual form based on the canonical representations of the molecule outline shape and it allows rigorous structure specification using small and natural grammars. Simulated virtual screening experiments with the MDDR database show clearly the superiority of the graph-based descriptor compared to many standard descriptors (ALOGP, MACCS, EPFP4, CDKFP, PCFP, and SMILE) using the Tanimoto coefficient (TAN) and the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) when searches were carried.
The structure of 2-acetyl-5-chlorothiophene (ACT) has been characterized by FT-IR, Raman and single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. The isomers, optimized geometric parameters, normal mode frequencies and corresponding vibrational assignments of ACT (C6H5ClOS) have been examined by the density functional theory, with the Becke-3-Lee-Yang-Parr functional and the 6-311+G(3df,p) basis set. Reliable vibrational assignments have been investigated by the potential energy distribution analysis. ACT crystallizes in monoclinic space group C2/c with the O,S-cis isomer. There is a good agreement between the theoretically predicted structural parameters and vibrational frequencies and those obtained experimentally.
2-(4-Chlorophenyl)-2-oxoethyl 3-methylbenzoate is synthesized by reacting 4-chlorophenacyl bromide with 2-methylbenzoic acid using a slight excess of potassium or sodium carbonate in DMF medium at room temperature. The structure of the compound was confirmed by IR and single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. FT-IR spectrum of 2-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-oxoethyl-3-nitrobenzoate was recorded and analyzed. The crystal structure is also described. The vibrational wavenumbers were computed using HF and DFT methods and are assigned with the help of potential energy distribution method. The first hyperpolarizability and infrared intensities are also reported. The geometrical parameters of the title compound obtained from XRD studies are in agreement with the calculated (DFT) values. The stability of the molecule arising from hyper-conjugative interaction and charge delocalization has been analyzed using NBO analysis. The HOMO and LUMO analysis are used to determine the charge transfer within the molecule. MEP was performed by the DFT method.
Natural styrylpyrones isolated from fungi are known for various biological activities including antioxidant activity by scavenging free radicals. UV/vis spectra play an important role in elucidating chemical structures of these compounds via identification of chromophore units. With the aim of predicting the UV/vis spectra of a series of natural styrylpyrones, we tested TD-DFT, CIS and ZINDO methods in gas and in PCM solvent. The results showed that the individual or combined B3P86 and B3LYP hybrid functionals are suitable to predict the maximum wavelength absorption bands (λmax) for styrylpyrones. The structure property relationship (SPR) study emphasized the role of (i) structural parameters (e.g., hydrogen bond and the length of conjugated double bonds) and (ii) electronic descriptors (e.g., ionization potential, electronic affinity, hardness and electrophilicity) in bathochromic and hypsochromic shifts of maximum wavelength absorption bands (λmax) of styrylpyrone derivatives.
A theoretical study of a series of five glucose based glycolipid crown ethers and their complexes with Na(+) and K(+) was performed using the density functional theory with B3LYP/6-31 G* to obtain the optimized geometrical structures and electronic properties. The local nucleophilicity of the five molecules was investigated using Fukui function, while the global nucleophilicity was calculated from the ionization potential and electron affinity. The structures and coordination of the complexes were studied to identify the best match of the glycolipid crown ethers with cations. In general, it was found that the oxygen atoms pairs O2 and O3 (or O4 and O6) on the sugar ring are constrained from moving toward the cation, which results in a weaker O-cation coordination strength for the oxygen pair compared to the other oxygen atoms in the crown ether ring. The thermodynamic properties of the binding of the complexes and the exchange reaction in gas phase were evaluated. The cation selectivity pattern among the five molecules was in good agreement with the experiment.
Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations have been used to understand how protein structure, dynamics, and flexibility are affected by adaptation to high temperature for several years. We report here the results of the high temperature MD simulations of Bacillus stearothermophilus L1 (L1 lipase). We found that the N-terminal moiety of the enzyme showed a high flexibility and dynamics during high temperature simulations which preceded and followed by clear structural changes in two specific regions; the small domain and the main catalytic domain or core domain of the enzyme. These two domains interact with each other through a Zn(2+)-binding coordination with Asp-61 and Asp-238 from the core domain and His-81 and His-87 from the small domain. Interestingly, the His-81 and His-87 were among the highly fluctuated and mobile residues at high temperatures. The results appear to suggest that tight interactions of Zn(2+)-binding coordination with specified residues became weak at high temperature which suggests the contribution of this region to the thermostability of the enzyme.
In the present study, we use the state of art density functional theory (DFT) techniques to calculate the structural, optoelectronic and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties for two novel chalcone derivatives. The geometrical structures of chalcone derivatives compound 1 and 2 are optimized using periodic boundary conditions (PBC) in solid-state phase as well as isolated single molecular geometry in the gas phase. The reasonable agreement is found among experimental, solid-state and gas phase single molecular geometries, which provide us, further confidence to explore the potential of above-entitled derivatives as good functional materials for electro-optical applications. For instance, the frequency dependent real parts of dielectric functions are calculated for compound 1 and 2. The maximum value of real part of the dielectric function for compound 1 and 2 at 0eV are computed as 4.35 and 6.68 for the polarization vectors of (001) directions, respectively, which reveals the fact that the compound 1 and 2 might be good charge transport materials. The reflectivities of the compound 1 and 2 are 0.64 and 0.45 revealing that the compound 2 might be more efficient material for organic photovoltaic (OPV) applications. The results of the refractive index improved by doping the strong electron withdrawing groups (EWGs) shows that the compound 2 might be good refractor of the photon as compared to compound 1. The calculated values for static second-order polarizability are 3498 and 10464 a. u. and for frequency dependent second harmonic generations are 2557 and 6429 a. u. for compound 1 and 2, respectively, which indicates their significant potential for possible nonlinear optical applications.
Bioassay-guided extraction of the stem bark of Knema laurina showed the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity of DCM and hexane fractions. Further repeated column chromatography of hexane and DCM fractions resulted in the isolation and purification of five alkenyl phenol and salicylic acid derivatives. New compounds, (+)-2-hydroxy-6-(10'-hydroxypentadec-8'(E)-enyl)benzoic acid (1) and 3-pentadec-10'(Z)-enylphenol (2), along with known 3-heptadec-10'(Z)-enylphenol (3), 2-hydroxy-6-(pentadec-10'(Z)-enyl)benzoic acid (4), and 2-hydroxy-6-(10'(Z)-heptadecenyl)benzoic acid (5) were isolated from the stem bark of this plant. Compounds (1-5) were tested for their acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by the 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and chemical derivatizations. Compound 5 showed strong acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity with IC(50) of 0.573 ± 0.0260 μM. Docking studies of compound 5 indicated that the phenolic compound with an elongated side chain could possibly penetrate deep into the active site of the enzyme and arrange itself through π-π interaction, H-bonding, and hydrophobic contacts with some critical residues along the complex geometry of the active gorge.
Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthase, PhaC, is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of PHA, a type of bioplastics with huge potential to replace petroleum-based plastics. While two structures have been determined, the exact mechanism remains unclear partly due to the absence of a tunnel for product passage. A model of the class I PhaC from Aquitalea sp. USM4, characterised with Km of 394 μM and kcat of 476 s-1 on 3-(R)-hydroxybutyryl-CoA, revealed a three-branched channel at the dimeric interface. Two of them are opened to the solvent and are expected to serve as the putative routes for substrate entrance and product exit, while the third is elongated in the class II PhaC1 model from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, indicating a role in accommodating the hydroxyalkanoate (HA) moiety of a HA-CoA substrate. Docking of the two tetrahedral intermediates, formed during the transfer of the growing PHA chain from the catalytic Cys to a new molecule of substrate and back to Cys, suggests a common elongation mechanism requiring the HA moiety of the ligand to rotate ~180°. Substrate specificity is determined in part by a bulky Phe/Tyr/Trp residue in the third branch in class I, which is conserved as Ala in class II to create room for longer substrates.
Cysteine proteases in pineapple (Ananas comosus) plants are phytotherapeutical agents that demonstrate anti-edematous, anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic and fibrinolytic activities. Bromelain has been identified as an active component and as a major protease of A. comosus. Bromelain has gained wide acceptance and compliance as a phytotherapeutical drug. The proteolytic fraction of pineapple stem is termed stem bromelain, while the one presents in the fruit is known as fruit bromelain. The amino acid sequence and domain analysis of the fruit and stem bromelains demonstrated several differences and similarities of these cysteine protease family members. In addition, analysis of the modelled fruit (BAA21848) and stem (CAA08861) bromelains revealed the presence of unique properties of the predicted structures. Sequence analysis and structural prediction of stem and fruit bromelains of A. comosus along with the comparison of both structures provides a new insight on their distinct properties for industrial application.
[Formula: see text]-Helical transmembrane proteins are the most important drug targets in rational drug development. However, solving the experimental structures of these proteins remains difficult, therefore computational methods to accurately and efficiently predict the structures are in great demand. We present an improved structure prediction method TMDIM based on Park et al. (Proteins 57:577-585, 2004) for predicting bitopic transmembrane protein dimers. Three major algorithmic improvements are introduction of the packing type classification, the multiple-condition decoy filtering, and the cluster-based candidate selection. In a test of predicting nine known bitopic dimers, approximately 78% of our predictions achieved a successful fit (RMSD <2.0 Å) and 78% of the cases are better predicted than the two other methods compared. Our method provides an alternative for modeling TM bitopic dimers of unknown structures for further computational studies. TMDIM is freely available on the web at https://cbbio.cis.umac.mo/TMDIM . Website is implemented in PHP, MySQL and Apache, with all major browsers supported.
Interaction of a pharmacologically important flavonoid, pinostrobin (PS) with the major transport protein of human blood circulation, human serum albumin (HSA) has been examined using a multitude of spectroscopic techniques and molecular docking studies. Analysis of the fluorescence quenching data showed a moderate binding affinity (1.03 × 10(5) M(-1) at 25°C) between PS and HSA with a 1∶1 stoichiometry. Thermodynamic analysis of the binding data (ΔS = +44.06 J mol(-1) K(-1) and ΔH = -15.48 kJ mol(-1)) and molecular simulation results suggested the involvement of hydrophobic and van der Waals forces, as well as hydrogen bonding in the complex formation. Both secondary and tertiary structural perturbations in HSA were observed upon PS binding, as revealed by intrinsic, synchronous, and three-dimensional fluorescence results. Far-UV circular dichroism data revealed increased thermal stability of the protein upon complexation with PS. Competitive drug displacement results suggested the binding site of PS on HSA as Sudlow's site I, located at subdomain IIA, and was well supported by the molecular modelling data.
Interests in the use of biodegradable polymers as biomaterials have grown. Among the different polymeric composites currently available, the blend of starch and polycaprolactone (PCL) has received the most attention since the 1980s. Novamont is the first company that manufactured a PCL/starch (SPCL) composite under the trademark Mater-Bi®. The properties of PCL (a synthetic, hydrophobic, flexible, expensive polymer with a low degradation rate) and starch (a natural, hydrophilic, stiff, abundant polymer with a high degradation rate) blends are interesting because of the composite components have completely different structures and characteristics. PCL can adjust humidity sensitivity of starch as a biomaterial; while starch can enhance the low biodegradation rate of PCL. Thus, by appropriate blending, SPCL can overcome important limitations of both PCL and starch components and promote controllable behavior in terms of mechanical properties and degradation which make it suitable for many biomedical applications. This article reviewed the different fabrication and modification methods of the SPCL composite; different properties such as structural, physical, and chemical as well as degradation behavior; and different applications as biomaterials.
In the title compound, C(26)H(22)O(4), the pyranone ring adopts a twisted boat conformation, while the cyclohexane ring is close to an envelope conformation. The dihedral angle between the mean planes of the coumarin and naphthalene systems is 78.8(1) degree. The attached phenyl ring is in an equatorial position with respect to the cyclohexane ring.
In the title compound, C20H16N2O5, both of the 1-acetylisatin (1-acetyl-1H-indole-2,3-dione) moieties are planar and form a dihedral angle of 74.1 (1) degrees. Weak intermolecular hydrogen bonds and C-H...pi interactions stabilize the packing in the crystal.
Structural parameters, electronic structure and optical properties of the dialkali metal monotelluride M2Te (M = Li, Na, K and Rb) compounds in the cubic antifluorite structure were investigated via ab initio calculations using the all electron linearized augmented plane wave approach based on density functional theory with and without including spin-orbit coupling (SOC). The exchange-correlation interactions were described within the PBEsol version of the generalized gradient approximation and Tran-Blaha modified Becke-Johnson potential (TB-mBJ). Optimized equilibrium lattice parameters are in excellent accordance with existing measured ones. Computed energy band dispersions show that the studied compounds are large band gap materials. Inclusion of SOC reduces the band gap value compared to the corresponding one calculated without including SOC. Determination of the energy band character and interatomic bonding nature are performed using the densities of states diagrams and charge density distribution map. Linear optical function spectra are predicted for a wide energy range and the origin of the dielectric function spectrum peaks are determined.