Neutrons probe structure of enzyme critical to development of next-generation hiv drugs



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Neutrons probe structure of enzyme critical

to development of next-generation HIV

drugs

20 May 2016, by Jeremy Rumsey

  

 

  



A 3D structure of the HIV-1 protease in cartoon

representation with bound clinical drug darunavir (shown

as sticks). The catalytic site contains two closely

positioned aspartic acid residues. The insert depicts the

hydrogen transfer reaction in the catalytic site, captured

for the first time by neutron crystallography. Credit: Jill

Hemman and Andrey Kovalevsky, Oak Ridge National

Laboratory

A team led by the Department of Energy's Oak

Ridge National Laboratory used neutron analysis

to better understand a protein implicated in the

replication of HIV, the retrovirus that causes AIDS.

The enzyme, known as HIV-1 protease, is a key

drug target for HIV and AIDS therapies. 

Researchers from ORNL, Georgia State University

and the Institut Laue-Langevin in France used 

neutron crystallography

 to uncover details of

interactions of hydrogen bonds at the enzyme's

active site, revealing a pH-induced proton 'hopping'

mechanism that guides its activity. The team

discussed the findings in a paper published in the

journal Angewandte Chemie.

Understanding the enzyme's structure and function

at the atomic level, including the location and

movement of 

hydrogen atoms

, is vital for

understanding drug resistance and guiding rational

drug design. 

HIV-1 protease is responsible for the maturation of

virus particles into infectious HIV virions, which

ultimately leads to the development of AIDS.

Without effective HIV-1 protease activity, HIV

virions remain non-infectious, so the disruption of

HIV-1 protease activity is a key target for

successful antiretroviral therapy (ART) drugs that

attack the virus itself.

The use of X-ray crystallography to study the

structures of HIV-1 protease and drug complexes

has led to the design of effective, commercially

available ART drugs, but x-rays cannot determine

the positions of mobile hydrogen atoms and

protons. Neutron crystallography, however, can

reveal these hydrogen-bonding interactions, which

play a key role in how effectively a drug binds to its

target.

The ORNL-ILL-Georgia State research team used



neutron crystallography to probe the structure of

HIV-1 protease in complex with the clinical inhibitor

Darunavir. The researchers combined neutron

diffraction data from the IMAGINE instrument at

ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), a DOE

Office of Science User Facility, and the LAD-III

instrument at ILL, to uncover details of the

hydrogen-bonding interactions in the active site and

reveal ways to enhance drug binding and reduce

drug resistance. The group also examined how the

enzyme's catalytic activity responds to changes in

pH (acidity) levels. 

By determining structures at different pHs, the

group directly observed the positions of hydrogen

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atoms before and after a pH-induced two-proton

transfer between the drug and enzyme. The proton

transfer, triggered by electrostatic effects arising

from proton uptake by surface residues from

solution, resulted in the proton configuration that is

critical for the catalytic activity. 

"These results highlight that neutrons represent a

superb probe to obtain structural details for proton

transfer reactions in biological systems," said ILL

instrument scientist Matthew Blakely. 

"Darunavir's structure allows it to create more

hydrogen bonds with the protease active site than

most drugs of its type, while the backbone of HIV-1

protease maintains its spatial conformation in the

presence of mutations," said ORNL instrument

scientist Andrey Kovalevsky. "This means

Darunavir-protease interaction is less likely to be

disrupted by a mutation. Given these

characteristics, Darunavir is an excellent therapy

target to refine and therefore enhance HIV

treatment." 

Direct observation of 

proton transfer

 in chemical

and biological systems is challenging;

macromolecular neutron crystallography has been

pivotal in providing key details regarding hydrogen

bonding that were required in order to answer long-

standing questions about the enzyme mechanism

of this important HIV drug target. 

"Moreover, we observed changes in hydrogen

configurations induced by changes in protein

surface charges at long distances," said

Kovalevsky. "This phenomenon may occur in other

aspartic proteases, and perhaps in enzymes more

generally."

With the recent improvements that have been

made, the field of macromolecular neutron

crystallography is expanding, with studies

addressing a variety of important biological

processes from protein-folding to antibiotic

resistance and proton transport across biological

membranes.

Co-authors of the paper, titled "Long-Range

Electrostatics-Induced Two-Proton Transfer

Captured by Neutron Crystallography in an Enzyme

Catalytic Site," include lead author Oksana Gerlits,

Troy Wymore, Amit Das, Chen-Hsiang Shen, Jerry

M. Parks, Jeremy C. Smith, Kevin L. Weiss, David

A. Keen, Matthew Blakeley, John M. Louis, Paul

Langan, Irene T. Weber, and Andrey Kovalevsky.  

Support for the preparation of deuterated HIV-1

protease was provided by the Center for Structural

Molecular Biology (CMSB). Both CMSB and the

research at HFIR were supported by DOE's Office

of Science. The IMAGINE instrument at HFIR is

funded by the National Science Foundation. 

  More information: Oksana Gerlits et al. Long-

Range Electrostatics-Induced Two-Proton Transfer

Captured by Neutron Crystallography in an Enzyme

Catalytic Site, Angewandte Chemie International



Edition (2016). 

DOI: 10.1002/anie.201509989

  Provided by Oak Ridge National Laboratory

                               2 / 3




 

APA citation: Neutrons probe structure of enzyme critical to development of next-generation HIV drugs

(2016, May 20) retrieved 21 July 2018 from 

https://phys.org/news/2016-05-neutrons-probe-enzyme-

critical-next-generation.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no

part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

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