The calculations of the free energy of ligand binding with a receptor (most often, protein) are widely used in the rational design of new bioactive compounds. The gold standard of such calculations is the equilibrium methods based on molecular dynamics and the “alchemical” transformations, including the thermodynamic integration and Bennett method. Technically, these methods call for introduction of additional restraints on the mutual arrangement of atoms in the ligand–receptor system. A plugin to the PyMOL molecular graphics system has been developed to facilitate the introduction of required restraints and analytical calculation of correction when computing the free energy of ligand‒receptor (protein) binding.

Purpose: The aminoadamantane derivative of L-histidyl-1-adamantayl ethylamine hydrochloride (HCl*H-His-Rim) has showed a high inhibition level against influenza A virus strains in vitro. The aim of this work is to search and establish evidence of the direct effect of the drug on influenza A virus proton channel M2. Methods: The compound HCl*H-His-Rim was obtained by classical peptide synthesis methods. Influenza A virus mutants of A/PuertoRico/8/34(H1N1) strain were obtained by reverse genetics methods. The mutant samples of the virus were cultured on chicken embryos with a virus titer in the hemagglutination test. ELISA was carried out on Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) monolayer cells when multiplying the virus 10-4-10-6. The binding stability of HCl*H-His-Rim was compared to those of M2 (S31N) and M2 (S31N_A30T) channels by molecular dynamic (MD) modeling. The calculation was performed taking into account the interaction with the model lipid bilayer (1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) in the presence of water molecules in accordance with the three-center model. Results: It was found that HCl*H-His-Rim is a direct action drug against influenza A. The most likely conformation of drug binding to target protein has been shown. It has been found that the A30T mutation reduces the binding energy of the drug, and the results obtained in vitro have confirmed the data calculated in silico. Conclusion: The mechanism of action of HCl*H-His-Rim is directly related to the suppression of the function of the proton channel M2 of influenza A virus.

The activation of xenobiotics often causes malignant tumor cells to resist chemotherapeutic treatment. Uridine phosphorylase is the key enzyme of pyrimidine metabolism and catalyzes the reversible phosphorylation of uridine with the formation of uracil and ribose-1-phosphate. High-selectivity anticancer agents based on uridine phosphorylase inhibitors are promising for treating both oncological and infection diseases. New medicinal preparations can be predicted and rationally developed only on the basis of detailed biomedical, structural, and functional knowledge about the biomacromolecular target enzyme-drug complex.

Pyrimidine-nucleoside phosphorylase catalyzes the phosphorolytic cleavage of thymidine and uridine with equal activity. Investigation of this protein is essential for anticancer drug design. Here, the structure of this protein fromBacillus subtilisin complex with imidazole and sulfate is reported at 1.9 Å resolution, which is an improvement on the previously reported structure at 2.6 Å resolution. The localization and position of imidazole in the nucleoside-binding site reflects the possible binding of ligands that possess an imidazole ring.

Highly specific thymidine phosphorylases catalyze the phosphorolytic cleavage of thymidine, with the help of a phosphate ion, resulting in thymine and 2-deoxy-α-D-ribose 1-phosphate. Thymidine phosphorylases do not catalyze the phosphorolysis of uridine, in contrast to nonspecific pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylases and uridine phosphorylases. Understanding the mechanism of substrate specificity on the basis of the nucleoside is essential to support rational drug-discovery investigations of new antitumour and anti-infective drugs which are metabolized by thymidine phosphorylases. For this reason, X-ray structures of the thymidine phosphorylase fromSalmonella typhimuriumwere solved and refined: the unliganded structure at 2.05 Å resolution (PDB entry 4xr5), the structure of the complex with thymidine at 2.55 Å resolution (PDB entry 4yek) and that of the complex with uridine at 2.43 Å resolution (PDB entry 4yyy). The various structural features of the enzyme which might be responsible for the specificity for thymidine and not for uridine were identified. The presence of the 2′-hydroxyl group in uridine results in a different position of the uridine furanose moiety compared with that of thymidine. This feature may be the key element of the substrate specificity. The specificity might also be associated with the opening/closure mechanism of the two-domain subunit structure of the enzyme.

Pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylases, which are widely used in the biotechnological production of nucleosides, have different substrate specificity for pyrimidine nucleosides. An interesting feature...