The importance of the quaternary structure to represent conformational ensembles of the major Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug target

Sci Rep. 2019 Sep 23;9(1):13683. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-50213-0.

Abstract

Flexibility is a feature intimately related to protein function, since conformational changes can be used to describe environmental changes, chemical modifications, protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions. In this study, we have investigated the influence of the quaternary structure of 2-trans-enoyl-ACP (CoA) reductase or InhA, from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to its flexibility. We carried out classical molecular dynamics simulations using monomeric and tetrameric forms to elucidate the enzyme's flexibility. Overall, we observed statistically significant differences between conformational ensembles of tertiary and quaternary structures. In addition, the enzyme's binding site is the most affected region, reinforcing the importance of the quaternary structure to evaluate the binding affinity of small molecules, as well as the effect of single point mutations to InhA protein dynamics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antitubercular Agents / pharmacology
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Binding Sites
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation*
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / drug effects
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / metabolism*
  • Oxidoreductases / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Conformation*

Substances

  • Antitubercular Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Oxidoreductases
  • InhA protein, Mycobacterium