Electrostatic interactions enzyme inhibitors

As we have just seen, the initial encounter complex between an enzyme and its substrate is characterized by a reversible equilibrium between the binary complex and the free forms of enzyme and substrate. Hence the binary complex is stabilized through a variety of noncovalent interactions between the substrate and enzyme molecules. Likewise the majority of pharmacologically relevant enzyme inhibitors, which we will encounter in subsequent chapters, bind to their enzyme targets through a combination of noncovalent interactions. Some of the more important of these noncovalent forces for interactions between proteins (e.g., enzymes) and ligands (e.g., substrates, cofactors, and reversible inhibitors) include electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic forces, and van der Waals forces (Copeland, 2000). 

The final part is devoted to a survey of molecular properties of special interest to the medicinal chemist. The Theory of Atoms in Molecules by R. F.W. Bader et al., presented in Chapter 7, enables the quantitative use of chemical concepts, for example those of the functional group in organic chemistry or molecular similarity in medicinal chemistry, for prediction and understanding of chemical processes. This contribution also discusses possible applications of the theory to QSAR. Another important property that can be derived by use of QC calculations is the molecular electrostatic potential. J.S. Murray and P. Politzer describe the use of this property for description of noncovalent interactions between ligand and receptor, and the design of new compounds with specific features (Chapter 8). In Chapter 9, H.D. and M. Holtje describe the use of QC methods to parameterize force-field parameters, and applications to a pharmacophore search of enzyme inhibitors. The authors also show the use of QC methods for investigation of charge-transfer complexes. 

Ribonuclease A hydrolyzes RNA adjacent to pyrimidine bases. The reaction proceeds through a 2, 3 -phosphate cyclic diester intermediate. Formation and breakdown of the cyclic diester appear to be promoted by concerted general-base and general-acid catalysis by two histidine residues, and by electrostatic interactions with two lysines. These reactions proceed through pentavalent phosphoryl intermediates. The geometry of these intermediates resembles the geometry of vanadate compounds that act as inhibitors of the enzyme. 

Molecules are characterized by potential hydrogen bonding, polar, hydrophobic, and electrostatic interactions in 3D space, using 3D molecular fields. Techniques such as Comparative Molecular Field Analysis (CoMFA), which considers the 3D distribution of electrostatic and steric fields, have been applied to congeneric series of enzyme substrates or inhibitors generating 3D QSAR equations. Most examples of such applications are to modeling CYP substrate and inhibitor specificity and these have been extensively reviewed in the literature (Ekins et al., 2000 2001 Ter Laak and Vermeulen, 2001 Ter Laak et al., 2002). 

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