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Specificity in structure‐based drug design: Identification of a novel, selective inhibitor of Pneumocystis carinii dihydrofolate reductase
Author(s) -
Gschwend Daniel A.,
Sirawaraporn Worachart,
Santi Daniel V.,
Kuntz Irwin D.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
proteins: structure, function, and bioinformatics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.699
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0134
pISSN - 0887-3585
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0134(199709)29:1<59::aid-prot4>3.0.co;2-a
Subject(s) - pneumocystis carinii , dihydrofolate reductase , docking (animal) , dock , drug discovery , computational biology , in silico , enzyme , biology , drug , biochemistry , stereochemistry , chemistry , pharmacology , virology , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , gene , medicine , pneumocystis jirovecii , nursing
Abstract Specificity is an important aspect of structure‐based drug design. Distinguishing between related targets in different organisms is often the key to therapeutic success. Pneumocystis carinii is a fungal opportunist which causes a crippling pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals. We report the identification of novel inhibitors of P. carinii dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) that are selective versus inhibition of human DHFR using computational molecular docking techniques. The Fine Chemicals Directory, a database of commercially available compounds, was screened with the DOCK program suite to produce a list of potential P. carinii DHFR inhibitors. We then used a postdocking refinement directed at discerning subtle structural and chemical features that might reflect species specificity. Of 40 compounds predicted to exhibit anti‐ Pneumocystis DHFR activity, each of novel chemical framework, 13 (33%) show IC 50 values better than 150 μM in an enzyme assay. These inhibitors were further assayed against human DHFR: 10 of the 13 (77%) bind preferentially to the fungal enzyme. The most potent compound identified is a 7 μM inhibitor of P. carinii DHFR with 25‐fold selectivity. The ability of molecular docking methods to locate selective inhibitors reinforces our view of structure‐based drug discovery as a valuable strategy, not only for identifying lead compounds, but also for addressing receptor specificity. Proteins 29:59–67, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.