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Molecular Docking and Dynamics Simulation Studies Predict Munc18b as a Target of Mycolactone: A Plausible Mechanism for Granule Exocytosis Impairment in Buruli Ulcer Pathogenesis

Ulcers due to infections with Mycobacterium ulcerans are characterized by complete lack of wound healing processes, painless, an underlying bed of host dead cells and undermined edges due to necrosis. Mycolactone, a macrolide produced by the mycobacterium, is believed to be the toxin responsible. Of...

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Autores principales: Kwofie, Samuel K., Dankwa, Bismark, Enninful, Kweku S., Adobor, Courage, Broni, Emmanuel, Ntiamoah, Alfred, Wilson, Michael D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6468854/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30934618
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins11030181
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author Kwofie, Samuel K.
Dankwa, Bismark
Enninful, Kweku S.
Adobor, Courage
Broni, Emmanuel
Ntiamoah, Alfred
Wilson, Michael D.
author_facet Kwofie, Samuel K.
Dankwa, Bismark
Enninful, Kweku S.
Adobor, Courage
Broni, Emmanuel
Ntiamoah, Alfred
Wilson, Michael D.
author_sort Kwofie, Samuel K.
collection PubMed
description Ulcers due to infections with Mycobacterium ulcerans are characterized by complete lack of wound healing processes, painless, an underlying bed of host dead cells and undermined edges due to necrosis. Mycolactone, a macrolide produced by the mycobacterium, is believed to be the toxin responsible. Of interest and relevance is the knowledge that Buruli ulcer (BU) patients remember experiencing trauma previously at the site of the ulcers, suggesting an impairment of wound healing processes, the plausible effect due to the toxin. Wound healing processes involve activation of the blood platelets to release the contents of the dense granules mainly serotonin, calcium ions, and ADP/ATP by exocytosis into the bloodstream. The serotonin release results in attracting more platelets and mast cells to the wound site, with the mast cells also undergoing degranulation, releasing compounds into the bloodstream by exocytosis. Recent work has identified interference in the co-translational translocation of many secreted proteins via the endoplasmic reticulum and cell death involving Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP), Sec61, and angiotensin II receptors (AT2R). We hypothesized that mycolactone by being lipophilic, passively crosses cell membranes and binds to key proteins that are involved in exocytosis by platelets and mast cells, thus inhibiting the initiation of wound healing processes. Based on this, molecular docking studies were performed with mycolactone against key soluble n-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins and regulators, namely Vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP8), Synaptosomal-associated protein (SNAP23, syntaxin 11, Munc13-4 (its isoform Munc13-1 was used), and Munc18b; and also against known mycolactone targets (Sec61, AT2R, and WASP). Munc18b was shown to be a plausible mycolactone target after the molecular docking studies with binding affinity of −8.5 kcal/mol. Structural studies and molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) binding energy calculations of the mycolactone and Munc18b complex was done with 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations using GROMACS. Mycolactone binds strongly to Munc18b with an average binding energy of −247.571 ± 37.471 kJ/mol, and its presence elicits changes in the structural conformation of the protein. Analysis of the binding interactions also shows that mycolactone interacts with Arg405, which is an important residue of Munc18b, whose mutation could result in impaired granule exocytosis. These findings consolidate the possibility that Munc18b could be a target of mycolactone. The implication of the interaction can be experimentally evaluated to further understand its role in granule exocytosis impairment in Buruli ulcer.
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spelling pubmed-64688542019-04-22 Molecular Docking and Dynamics Simulation Studies Predict Munc18b as a Target of Mycolactone: A Plausible Mechanism for Granule Exocytosis Impairment in Buruli Ulcer Pathogenesis Kwofie, Samuel K. Dankwa, Bismark Enninful, Kweku S. Adobor, Courage Broni, Emmanuel Ntiamoah, Alfred Wilson, Michael D. Toxins (Basel) Article Ulcers due to infections with Mycobacterium ulcerans are characterized by complete lack of wound healing processes, painless, an underlying bed of host dead cells and undermined edges due to necrosis. Mycolactone, a macrolide produced by the mycobacterium, is believed to be the toxin responsible. Of interest and relevance is the knowledge that Buruli ulcer (BU) patients remember experiencing trauma previously at the site of the ulcers, suggesting an impairment of wound healing processes, the plausible effect due to the toxin. Wound healing processes involve activation of the blood platelets to release the contents of the dense granules mainly serotonin, calcium ions, and ADP/ATP by exocytosis into the bloodstream. The serotonin release results in attracting more platelets and mast cells to the wound site, with the mast cells also undergoing degranulation, releasing compounds into the bloodstream by exocytosis. Recent work has identified interference in the co-translational translocation of many secreted proteins via the endoplasmic reticulum and cell death involving Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP), Sec61, and angiotensin II receptors (AT2R). We hypothesized that mycolactone by being lipophilic, passively crosses cell membranes and binds to key proteins that are involved in exocytosis by platelets and mast cells, thus inhibiting the initiation of wound healing processes. Based on this, molecular docking studies were performed with mycolactone against key soluble n-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins and regulators, namely Vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP8), Synaptosomal-associated protein (SNAP23, syntaxin 11, Munc13-4 (its isoform Munc13-1 was used), and Munc18b; and also against known mycolactone targets (Sec61, AT2R, and WASP). Munc18b was shown to be a plausible mycolactone target after the molecular docking studies with binding affinity of −8.5 kcal/mol. Structural studies and molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) binding energy calculations of the mycolactone and Munc18b complex was done with 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations using GROMACS. Mycolactone binds strongly to Munc18b with an average binding energy of −247.571 ± 37.471 kJ/mol, and its presence elicits changes in the structural conformation of the protein. Analysis of the binding interactions also shows that mycolactone interacts with Arg405, which is an important residue of Munc18b, whose mutation could result in impaired granule exocytosis. These findings consolidate the possibility that Munc18b could be a target of mycolactone. The implication of the interaction can be experimentally evaluated to further understand its role in granule exocytosis impairment in Buruli ulcer. MDPI 2019-03-25 /pmc/articles/PMC6468854/ /pubmed/30934618 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins11030181 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Kwofie, Samuel K.
Dankwa, Bismark
Enninful, Kweku S.
Adobor, Courage
Broni, Emmanuel
Ntiamoah, Alfred
Wilson, Michael D.
Molecular Docking and Dynamics Simulation Studies Predict Munc18b as a Target of Mycolactone: A Plausible Mechanism for Granule Exocytosis Impairment in Buruli Ulcer Pathogenesis
title Molecular Docking and Dynamics Simulation Studies Predict Munc18b as a Target of Mycolactone: A Plausible Mechanism for Granule Exocytosis Impairment in Buruli Ulcer Pathogenesis
title_full Molecular Docking and Dynamics Simulation Studies Predict Munc18b as a Target of Mycolactone: A Plausible Mechanism for Granule Exocytosis Impairment in Buruli Ulcer Pathogenesis
title_fullStr Molecular Docking and Dynamics Simulation Studies Predict Munc18b as a Target of Mycolactone: A Plausible Mechanism for Granule Exocytosis Impairment in Buruli Ulcer Pathogenesis
title_full_unstemmed Molecular Docking and Dynamics Simulation Studies Predict Munc18b as a Target of Mycolactone: A Plausible Mechanism for Granule Exocytosis Impairment in Buruli Ulcer Pathogenesis
title_short Molecular Docking and Dynamics Simulation Studies Predict Munc18b as a Target of Mycolactone: A Plausible Mechanism for Granule Exocytosis Impairment in Buruli Ulcer Pathogenesis
title_sort molecular docking and dynamics simulation studies predict munc18b as a target of mycolactone: a plausible mechanism for granule exocytosis impairment in buruli ulcer pathogenesis
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6468854/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30934618
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins11030181
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