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The mechanism of inactivation of mammalian voltage-gated Na+ channels involves transient interactions between intracellular domains resulting in direct pore occlusion by the IFM motif and concomitant extracellular interactions with the β1 subunit. Navβ1 subunits constitute single-pass transmembrane proteins that form protein–protein associations with pore-forming α subunits to allosterically modulate the Na+ influx into the cell during the action potential of every excitable cell in vertebrates. Here, we explored the role of the intracellular IFM motif of rNav1.4 (skeletal muscle isoform of the rat Na+ channel) on the α-β1 functional interaction and showed for the first time that the modulation of β1 is independent of the IFM motif. We found that: (1) Nav1.4 channels that lack the IFM inactivation particle can undergo a “C-type-like inactivation” albeit in an ultraslow gating mode; (2) β1 can significantly accelerate the inactivation of Nav1.4 channels in the absence of the IFM motif. Previously, we identified two residues (T109 and N110) on the β1 subunit that disrupt the α-β1 allosteric modulation. We further characterized the electrophysiological effects of the double alanine substitution of these residues demonstrating that it decelerates inactivation and recovery from inactivation, abolishes the modulation of steady-state inactivation and induces a current rundown upon repetitive stimulation, thus causing a general loss of function. Our results contribute to delineating the process of the mammalian Na+ channel inactivation. These findings may be relevant to the design of pharmacological strategies, targeting β subunits to treat pathologies associated to Na+ current dysfunction.

Several vanadium(V) complexes have been investigated as possible antidiabetic and anticancer therapeutic agents. Among these, vanadium(V) complexes linked to tridentate ONO Schiff bases stand out for their potential in the treatment for cancer. However, further studies are necessary in order to learn about their specific action at the cellular level. We investigate structural and spectroscopic properties of these particular complexes, which are formed by a Schiff base linked to a [VO2]+ ion that contains different functional groups. Molecular structure optimizations of these vanadium-containing complexes were performed by the ONIOM (QM1:QM2) method, where the high layer (complexes) were described by density functional theory methods whereas the low layer (eight water molecules) were described by the HF approach. Various solvation models were utilized; however, the introduction of both implicit (using a solvation model based on density, SMD) and explicit (eight water molecules) solvation improves the stability of the systems. Interestingly, we found that the location of the explicit water molecules in the different octahydrated vanadium complexes was conserved surrounding the oxo-vanadate moiety. A detailed analysis of the chemical shift (δ) values for 1H, 13C and 51V is presented based on the ONIOM optimized geometries using the gauge-independent atomic orbital methodology. For obtaining accurately chemical shifts, the complete basis set using the correlation-consistent Dunning basis sets from double-ξ to quadruple-ξ and the Ahlrichs basis set were utilized. The results from the methodology presented here are consistent with those reported experimentally for 1H. Again, the inclusion of explicit water molecules in the inner solvation shell during the calculation of the chemical shifts was crucial. The analysis of solvation energies also indicates the relevance of including explicit water molecules as the main stabilization factor suggesting the central role of intermolecular interaction in the stability of the metallic complexes. From this analysis, a possible vanadium complex candidate for further evaluation in the cellular environment is suggested. This work not only provides evidence of a suitable methodology for studying the structural and spectroscopic properties of vanadium complexes but also highlights the relevance of explicitly including water molecules in their inner shell.

Mixture-based synthetic combinatorial library (MB-SCL) screening is a well-established experimental approach for rapidly retrieving structure-activity relationships (SAR) and identifying hits. Virtual screening is also a powerful approach that is increasingly being used in drug discovery programs and has a growing number of successful applications. However, limited efforts have been made to integrate both techniques. To this end, we combined experimental data from a MB-SCL of bicyclic guanidines screened against the κ-opioid receptor and molecular similarity methods. The activity data and similarity analyses were integrated in a biometric analysis-similarity map. Such a map allows the molecules to be categorized as actives, activity cliffs, low similarity to the reference compounds, or missed hits. A compound with IC(50) = 309 nM was found in the "missed hits" region, showing that active compounds can be retrieved from a MS-SCL via computational approaches. The strategy presented in this work is general and is envisioned as a general-purpose approach that can be applied to other MB-SCLs.

Despite the very close structural relationship between dapsone (4,4′-diaminodiphenyl sulfone, 4,4′ sulphonyldianiline, diaphenyl sulphone, DDS) and sulfanilamide (p-aminobenzene sulfonamide), being the prototype of all other sulfonamides, only dapsone shows remarkable efficient pharmacological activity against Mycobacterium leprae. Cells of certain micro-organism need para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), the latter playing the role of natural substrate to biosynthesis of folic acid. Sufones and sulfonamides show competitive antagonism as chemical analogs of PABA. It is most surprising that, despite of sharing this molecular mechanism, only dapsone shows anti-leprosy activity in vivo. The study was accomplished using molecular mechanics (SYBYL) and semiempirical methods (MOPAC). The calculations of aromaticity, charges, protonation by MOPAC, and of lipophilicity by our empirical program LIPOP(hilicity) give evidence that dapsone is more lipophilic (log P values 0.97) than sulfanilamide (-0.67). The extremely lipophilic cell wall of Mycobacterium leprae contributes to the surprising difference in anti-leprosy activity. Sulfonamides are more or less deprotonated (45 to 99 %) at physiological pH units, whereas dapsone is totally undissociated. This results in different permeability rates into the bacterial cells in vivo. Compared to other sulfones and sulfonamides, the unique combination of high lipophilicity and low ionic dissociation favors anti-leprotic potency in dapsone. On principle, amide groups do not hinder activity, but cause acidity and subsequently dissociation.

Thioredoxin is a small protein (Mr approximately 12,000) found in all living cells from archaebacteria to humans. The active site is highly conserved and has two redox-active cysteine residues in the sequence: -Trp-Cys-Gly-Pro-Cys-. Besides the function of the reduced form as a powerful protein disulfide oxidoreductase, thioredoxin is known to regulate and activate different target enzymes, i.e. ribonucleotide reductase and the mitochondrial 2-oxoacid dehydrogenase multienzyme complexes. Despite the high degree of homology between thioredoxin proteins from different species, there exists a strong variation in the capability of activating target enzymes. This is yet unexplainable, since there still exists no model of a thioredoxin/receptor complex.