Simulations of CYP51A from Aspergillus fumigatus in a model bilayer provide insights into triazole drug resistance
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Author(s)
Nash, A
Rhodes, JL
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Azole antifungal drugs target CYP51A in Aspergillus fumigatus by binding with the active site of the protein, blocking ergosterol biosynthesis. Resistance to azole anti-fungal drugs is now common, with a leucine to histidine amino acid substitution at position 98 the most frequent, predominantly conferring resistance to itraconazole, although cross-resistance has been reported in conjunction with other mutations. In this study, we create a homology model of CYP51A using a recently published crystal structure of the paralog protein CYP51B. The derived structures, wild type and L98H mutant, are positioned within a lipid membrane bilayer and subjected to molecular dynamics simulations in order improve the accuracy of both models. The structural analysis from our simulations suggests a decrease in active site surface from the formation of hydrogen bonds between the histidine substitution and neighbouring polar side chains, potentially preventing the binding of azole drugs. This study yields a biologically relevant structure and set of dynamics of the A. fumigatus Lanosterol 14 alpha-demethylase enzyme and provides further insight into azole antifungal drug resistance.
Date Issued
2018-04-01
Date Acceptance
2017-06-29
Citation
Medical Mycology, 2018, 56 (3), pp.361-373
ISSN
1460-2709
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Start Page
361
End Page
373
Journal / Book Title
Medical Mycology
Volume
56
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Society for Human and Animal Mycology. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
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Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Grant Number
105603/Z/14/Z
Subjects
1108 Medical Microbiology
Microbiology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2017-09-09