mTOR变体激活揭示了PI3K样隐蔽口袋,扩展了变构、突变体选择性抑制剂设计。
mTOR Variants Activation Discovers PI3K-like Cryptic Pocket, Expanding Allosteric, Mutant-Selective Inhibitor Designs.
作者信息
Liu Yonglan, Zhang Wengang, Jang Hyunbum, Nussinov Ruth
机构信息
Cancer Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United States.
Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United States.
出版信息
J Chem Inf Model. 2025 Jan 27;65(2):966-980. doi: 10.1021/acs.jcim.4c02022. Epub 2025 Jan 10.
mTOR plays a crucial role in PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling. We hypothesized that mTOR activation mechanisms driving oncogenesis can advise effective therapeutic designs. To test this, we combined cancer genomic analysis with extensive molecular dynamics simulations of mTOR oncogenic variants. We observed that conformational changes within mTOR kinase domain are associated with multiple mutational activation events. The mutations disturb the α-packing formed by the kαAL, kα3, kα9, kα9b, and kα10 helices in the kinase domain, creating cryptic pocket. Its opening correlates with opening of the catalytic cleft, including active site residues realignment, favoring catalysis. The cryptic pocket created by disrupted α-packing coincides with the allosteric pocket in PI3Kα can be harmoniously fitted by the PI3Kα allosteric inhibitor RLY-2608, suggesting that analogous drugs designed based on RLY-2608 can restore the packed α-structure, resulting in mTOR inactive conformation. Our results exemplify that knowledge of detailed kinase activation mechanisms can inform innovative allosteric inhibitor development.
mTOR在PI3K/AKT/mTOR信号传导中起关键作用。我们假设驱动肿瘤发生的mTOR激活机制可为有效的治疗设计提供指导。为了验证这一点,我们将癌症基因组分析与mTOR致癌变体的广泛分子动力学模拟相结合。我们观察到,mTOR激酶结构域内的构象变化与多个突变激活事件相关。这些突变扰乱了激酶结构域中由kαAL、kα3、kα9、kα9b和kα10螺旋形成的α堆积,形成了隐蔽口袋。其开口与催化裂隙的开口相关,包括活性位点残基的重新排列,有利于催化作用。由破坏的α堆积产生的隐蔽口袋与PI3Kα中的变构口袋重合,PI3Kα变构抑制剂RLY-2608可以与之完美契合,这表明基于RLY-2608设计的类似药物可以恢复堆积的α结构,导致mTOR处于无活性构象。我们的结果表明,详细的激酶激活机制知识可为创新的变构抑制剂开发提供依据。