Browsing by Author "Eşsiz, Şebnem"
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Article Citation - WoS: 8Citation - Scopus: 9Antifungal Screening and in Silico Mechanistic Studies of an In-House Azole Library(2019) Sarı, Suat; Özdemir, Serpil; Kart, Didem; Sabuncuoğlu, Suna; Doğan, İnci Selin; Özdemir, Zeynep; Bozbey, İrem; Gencel, Melis; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Reynisson, Jóhannes; Karakurt, Arzu; Saraç, Selma; Dalkara, SevimSystemic Candida infections pose a serious public health problem with high morbidity and mortality. C. albicans is the major pathogen identified in candidiasis; however, non-albicans Candida spp. with antifungal resistance are now more prevalent. Azoles are first-choice antifungal drugs for candidiasis; however, they are ineffective for certain infections caused by the resistant strains. Azoles block ergosterol synthesis by inhibiting fungal CYP51, which leads to disruption of fungal membrane permeability. In this study, we screened for antifungal activity of an in-house azole library of 65 compounds to identify hit matter followed by a molecular modeling study for their CYP51 inhibition mechanism. Antifungal susceptibility tests against standard Candida spp. including C. albicans revealed derivatives 12 and 13 as highly active. Furthermore, they showed potent antibiofilm activity as well as neglectable cytotoxicity in a mouse fibroblast assay. According to molecular docking studies, 12 and 13 have the necessary binding characteristics for effective inhibition of CYP51. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations of the C. albicans CYP51 (CACYP51) homology model's catalytic site complexed with 13 were stable demonstrating excellent binding.Article Citation - WoS: 5Citation - Scopus: 7Computational Analysis of a Zn-Bound Tris(imidazolyl) Calix[6]arene Aqua Complex: Toward Incorporating Second-Coordination Sphere Effects Into Carbonic Anhydrase Biomimetics(Amer Chemical Soc, 2013) Koziol, Lucas; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Wong, Sergio E.; Lau, Edmond Y.; Valdez, Carlos A.; Satcher, Joe H. Jr.; Aines, Roger D.; Lightstone, Felice C.Molecular dynamics simulations and quantum-mechanical calculations were performed to characterize a supra-molecular tris(imidazolyl) calix[6]arene Zn2+ aqua complex as a biomimetic model for the catalyzed hydration of carbon dioxide to bicarbonate H2O + CO2 -> H+ + HCO3-. On the basis of potential-of-mean-force (PMF) calculations stable conformations had distorted 3-fold symmetry and supported either one or zero encapsulated water molecules. The conformation with an encapsulated water molecule is calculated to be lower in free energy than the conformation with an empty cavity (Delta G = 1.2 kcal/mol) and is the calculated free-energy minimum in solution. CO2 molecule partitioning into the cavity is shown to be very facile proceeding with a barrier of 1.6 kcal/mol from a weak encounter complex which stabilizes the species by about 1.0 kcal/mol. The stabilization energy of CO2 is calculated to be larger than that of H2O (Delta Delta G = 1.4 kcal/mol) suggesting that the complex will preferentially encapsulate CO2 in solution. In contrast the PMF for a bicarbonate anion entering the cavity is calculated to be repulsive in all nonbonding regions of the cavity due to the diameter of the calix[6]arene walls. Geometry optimization of the Zn-bound hydroxide complex with an encapsulated CO2 molecule showed that multiple noncovalent interactions direct the reactants into optimal position for nucleophilic addition to occur. The calixarene complex is a structural mimic of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic divide in the enzyme providing a functional effect for CO2 addition in the catalytic cycle. The results show that Zn-binding calix[6]arene scaffolds can be potential synthetic biomimetics for CO2 hydration catalysis both in terms of preferentially encapsulating CO2 from solution and by spatially fixing the reactive species inside the cavity.Article Citation - WoS: 2Citation - Scopus: 2Correlated conformational dynamics of the human GluN1-GluN2A type N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor(SPRINGER, 2021) Eşsiz, Şebnem; Servili, Burak; Aktolun, Muhammed; Demir, Ayhan; Carpenter, Timothy S.; Servili, BurakN-Methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are glutamate-gated ion channels found in the nerve cell membranes. As a result of overexcitation of NMDARs, neuronal death occurs and may lead to diseases such as epilepsy, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. In this study, human GluN1- GluN2A type NMDAR structure is modeled based on the X-ray structure of the Xenopus laevis template and missing loops are added by ab-initio loop modeling. The final structure is chosen according to two different model assessment scores. To be able to observe the structural changes upon ligand binding, glycine and glutamate molecules are docked into the corresponding binding sites of the receptor. Subsequently, molecular dynamics simulations of 1.3 mu s are performed for both apo and ligand-bound structures. Structural parameters, which have been considered to show functionally important changes in previous NMDAR studies, are monitored as conformational rulers to understand the dynamics of the conformational changes. Moreover, principal component analysis (PCA) is performed for the equilibrated part of the simulations. From these analyses, the differences in between apo and ligand-bound simulations can be summarized as the following: The girdle right at the beginning of the pore loop, which connects M2 and M3 helices of the ion channel, partially opens. Ligands act like an adhesive for the ligand-binding domain (LBD) by keeping the bi-lobed structure together and consequently this is reflected to the overall dynamics of the protein as an increased correlation of the LBD with especially the amino-terminal domain (ATD) of the protein.Correction Citation - WoS: 0Citation - Scopus: 15Discovery of New Azoles With Potent Activity Against Candida Spp. and Candida Albicans Biofilms Through Virtual Screening(Elsevier, 2020) Karakurt, Arzu; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Kart, Didem; Öztürk, Naile; Kaynak, F. Betül; Gencel, Melis; Taşkor, Gülce; Karakurt, Arzu; Saraç, Selma; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Dalkara, SevimSystemic candidiasis is a rampant bloodstream infection ofCandidaspp. andC. albicansis the majorpathogen isolated from infected humans. Azoles, the most common class of antifungals which sufferfrom increasing resistance, and especially intrinsically resistant non-albicans Candida(NAC) species, actby inhibiting fungal lanosterol 14a-demethylase (CYP51). In this study we identified a number of azolecompounds in 1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethanol/ethanone oxime ester structurethrough virtual screening using consensus scoring approach, synthesized and tested them for theirantifungal properties. We reached several hits with potent activity against azole-susceptible and azole-resistantCandidaspp. as well as biofilms ofC. albicans.5i's minimum inhibitor concentration (MIC) was0.125mg/ml againstC. albicans, 0.5mg/ml againstC. kruseiand 1mg/ml against azole-resistantC. tropicalisisolate. Considering the MIC values offluconazole against these fungi (0.5, 32 and 512mg/ml, respec-tively),5iemerged as a highly potent derivative. The minimum biofilm inhibitor concentration (MBIC) of5c,5j, and5pwere 0.5mg/ml (and5iwas 2mg/ml) againstC. albicansbiofilms, lower than that ofamphotericin B (4mg/ml), afirst-line antifungal with antibiofilm activity. In addition, the active com-pounds showed neglectable toxicity to human monocytic cell line. We further analyzed the dockingposes of the active compounds inC. albicansCYP51 (CACYP51) homology model catalytic site andidentified molecular interactions in agreement with those of known azoles with fungal CYP51s andmutagenesis studies of CACYP51. We observed the stability of CACYP51 in complex with5iin moleculardynamics simulations.©2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.1. IntroductionSystemic candidiasis is a major public health issue, especiallywith immune-suppressed cases reaching high mortality rates. Themembers of the genusCandidaare the most frequently recoveredfrom human fungal infection andCandida albicans, so far, is theleading pathogen identified in nosocomial candidiasis [1]. Inaddition to increasing drug-resistant strains ofC. albicans, emer-gence of non-albicans Candidaspp. (NAC) complicate the treatmentof mycoses [2].C. tropicalisis among the NACs that show reducedsusceptibility tofirst-line antifungals reportedly leading to break-through fungemia among high-risk patients [3,4]. Also,C. kruseiisknown to be intrinsically resistant to a number of azoles includingfluconazole [5]. One of the several mechanisms of therapy-resistance is formation of biofilms, which are complex microor-ganism colonies enclosed in an exopolysaccharide matrix on bioticand non-biotic surfaces. Persistent biofilms make fungi much lesssusceptible to antifungal drugs compared to their planktonic formsfor a number of reasons [6e8]. Therefore it is essential to design*Corresponding author. Hacettepe University Faculty of Pharmacy, Departmentof Pharmaceutical Chemistry, 06100, Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey.E-mail addresses:suat.sari@hacettepe.edu.tr,suat1039@gmail.com(S. Sari).Contents lists available atScienceDirectEuropean Journal of Medicinal Chemistryjournal homepage:http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ejmechhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.06.0830223-5234/©2019 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 179 (2019) 634e648Master Thesis Effects of Nerve Agents on Conformational Dynamics of Acetylcholinesterase(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2021) Güleşen, Sevilay; Güleşen, Sevilay; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Gökhan, Şebnem EşsizHuman acetylcholinesterase (hAChE), an essential enzyme in the central and peripheral nervous system, hydrolyses acetylcholine (ACh) at the cholinergic synapses. Organophosphorus pesticides (OPs), also called nerve agents, can inactivate the hAChE irreversibly and leads to serious morbidity (such as paralysis, cognitive deficiencies, and seizures) and even mortality consequences based on the amount of exposure and rapidness of treatment. Therefore, understanding the inhibition mechanism of hAChE by OPs, such as soman and sarin, is critical since it may guide developing a new and efficient treatment for poisoning by the nerve agents. The effects of soman inhibition on the dynamics of the hAChE were investigated in comparison with the results of the molecular dynamics study of the apo form and another OP adducted, i.e. soman adducted, form of hAChE in 2005. To understand the changes in the protein structure of hAChE after binding soman, 40 MD data were published. In this thesis, we aimed to find how sarin phosphorylation of the active site Ser203 residue of the hAChE affects the protein dynamics and to compare the result with the previously discovered results of the apo and soman-adducted hAChE. First, 40 classical MD simulations for the sarin adducted hAChE were run with the exact parameters of the apo and soman-adducted hAChE simulations. The sarin adducted hAChE was used for the MD simulations. Resulting trajectories were analyzed with RMSD analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and K-means clustering algorithm calculations to understand the differences between collective motions of the apo, soman adducted, and sarin adducted hAChE. According to the results, the sarin molecule has an alternative pathway for entering and leaving from the active site of the hAChE like the soman molecule. The back door area when it is calculated from the backbone atoms versus the sidechain atoms shows a significant different behavior. The backbone atoms calculation of the sarin-adducted gives similar results with the apo simulation. However, there is a significant third peak at much larger value observed in the calculation of the sarin-adducted sidechain. That might be an alternative pathway for entrance to the molecule. Also, the gorge entrance and back door motion correlation is affected when hAChE is adducted by sarin, depending on correlation analysis. This disruption and the previous mentioned above area results support the hypothesis about alternative pathways for entrance and exit in the protein. All these motions and alternative pathways are critical for the development of the treatment of sarin poisoning. Keywords: Molecular dynamic simulation, acetylcholinesterase, sarin, soman, principal component analysisMaster Thesis Homology Modeling and Normal Mode Analysis of Human Nr1-Nr2a Nmda Type Receptors(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2017) Demir, Ayhan S.; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Gökhan Eşsiz, ŞebnemN-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) receptors are ionotropic glutamate receptors located in the membrane of the nerve cells. The normal receptor activity has a vital importance in consciousness and normal brain functions. Neuronal death occurs as a result of overstimulation of NMDA-type glutamate receptors and leads to diseases such as stroke epilepsy Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. There are two recently available x-ray structures one from Xenopus laevis and the other one from Rattus norvegicus. First the structures were analyzed and compared especially for ion channel parts by considering the general problems that arise when crystallizing structures of membrane proteins. Then human GluNR1-GluNR2A type NMDA receptor structure was modeled by homology modeling based on the Xenopus laevis template. NMDA receptor structure is a large membrane protein complex thus we followed a couple of different strategies such as modeling by the individual monomer modeling as a tetramer and modeling as a tetramer without loops then adding loops with loop modeling. Final models were chosen according to the model assessment scoring function. Subsequently elastic network analysis was used to understand the dynamics of the structural variations which govern the function of the protein. 20 slowest modes of NMDA receptor were examined according to 8 parameters which are found to be functionally important in previous NMDA studies. The 3th slowest mode was noticeable regarding to gating mechanism. in Mode 3 a twist motion of the TMD part rotates clockwise parallel to the membrane while LBD and TMD together rotate counter-clock wise parts cause opening of the channel. Mode 3 showed the relationship between TMD girdles LDB and M3-TMD linker. Similarly Mode 9 like Mode 3 showed the same relationship. in addition Mode 9 showed like a breathing motion or expansion motion along the channel axis. We hope that these modes will be tested by a more through all atom molecular dynamics study of apo and ligand bound human NMDA structure in the near future.Article Citation - WoS: 0Citation - Scopus: 0Investigation of Structural and Antibacterial Properties of Ws2-doped Zno Nanoparticles(Amer Chemical Soc, 2024) Beytur, Sercan; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Essiz, Sebnem; Özuğur Uysal, Bengü; Uysal, Bengu OzugurZnO nanoparticles, well-known for their structural, optical, and antibacterial properties, are widely applied in diverse fields. The doping of different materials to ZnO, such as metals or metal oxides, is known to ameliorate its properties. Here, nanofilms composed of ZnO doped with WS2 at 5, 15, and 25% ratios are synthesized, and their properties are investigated. Supported by molecular docking analyses, the enhancement of the bactericidal properties after the addition of WS2 at different ratios is highlighted and supported by the inhibitory interaction of residues playing a crucial role in the bacterial survival through the targeting of proteins of interest.Master Thesis Loop Modeling and Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Apo and Ligand-Bound Human Glun1-Hlun2a Nmda Type Receptors(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2017) Aktolun, Muhammed; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Eşsiz, ŞebnemN-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are glutamate-gated ion channels found in the nerve cell membranes. The functioning of the receptor is of crucial importance in consciousness and normal brain functions. As a result of overexcitation of NMDARs neuronal death occurs and may lead to diseases such as epilepsy stroke Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Understanding the molecular mechanism and structure function relationships of the receptor might lead to discovery of new drug target mechanisms. Recently there are two intact X-ray structures available one is from Xenopus laevis and the other one is from Rattus norvegicus for GluN1-GluN2B type NMDA receptor. First both Xray structures are examined and compared for the ion channel especially by taking the general problems into consideration which arise from crystallization conditions. Human GluN1- GluN2A type NMDAR structure is modeled based on the structure of Xenopus laevis template and missing loops are added by ab-initio loop modeling. Final structure is chosen according to the model assessment scoring function. NMDAR activation requires binding of two coagonists glycine and glutamate. To be able to observe the structural changes upon ligand binding glycine and glutamate molecules are docked into the corresponding binding sites of the receptor. Subsequently Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of 1 microsecond are performed for both apo and ligand-bound structures. 10 structural parameters which have been considered as functionally important in previous NMDA studies are developed to understand the dynamics of the conformational changes that is associated with the function of the protein throughout the simulations. Moreover Principal Component Analysis is performed for the equilibrated part of the simulations to classify similar conformations together. in the ligand-bound simulation certain loop regions showed higher mobility. Upon ligand binding closure in LBD clamshell smaller ATD-LBD inter-domain distance and larger LBDTMD linker distance is observed in specific subunits. Opening in the bottom TMD girdle is observed for a short time. Correlated motions of the receptor in the ligand-bound simulation increased. The structure showed rotation-like motion in the apo simulation whereas slidinglike motion within the neighboring heterodimers are observed.Master Thesis Message-Passing Based Algorithm for the Global Alignment of Clustered Pairwise Ppi Networks(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2013) Yenigün, Doğan Yiğit; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Erten, Cesim; Eşsiz Gökhan, Şebnem; Aşıcı, Tınaz EkimConstrained global network alignments on pairwise protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks involve matchings between two organisms where proteins are grouped together in a great number of clusters, produced by algorithms that seek functionally ortholog ones and these organisms are represented as graphs. Unlike balanced global network alignments, this has not gained much popularity in bioinformatics. Only a few methods have been proposed thus far; by assuming specific structures of networks including the clusters themselves and the density of the PPI networks are not too large, then optimal alignments can be encountered. Here, we introduce a general-purpose algorithm that is able to work on any kind of graph structures while taking advantage of the message-passing method, based on propagation between clusters. When these graphs satisfy conditions like continuous interaction connectivity of proteins across all neighbored clusters, in addition to previous explanations, the optimality of alignments can still be achieved. Convergence of the cluster network can occur at the point where the maximum number of conserved interactions are detected. Many experiments were made with balanced GNA algorithms and our algorithm may find more conservations and more importantly, alignments have higher biological quality than other ones in various instances.Article Citation - WoS: 1Citation - Scopus: 1Modelling of C-Terminal Tail of Human Sting and Its Interaction With Tank-Binding Kinase 1(Tubitak Scientific & Technical Research Council Turkey, 2022) Ata Ouda Al-Masri, Rahaf; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Audu-Bida, Hajara; Essiz, SebnemStimulator of interferon genes (STING) plays a significant role in a cell's intracellular defense against pathogens or self DNA by inducing inflammation or apoptosis through a pathway known as cGAS-cGAMP-STING. STING uses one of its domains, the C-terminal tail (CTT) to recruit the members of the pathway. However, the structure of this domain has not been solved experimentally. STING conformation is open and more flexible when inactive. When STING gets activated by cGAMP, its conformation changes to a closed state covered by 4 beta-sheets over the binding site. This conformational change leads to its binding to Tank-binding kinase 1 (TBK1). TBK1 then phosphorylates STING aiding its entry to the cell's nucleus. In this study, we focused on the loop modeling of the CTT domain in both the active and inactive STING conformations. After the modeling step, the active and inactive STING structures were docked to one of the cGAS-cGAMP-STING pathway members, TBK1, to observe the differences of binding modes. CTT loop stayed higher in the active structure, while all the best-scored models, active or inactive, ended up around the same position with respect to TBK1. However, when the STING poses are compared with the cryo-EM image of the complex structure, the models in the active structure chain B displayed closer results to the complex structure.Article Modelling of C-Terminal Tail of Human Sting and Its Interaction With\rtank-Binding Kinase 1(2022) Masrı, Rahaf Ata Ouda Al; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Bıda, Hajara Audu; Eşsiz, ŞebnemStimulator of interferon genes (STING) plays a significant role in a cell’s intracellular defense against pathogens or selfDNA by inducing inflammation or apoptosis through a pathway known as cGAS-cGAMP-STING. STING uses one of its domains, the\rC-terminal tail (CTT) to recruit the members of the pathway. However, the structure of this domain has not been solved experimentally.\rSTING conformation is open and more flexible when inactive. When STING gets activated by cGAMP, its conformation changes to a\rclosed state covered by 4 beta-sheets over the binding site. This conformational change leads to its binding to Tank-binding kinase 1\r(TBK1). TBK1 then phosphorylates STING aiding its entry to the cell’s nucleus.\rIn this study, we focused on the loop modeling of the CTT domain in both the active and inactive STING conformations. After the\rmodeling step, the active and inactive STING structures were docked to one of the cGAS-cGAMP-STING pathway members, TBK1,\rto observe the differences of binding modes. CTT loop stayed higher in the active structure, while all the best-scored models, active or\rinactive, ended up around the same position with respect to TBK1. However, when the STING poses are compared with the cryo-EM\rimage of the complex structure, the models in the active structure chain B displayed closer results to the complex structure.Article Citation - WoS: 3Citation - Scopus: 3The Neural Gamma(2)alpha(1)beta(2)alpha(1)beta(2) Gamma Amino Butyric Acid Ion Channel Receptor: Structural Analysis of the Effects of the Ivermectin Molecule and Disulfide Bridges(Springer, 2018) Ayan, Meral; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Eşsiz, ŞebnemWhile similar to 30% of the human genome encodes membrane proteins only a handful of structures of membrane proteins have been resolved to high resolution. Here we studied the structure of a member of the Cys-loop ligand gated ion channel protein superfamily of receptors human type A gamma(2)alpha(1)beta(2)alpha(1)beta(2) gamma amino butyric acid receptor complex in a lipid bilayer environment. Studying the correlation between the structure and function of the gamma amino butyric acid receptor may enhance our understanding of the molecular basis of ion channel dysfunctions linked with epilepsy ataxia migraine schizophrenia and other neurodegenerative diseases. The structure of human gamma(2)alpha(1)beta(2)alpha(1)beta(2) has been modeled based on the X-ray structure of the Caenorhabditis elegans glutamate-gated chloride channel via homology modeling. The template provided the first inhibitory channel structure for the Cys-loop superfamily of ligand-gated ion channels. The only available template structure before this glutamate-gated chloride channel was a cation selective channel which had very low sequence identity with gamma aminobutyric acid receptor. Here our aim was to study the effect of structural corrections originating from modeling on a more reliable template structure. The homology model was analyzed for structural properties via a 100 ns molecular dynamics (MD) study. Due to the structural shifts and the removal of an open channel potentiator molecule ivermectin from the template structure helical packing changes were observed in the transmembrane segment. Namely removal of ivermectin molecule caused a closure around the Leu 9 position along the ion channel. In terms of the structural shifts there are three potential disulfide bridges between the M1 and M3 helices of the gamma(2) and 2 alpha(1) subunits in the model. The effect of these disulfide bridges was investigated via monitoring the differences in root mean square fluctuations (RMSF) of individual amino acids and principal component analysis of the MD trajectory of the two homology models-one with the disulfide bridge and one with protonated Cys residues. In all subunit types RMSF of the transmembrane domain helices are reduced in the presence of disulfide bridges. Additionally loop A loop F and loop C fluctuations were affected in the extracellular domain. In cross-correlation analysis of the trajectory the two model structures displayed different coupling in between the M2-M3 linker region protruding from the membrane and the beta 1-beta 2/D loop and cys-loop regions in the extracellular domain. Correlations of the C loop which collapses directly over the bound ligand molecule were also affected by differences in the packing of transmembrane helices. Finally more localized correlations were observed in the transmembrane helices when disulfide bridges were present in the model. The differences observed in this study suggest that dynamic coupling at the interface of extracellular and ion channel domains differs from the coupling introduced by disulfide bridges in the transmembrane region. We hope that this hypothesis will be tested experimentally in the near future.Article Citation - WoS: 47Citation - Scopus: 51New Azole Derivatives Showing Antimicrobial Effects and Their Mechanism of Antifungal Activity by Molecular Modeling Studies(Elsevier France-Editions Scientifiques Medicales Elsevier, 2017) Doğan, İnci Selin; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Saraç, Selma; Sarı, Suat; Kart, Didem; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Vural, İmran; Dalkara, SevimAzole antifungals are potent inhibitors of fungal lanosterol 14 alpha demethylase (CYP51) and have been used for eradication of systemic candidiasis clinically. Herein we report the design synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of 1-phenyl/1-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl) ethanol esters. Many of these derivatives showed fungal growth inhibition at very low concentrations. Minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) value of 15 was 0.125 mu g/mL against Candida albicans. Additionally some of our compounds such as 19 (MIC: 0.25 mu g/mL) were potent against resistant C. glabrata a fungal strain less susceptible to some first-line antifungal drugs. We confirmed their antifungal efficacy by antibiofilm test and their safety against human monocytes by cytotoxicity assay. To rationalize their mechanism of action we performed computational analysis utilizing molecular docking and dynamics simulations on the C. albicans and C. glabrata CYP51 (CACYP51 and CGCYP51) homology models we built. Leu130 and T131 emerged as possible key residues for inhibition of CGCYP51 by 19. (C) 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.Article Citation - WoS: 2Citation - Scopus: 0Newly Synthesized 6-Substituted Piperazine/Phenyl-9-cyclopentyl Containing Purine Nucleobase Analogs Act as Potent Anticancer Agents and Induce Apoptosis via Inhibiting Src in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells(Royal Soc Chemistry, 2023) Bilget Guven, Ebru; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Durmaz Sahin, Irem; Servili, Burak; Altiparmak, Duygu; Servili, Burak; Essiz, Sebnem; Cetin-Atalay, Rengul; Tuncbilek, MeralNewly synthesized 6-substituted piperazine/phenyl-9-cyclopentyl-containing purine nucleobase analogs were tested for their in vitro anticancer activity against human cancer cells. Compounds 15, 17-24, 49, and 56 with IC50 values less than 10 mu M were selected for further examination on an enlarged panel of liver cancer cell lines. Experiments revealed that compound 19 utilizes its high cytotoxic potential (IC50 < 5 mu M) to induce apoptosis in vitro. Compound 19 displayed a KINOMEscan selectivity score S35 of 0.02 and S10 of 0.01 and demonstrated a significant selectivity against anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) over other kinases. Compounds 19, 21, 22, 23, and 56 complexed with ALK, BTK, and (discoidin domain-containing receptor 2) DDR2 were analyzed structurally for binding site interactions and binding affinities via molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations. Compounds 19 and 56 displayed similar interactions with the activation loop of the kinases, while only compound 19 reached toward the multiple subsites of the active site. Cell cycle and signaling pathway analyses exhibited that compound 19 decreases phosho-Src, phospho-Rb, cyclin E, and cdk2 levels in liver cancer cells, eventually inducing apoptosis.Article Protein Homology Modeling in the Low Sequence Similarity Regime(2024) Eşsiz, ŞebnemPredicting the 3-D structure of a protein from its sequence based on a template protein structure is still one of the most exact modeling techniques present today. However, template-based modeling is heavily dependent on the selection of a single template structure and the sequence alignment between target and template. Mainly when the target and template sequence identity is low, the error from the alignment introduces larger errors to the model structure. An iterative method to correct such alignment mistakes is used in this study with a benchmark set from CASP in the extremely low sequence-identity regime. This is a protocol developed and tested before and it evaluates the alignment quality by building rough 3-D models for each alignment. Then by using a genetic algorithm it iteratively creates a new set of alignments. Since the method evaluates models, not sequence alignments, structural features are automatically incorporated into the alignment protocol. In the current study, models from structural alignment have been built by Modeller program to show the maximum possible quality of the model that can be obtained from that template structure with the iterative modeling protocol. Then the results and correctly aligned segments from the iterative modeling protocol are analyzed. Finally, it has been shown that if a good local fragment assessment scoring function is developed, the correctly aligned segments exist in the pool of alignments created by the protocol. Thus, the improvement of modeling in the low sequence identity regime is conceivable.Conference Object Citation - WoS: 0Soman as a Wrench in the Works of Human Acetylcholinesterase: Soman Induced Conformational Changes Revealed by Molecular Dynamics Simulations(Amer Chemical Soc, 2014) Bennion, Brian J.; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Lau, Edmond Y.; Fattebert, Jean-Luc; Emigh, Aiyana; Lightstone, Felice C.[Abstract Not Available]Master Thesis Structural Studies of Nmda Receptor and Xanthine Oxidase Enzyme(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2019) Gencel, Melis; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Gökhan Eşsiz, ŞebnemThe first part of the thesis deals with the structural studies of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptors (NMDARs). NMDARs are ionotropic ligand-gated receptors that have pivotal roles at the central neuronal system but, hyperactivity of NMDARs could contribute to neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, understanding the activation mechanism of NMDARs is important as it may lead to the development of new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. In this thesis, human GluN1/GluN2A type NMDAR is modeled based on GluN1/GluN2B type NMDA structures that were resolved in 2014. To observe the dynamics of NMDA, 1.3 microseconds molecular dynamics simulations are performed for ligand-free and ligand-bound structures in the physiological environment. RMSD, RMSF, and PCA have been used to analyze the trajectory to understand the di↵erences in ligand-free and ligand-bound structures collective motions. From these analyses, the di↵erences in between ligand-free and ligand-bound simulations can be summarized as the following: Ligand-binding domain closure is observed, and these rearrangements are reflected to the transmembrane linkers upon ligand binding. Correlation maps from PCA analysis display more correlated motions in ligand-bound simulations. As a summary, mainly ligands act like an adhesive for the binding-domain by bringing the bi-lobe structures together and consequently, this is reflected in the overall dynamics of the protein. In the second part of this thesis, Xanthine Oxidase (XO) enzyme has been studied for the potency of bis-chalcones compounds. 8 bis-chalcones compounds that were provided to us from Serdar Burmalıo˘glu’s research group, showed high inhibition behavior on XO. These 8 molecules are docked to XO catalytic unit and 1000 run is performed for each compound. All compounds show better results than its approved drug which is allopurinol, however, the best ones are fifth and seventh compounds. In addition, all these compounds have three similar binding modes but, the first pose has the lowest free binding energyMaster Thesis Structural Study of Gaba Type a Receptor : the Effect of Intrasubunit Disulphide Bridges on Dynamics(Kadir Has Üniversitesi, 2014) Ayan, Meral; Eşsiz, Şebnem; Gökhan Eşsiz, ŞebnemIn the mammalian brain the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor is the most commonly expressed subtype of receptor family. Although there is a rich pharmacological activity of R, specific molecular features are still not well known. In this study, we developed a new homology model based on a recently available X-Ray structure of the glutamate-gated chloride channel. When it is compared with previous homology models of the based on lower sequence identity templates, there are three additional disulphide bridges occurring in between membrane spanning alpha helices namely two in the alpha and one in the gamma subunits. These new disulphide bridges are occurring due to the differences in the sequence alignments of template and target structures. Additionally, we performed molecular dynamics simulations with two models, one with the disulphide bridges in the transmembrane domanin, and the other without disulphide bridges. To analyze simulation results, minimum pore radius along the pore, root-mean-square deviation of proteins and root mean square fluctuation of alpha are analyzed. Finally principal component analysis of the 100 nanosecond long trajectory is calculated to compare the differences in the correlated motions of two modelsDoctoral Thesis Structural, Optical and Antibacterial Properties of Ws2 Doped Zno Nanoparticles(2023) Beytür, Sercan; Özuğur Uysal, Bengü; Uysal, Bengü Özuğur; Eşsiz, ŞebnemYapısal ve optik özelliklerinin yanı sıra antibakteriyel özellikleri ile tanınan ZnO nanoparçacıkları, çeşitli alanlarda yaygın olarak uygulanmaktadır. Metaller veya metal oksitler gibi farklı malzemelerin ZnO'ya katkılanmasının özelliklerini iyileştirdiği bilinmektedir. Burada %5, %15 ve %25 oranlarında WS2 katkılı ZnO'dan oluşan nanofilmler sentezlenmekte ve özellikleri araştırılmaktadır. Moleküler yerleştirme analizleri ile desteklenen, farklı oranlarda WS2 ilave edildikten sonra bakterisidal özelliklerin arttırılması vurgulanmaktadır ve ilgili proteinlerin hedeflenmesi yoluyla bakteriyel hayatta kalmada çok önemli bir rol oynayan kalıntıların inhibe edici etkileşimi tarafından desteklenmektedir.Article Citation - WoS: 26Citation - Scopus: 26Sustainable production of formic acid from CO2 by a novel immobilized mutant formate dehydrogenase(Elsevier, 2023) Eşsiz, Şebnem; Servili, Burak; Servili, Burak; Essiz, Sebnem; Binay, Baris; Yildirim, DenizFormate dehydrogenase (NAD+-dependent FDH) is an enzyme that catalyzes the reversible oxidation of formate to CO2 while reducing NAD+ to NADH. The enzyme has been used in industrial and chemical applications for NADH regeneration for a long time. However, discovering the unique ability of FDHs, which is to reduce CO2 and produce formic acid, leads studies focusing on discovering or redesigning FDHs. Despite using various protein engineering techniques, these studies mostly target the same catalytic site amino acids of FDHs. Here, for the first time, the effect of an Asp188 mutation on a potential allosteric site in NAD+-dependent CtFDH around its subunit-subunit interface was studied by molecular modelling and simulation in the presence of bicarbonate and formate. Biochemical and kinetic characterization of this Asp188Arg mutant and wild type CtFDH enzymes were performed in detail. Both enzymes were also immobilized on newly synthesized MWCNT-Ni-O-Si/Ald and MWCNT-Ni-O-Si/Glu supports designed to overcome well-known CtFDH stability problems including thermostability and reuse resistance. Integrating mutation and immobilization provided about a 25-fold increase in catalytic efficiency for carbonate activity. The one-way ANOVA analysis also ensured significant effect of the mutation and immobilization on kinetic constants. After characterizing the immobilization of highly purified wild type and mutant enzyme with instrumental analysis techniques, the thermal stability of MWCNT-Ni-Si@wtCtFDH and MWCNT-Ni-Si@mt-CtFDH was found to increase about 11-and 18-fold, respectively, compared to their free counterparts at 50 degrees C. The mutant CtFDH and its immobilized counterpart produced around 2-fold more formic acid than those of wild type CtFDH and its immobilized counterpart under the same conditions. MWCNT-Ni-Si@wt-CtFDH and MWCNT-Ni-Si@mt-CtFDH remained around 82 % and 86 % of their initial activities respectively after lots of recycling. Integration of subunit interface amino acid position of NAD+ dependent FDHs engineering and immobilization provides a new insight can be scientifically and rationally employed for this current application FDHs as a solution to produce formic acids from renewable sources.