Search PubMedSearch

Biomedical subjects

C M Oshiro

Publications and source records attributed to C M Oshiro.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Flexible ligand docking using a genetic algorithm.

Two computational techniques have been developed to explore the orientational and conformational space of a flexible ligand within an enzyme. Both methods use the Genetic Algorithm (GA) to generate conformationally flexible ligands in conjunction with algorithms from the DOCK suite of programs to characterize the receptor site. The methods are applied to three enzyme-ligand complexes: dihydrofolate reductase-methotrexate, thymidylate synthase-phenolpthalein and HIV protease-thioketal haloperidol. Conformations and orientations close to the crystallographically determined structures are obtained, as well as alternative structures with low energy. The potential for the GA method to screen a database of compounds is also examined. A collection of ligands is evaluated simultaneously, rather than docking the ligands individually into the enzyme.

Algorithms

Effects of limited input distance constraints upon the distance geometry algorithm.

In this paper we examine the distance geometry (DG) algorithm in the form used to determine the structure of proteins. We focus on three aspects of the algorithm: bound smoothing with the triangle inequality, the random selection of distances within the bounds, and the number of distances needed to specify a structure. Computational experiments are performed using simulated and real data for basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) from nmr and crystallographic measurements. We find that the upper bounds determined by bound smoothing to be a linear function of the true crystal distance. A simple model that describes the results obtained with randomly selected trial distances is proposed. Using this representation of the trial distances, we show that BPTI DG structures are more compact than the true crystal structure. We also show that the DG-generated structures no longer resemble test structures when the number of these interresidue distance constraints is less than the number of degrees of freedom of the protein backbone. While the actual model will be sensitive the way distances are chosen, our conclusions are likely to apply to other versions of the DG algorithm.

Algorithms

Distance geometry.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Computer Simulation

Ocular esterase composition in albino and pigmented rabbits: possible implications in ocular prodrug design and evaluation.

A methodology was developed to determine the proportion of acetyl- (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) in the albino and pigmented rabbit eye. It was found that BuChE contributed over 75% of the cholinesterase activity in all the ocular tissues but the corneal epithelium of the albino rabbit. This esterase was principally responsible for the parabolic chain length dependence of ocular hydrolysis of model naphthyl ester prodrugs reported previously. In contrast, when incubated with AChE, the rate of hydrolysis of these esters decreased monotonically with increasing ester chain length. Together these findings suggest that esters whose chain length exceeds 4 carbons will be hydrolyzed primarily by BuChE. It is suggested that the dominance of BuChE in ocular tissues is another factor which merits consideration in the design and evaluation of ocular ester prodrugs.

Acetylcholinesterase