TY - JOUR
T1 - Pick’s tau fibril shows multiple distinct pet probe binding sites
T2 - Insights from computational modelling
AU - Mishra, Sushil K.
AU - Yamaguchi, Yoshiki
AU - Higuchi, Makoto
AU - Sahara, Naruhiko
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors.
PY - 2021/1/1
Y1 - 2021/1/1
N2 - In recent years, it has been realized that the tau protein is a key player in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. Positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers that bind to tau filaments in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are in common use, but PET tracers binding to tau filaments of rarer, agerelated dementias, such as Pick’s disease, have not been widely explored. To design disease-specific and tau-selective PET tracers, it is important to determine where and how PET tracers bind to tau filaments. In this paper, we present the first molecular modelling study on PET probe binding to the structured core of tau filaments from a patient with Pick’s disease (TauPiD). We have used docking, molecular dynamics simulations, binding-affinity and tunnel calculations to explore TauPiD binding sites, binding modes, and binding energies of PET probes (AV-1451, MK-6240, PBB3, PM-PBB3, THK-5351 and PiB) with TauPiD. The probes bind to TauPiD at multiple surface binding sites as well as in a cavity binding site. The probes show unique surface binding patterns, and, out of them all, PM-PBB3 proves to bind the strongest. The findings suggest that our computational workflow of structural and dynamic details of the tau filaments has potential for the rational design of TauPiD specific PET tracers.
AB - In recent years, it has been realized that the tau protein is a key player in multiple neurodegenerative diseases. Positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers that bind to tau filaments in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are in common use, but PET tracers binding to tau filaments of rarer, agerelated dementias, such as Pick’s disease, have not been widely explored. To design disease-specific and tau-selective PET tracers, it is important to determine where and how PET tracers bind to tau filaments. In this paper, we present the first molecular modelling study on PET probe binding to the structured core of tau filaments from a patient with Pick’s disease (TauPiD). We have used docking, molecular dynamics simulations, binding-affinity and tunnel calculations to explore TauPiD binding sites, binding modes, and binding energies of PET probes (AV-1451, MK-6240, PBB3, PM-PBB3, THK-5351 and PiB) with TauPiD. The probes bind to TauPiD at multiple surface binding sites as well as in a cavity binding site. The probes show unique surface binding patterns, and, out of them all, PM-PBB3 proves to bind the strongest. The findings suggest that our computational workflow of structural and dynamic details of the tau filaments has potential for the rational design of TauPiD specific PET tracers.
KW - Docking
KW - MM/GBSA calculation
KW - PET tracers
KW - Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging
KW - Tau
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U2 - 10.3390/ijms22010349
DO - 10.3390/ijms22010349
M3 - Article
C2 - 33396273
AN - SCOPUS:85099151809
SN - 1661-6596
VL - 22
SP - 1
EP - 15
JO - International journal of molecular sciences
JF - International journal of molecular sciences
IS - 1
M1 - 349
ER -