TY - JOUR

T1 - Comparative study of binding pocket structure and dynamics in cardiac and skeletal myosin

AU - Antonovic, Anna Katarina

AU - Ochala, Julien

AU - Fornili, Arianna

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Biophysical Society

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The development of small molecule myosin modulators has seen an increased effort in recent years due to their possible use in the treatment of cardiac and skeletal myopathies. Omecamtiv mecarbil (OM) is the first-in-class cardiac myotrope and the first to enter clinical trials. Its selectivity toward slow/beta-cardiac myosin lies at the heart of its function; however, little is known about the underlying reasons for selectivity to this isoform as opposed to other closely related ones such as fast-type skeletal myosins. In this work, we compared the structure and dynamics of the OM binding site in cardiac and in fasttype IIa skeletal myosin to identify possible reasons for OM selectivity. We found that the different shape, size, and composition of the binding pocket in skeletal myosin directly affects the binding mode and related affinity of OM, which is potentially a result of weaker interactions and less optimal molecular recognition. Moreover, we identified a side pocket adjacent to the OM binding site that shows increased accessibility in skeletal myosin compared with the cardiac isoform. These findings could pave the way to the development of skeletal-selective compounds that can target this region of the protein and potentially be used to treat congenital myopathies where muscle weakness is related to myosin loss of function.

AB - The development of small molecule myosin modulators has seen an increased effort in recent years due to their possible use in the treatment of cardiac and skeletal myopathies. Omecamtiv mecarbil (OM) is the first-in-class cardiac myotrope and the first to enter clinical trials. Its selectivity toward slow/beta-cardiac myosin lies at the heart of its function; however, little is known about the underlying reasons for selectivity to this isoform as opposed to other closely related ones such as fast-type skeletal myosins. In this work, we compared the structure and dynamics of the OM binding site in cardiac and in fasttype IIa skeletal myosin to identify possible reasons for OM selectivity. We found that the different shape, size, and composition of the binding pocket in skeletal myosin directly affects the binding mode and related affinity of OM, which is potentially a result of weaker interactions and less optimal molecular recognition. Moreover, we identified a side pocket adjacent to the OM binding site that shows increased accessibility in skeletal myosin compared with the cardiac isoform. These findings could pave the way to the development of skeletal-selective compounds that can target this region of the protein and potentially be used to treat congenital myopathies where muscle weakness is related to myosin loss of function.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144951708&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.bpj.2022.11.2942

DO - 10.1016/j.bpj.2022.11.2942

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36451546

AN - SCOPUS:85144951708

VL - 122

SP - 54

EP - 62

JO - Biophysical Society. Annual Meeting. Abstracts

JF - Biophysical Society. Annual Meeting. Abstracts

SN - 0523-6800

IS - 1

ER -