Efflux dynamics of the antiseizure drug, levetiracetam, through the P-glycoprotein channel revealed by advanced comparative molecular simulations

Bibliographic Details
Title: Efflux dynamics of the antiseizure drug, levetiracetam, through the P-glycoprotein channel revealed by advanced comparative molecular simulations
Authors: Esmaeil Behmard, Ebrahim Barzegari, Sohrab Najafipour, Amin Kouhpayeh, Younes Ghasemi, Ali A. Asadi-Pooya
Source: Scientific Reports, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2022)
Publisher Information: Nature Portfolio, 2022.
Publication Year: 2022
Collection: LCC:Medicine
LCC:Science
Subject Terms: Medicine, Science
More Details: Abstract Understanding the precise mechanistic details of the possible binding and transport of antiseizure medications (ASMs) through the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) efflux pump is essential to find strategies for the treatment of patients with epilepsy resistant to ASMs. In the present work, conventional molecular dynamics, binding free energy calculations, steered molecular dynamics and umbrella sampling were applied to study the interactions of levetiracetam and brivaracetam with P-gp and their possible egress path from the binding site. Comparative results for the control drugs, zosuquidar and verapamil, confirmed their established P-gp inhibitory activity. Brivaracetam, a non-substrate of P-gp, demonstrated stronger static and dynamic interactions with the exporter protein, than levetiracetam. The potential of mean force calculations indicated that the energy barriers through the ligand export were the lowest for levetiracetam, suggesting the drug as a P-gp substrate with facile passage through the transporter channel. Our findings also stressed the contribution of nonpolar interactions with P-gp channel lining as well as with membrane lipid molecules to hamper the ASM efflux by the transmembrane exporter. Appropriate structural engineering of the ASMs is thus recommended to address drug-resistant epilepsy.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2045-2322
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-17994-3
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/a9efc1b99d3b4296a17ee0efe7653f9a
Accession Number: edsdoj.9efc1b99d3b4296a17ee0efe7653f9a
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
Full text is not displayed to guests.
More Details
ISSN:20452322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-17994-3
Published in:Scientific Reports
Language:English