Effects of Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Candidates on Disordered Aβ42 Dissected by Comparative Markov State Analysis CoVAMPnet
Sérgio M. Marques, Petr Kouba, Anthony Legrand, Jiri Sedlar, Lucas Disson, Joan Planas-Iglesias, Zainab Sanusi, Antonin Kunka, Jiri Damborsky, Tomas Pajdla, Zbynek Prokop, Stanislav Mazurenko, Josef Sivic, David Bednar

Data

The sampled stripped trajectories and intermediate data, including the trained neural network weights, are available here: covampnet_data.tar.gz (17 GB). Below is a description of the data structure.
covampnet_data/
├── trajectories/  # MD simulations
│   ├── ZS-ab2/  # simulated system
│   │   ├──e1s1_0/  # episode 1, simulation 1
│   │   │   └── output.filtered.xtc  # compressed MD simulation
│   │   ├──e1s2_0/  # episode 1, simulation 2
│   │   │   └── output.filtered.xtc
│   │   ├── ...
│   │   └── filtered.pdb  # topology file	
│   ├── ZS-ab3/
│   └── ZS-ab4/
├── models/  # trained models
│   ├── ZS-ab2/
│   ├── ZS-ab3/
│   └── ZS-ab4/
├── model_outputs/  # Markov state probabilities for each frame, Koopman matrices,
│   │               # Chapman-Kolmogorov tests, implied timescales, eq. distribution
│   └── ...
├── trained_model_histories/  # train/val losses of final models
│   └── ...
├── frames_for_gradient_evaluation/  # frame ids for reproduction of gradient analysis
│   └── ...
├── training_splits/  # training splits for reproduction of results
│   └── ...
└── training_seeds/  # training seeds for reproduction of results
    └── ...
	

Code

The code and example data are available on GitHub: https://github.com/KoubaPetr/CoVAMPnet

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the deposition of misfolded tau and amyloid-beta (Aβ). Tramiprosate (TMP) and its metabolite 3-sulfopropanoic acid (SPA) are phase 3 therapeutics believed to target Aβ oligomers. It is of paramount importance to understand how TMP/SPA modulate the conformations of Aβ. Here, we studied the Aβ42 alone and in the presence of TMP or SPA by adaptive sampling molecular dynamics. To quantify the effects of drug candidates on Aβ42, we developed a novel Comparative Markov State Analysis (CoVAMPnet). First, the ensembles of learned Markov state models were aligned across different systems based on a solution to an optimal transport problem. Second, the directional importance of inter-residue distances for assignment to the Markov states was assessed by a discriminative analysis of aggregated neural network gradients. TMP/SPA shifted Aβ42 towards more structured conformations by interacting non-specifically with charged residues and destabilizing salt bridges involved in oligomerization. SPA impacted Aβ42 the most, preserving α-helices and suppressing aggregation-prone β-strands. Experimental biophysical analyses showed mild effects of TMP/SPA on Aβ42, and activity enhancement by the endogenous metabolization of TMP into SPA. The CoVAMPnet method is broadly applicable to study the effects of drug candidates on conformational behavior of intrinsically disordered biomolecules.
@article{covampnet2023biorxiv,
    title={Effects of Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Candidates on Disordered Aβ42 Dissected by Comparative Markov State Analysis CoVAMPnet},
    author={Sérgio M. Marques and Petr Kouba and Anthony Legrand and Jiri Sedlar and Lucas Disson and Joan Planas-Iglesias and Zainab Sanusi and Antonin Kunka and Jiri Damborsky and Tomas Pajdla and Zbynek Prokop and Stanislav Mazurenko and Josef Sivic and David Bednar},
    journal={bioRxiv preprint bioRxiv:2023.01.06.523007},
    year={2023}
}

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Czech Ministry of Education (grants ESFRI RECETOX RI LM2018121, ESFRI ELIXIR CZ LM2018131, TEAMING CZ CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/17_043/0009632, NPO Neuro LX22NPO5107), the European Regional Development Fund under the project IMPACT (reg. no. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15 003/0000468), and the European Union (SinFonia 814418 and TEAMING 857560). The computational resources were supplied by the project “e-Infrastruktura CZ” (e-INFRA LM2018140) provided within the program Projects of Large Research, Development and Innovations Infrastructures. Petr Kouba is a holder of the Brno Ph.D. Talent scholarship funded by the Brno City Municipality and the JCMM.