Acidic sphingomyelinase interactions with lysosomal membranes and cation amphiphilic drugs: A molecular dynamics investigation

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  • Simone Scrima
  • Matteo Lambrughi
  • Lorenzo Favaro
  • Kenji Maeda
  • Jaattela, Marja
  • Elena Papaleo

Lysosomes are pivotal in cellular functions and disease, influencing cancer progression and therapy resistance with Acid Sphingomyelinase (ASM) governing their membrane integrity. Moreover, cation amphiphilic drugs (CADs) are known as ASM inhibitors and have anti-cancer activity, but the structural mechanisms of their interactions with the lysosomal membrane and ASM are poorly explored. Our study, leveraging all-atom explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations, delves into the interaction of glycosylated ASM with the lysosomal membrane and the effects of CAD representatives, i.e., ebastine, hydroxyebastine and loratadine, on the membrane and ASM. Our results confirm the ASM association to the membrane through the saposin domain, previously only shown with coarse-grained models. Furthermore, we elucidated the role of specific residues and ASM-induced membrane curvature in lipid recruitment and orientation. CADs also interfere with the association of ASM with the membrane at the level of a loop in the catalytic domain engaging in membrane interactions. Our computational approach, applicable to various CADs or membrane compositions, provides insights into ASM and CAD interaction with the membrane, offering a valuable tool for future studies.

Original languageEnglish
JournalComputational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
Volume23
Pages (from-to)2516-2533
Number of pages18
ISSN2001-0370
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

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© 2024

    Research areas

  • Acid sphingomyelinase, Cation amphiphilic drugs, Ebastine, Loratadine, Lysosomal membrane, Molecular dynamics simulations

ID: 395088581