Inosine Nucleobase Acts as Guanine in Interactions with Protein Side Chains

A central intermediate in purine catabolism, the inosine nucleobase hypoxanthine is also one of the most abundant modified nucleobases in RNA and plays key roles in the regulation of gene expression and determination of cell fate. It is known that hypoxanthine acts as guanine when interacting with other nucleobases and base pairs most favorably with cytosine. However, its preferences when it comes to interactions with amino acids remain unknown. Here we present for the first time the absolute binding free energies and the associated interaction modes between hypoxanthine and all standard, non-glycyl/non-prolyl amino acid side chain analogs as derived from molecular dynamics simulations and umbrella sampling in high- and low-dielectric environments. We illustrate the biological relevance of the derived affinities by providing a quantitative explanation for the specificity of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase, a key enzyme in the purine salvage pathway. Our results demonstrate that in its affinities for protein side chains, hypoxanthine closely matches guanine, much more so than its precursor adenine.