Does chlorotoxin target matrix metalloproteinase-2 in glioblastoma?

Glioblastoma aggressively invades surrounding tissue by expressing matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2). Therefore, effective inhibition of MMP-2 is a desirable target for treatment. In some reports, the chlorotoxin (Ctx) polypeptide produced by the scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus, interacts with human MMP-2 to inhibit tumor invasion without affecting surrounding tissue. We employed three molecular docking methodologies followed by molecular dynamics simulations to find consensus binding and calculate the binding energy of these peptide ligands to MMP-2. In addition to the Ctx itself, four C-terminal fragments were chosen to study their binding to MMP-2. The molecular docking platforms HPEPDOCK, HADDOCK, and AlphaFold2 created peptide - protein poses for each candidate binding to MMP-2. These poses underwent 500 ns molecular dynamics simulations. Peptide binding on MMP-2 and final binding energies were calculated using the Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area method. Configurational entropy and root-mean square deviation analyses showed stable peptide - protein complexes. Ctx and its peptide fragments frequently bound to regions on MMP-2 other than the catalytic site. All docking methods shared consensus on large negative binding energies, indicating favorable interaction between Ctx and its analogs with MMP-2. While Ctx and its fragments bind to MMP-2, there is no consensus on which region of MMP-2 they are bound to or which peptide binds strongest. Neither Ctx nor its fragments inhibited MMP-2 enzymatic activity, however, glioblastoma cellular migration was inhibited. Interactions with the non-catalytic regions of MMP-2 suggest allosteric binding to MMP-2. Inhibition of cellular migration without inhibition of MMP-2 activity warrants further study into the possible targets of Ctx expressed in glioblastoma.