Chameleonicity Beyond Compactness: Conformational Persistence and Passive Permeability Across 20 PROTAC Ensembles

Abstract

Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) are large, flexible molecules that frequently extend beyond conventional drug-like chemical space, including Lipinski's rule-of-five boundaries. Their membrane permeability has often been linked to molecular chameleonicity and the ability to adopt compact conformations with reduced polar surface exposure; however, the underlying conformational determinants remain unclear. Here, we investigated 20 PROTACs spanning distinct passive-permeability classes using enhanced-sampling molecular dynamics (ES-MD). All permeability classes accessed compact states with low radius of gyration (Rg) and polar surface area (PSA), indicating that compact-state accessibility alone does not distinguish permeable from non-permeable PROTACs. We therefore introduce maximum ring size (MRS), defined as the size of the largest intramolecular hydrogen-bonded ring, as a metric for identifying compact conformations stabilized by long-range intramolecular hydrogen bonding. Like the other descriptors examined, MRS neither separates nor ranks the permeability classes, but helps locate folded states in the large ensemble. Representative compact conformations from selected highly permeable, moderately permeable, and non-permeable compounds were subsequently examined by all-atom unbiased MD in water and chloroform. The highly permeable PROTAC held a closed-flat ensemble in both environments, but in two structurally distinct arrangements, whereas the other two redistributed across heterogeneous ensembles. Passive diffusion therefore appears to depend on the population, stability, and environment-dependent persistence of permeable-like states rather than on compactness alone.