Reliable and Accurate Solution to the Induced Fit Docking Problem for Protein-Ligand Binding

J Chem Theory Comput. 2021 Apr 13;17(4):2630-2639. doi: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00136. Epub 2021 Mar 29.

Abstract

We present a reliable and accurate solution to the induced fit docking problem for protein-ligand binding by combining ligand-based pharmacophore docking, rigid receptor docking, and protein structure prediction with explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations. This novel methodology in detailed retrospective and prospective testing succeeded to determine protein-ligand binding modes with a root-mean-square deviation within 2.5 Å in over 90% of cross-docking cases. We further demonstrate these predicted ligand-receptor structures were sufficiently accurate to prospectively enable predictive structure-based drug discovery for challenging targets, substantially expanding the domain of applicability for such methods.

MeSH terms

  • Ligands
  • Molecular Docking Simulation*
  • Protein Binding
  • Proteins / chemistry*

Substances

  • Ligands
  • Proteins