Enhanced Molecular Dynamics Method to Efficiently Increase the Discrimination Capability of Computational Protein-Protein Docking

J Chem Theory Comput. 2021 Nov 9;17(11):7271-7280. doi: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00789. Epub 2021 Oct 15.

Abstract

Protein-protein docking typically consists of the generation of putative binding conformations, which are subsequently ranked by fast heuristic scoring functions. The simplicity of these functions allows for computational efficiency but has severe repercussions on their discrimination capabilities. In this work, we show the effectiveness of suitable descriptors calculated along short scaled molecular dynamics runs in recognizing the nearest-native bound conformation among a set of putative structures generated by the HADDOCK tool for eight protein-protein systems.

MeSH terms

  • Molecular Conformation
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Molecular Dynamics Simulation*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Conformation
  • Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Proteins