Accurate Prediction of Complex Structure and Affinity for a Flexible Protein Receptor and Its Inhibitor

In order to predict the accurate binding configuration as well as the binding affinity for a flexible protein receptor and its inhibitor drug, enhanced sampling with multicanonical molecular dynamics (McMD) simulation and thermodynamic integration (TI) were combined as a general drug docking method. CDK2, cyclin-dependent kinase 2, is involved in the cell cycle regulation. Malfunctions in CDK2 can cause tumorigenesis, and thus it is a potential drug target. Here, we performed a long McMD simulation for docking the inhibitor CS3 to CDK2 starting from the unbound structure. Subsequently, a potential binding/unbinding pathway was given from the multicanonical ensemble, and the binding free energy was readily computed by TI along the pathway. Using this combination, the correct binding configuration of CS3 to CDK2 was obtained, and its affinity coincided well with the experimental value.