Extra Precision Glide: Docking and Scoring Incorporating a Model of Hydrophobic Enclosure for Protein−Ligand Complexes

Abstract

A novel scoring function to estimate protein−ligand binding affinities has been developed and implemented as the Glide 4.0 XP scoring function and docking protocol. In addition to unique water desolvation energy terms, protein−ligand structural motifs leading to enhanced binding affinity are included: (1) hydrophobic enclosure where groups of lipophilic ligand atoms are enclosed on opposite faces by lipophilic protein atoms, (2) neutral−neutral single or correlated hydrogen bonds in a hydrophobically enclosed environment, and (3) five categories of charged−charged hydrogen bonds. The XP scoring function and docking protocol have been developed to reproduce experimental binding affinities for a set of 198 complexes (RMSDs of 2.26 and 1.73 kcal/mol over all and well-docked ligands, respectively) and to yield quality enrichments for a set of fifteen screens of pharmaceutical importance. Enrichment results demonstrate the importance of the novel XP molecular recognition and water scoring in separating active and inactive ligands and avoiding false positives.