Optimizing electrostatic affinity in ligand-receptor binding: Theory, computation, and ligand properties

The design of a tight-binding molecular ligand involves a tradeoff between an unfavorable electrostatic desolvation penalty incurred when the ligand binds a receptor in aqueous solution and the generally favorable intermolecular interactions made in the bound state. Using continuum electrostatic models we have developed a theoretical framework for analyzing this problem and have shown that the ligand-charge distribution can be optimized to produce the most favorable balance of these opposing free energy contributions [L.-P. Lee and B. Tidor, J. Chem. Phys. 106, 8681 (1997)]. Herein the theoretical framework is extended and calculations are performed for a wide range of model receptors. We examine methods for computing optimal ligands (including cases where there is conformational change) and the resulting properties of optimized ligands. In particular, indicators are developed to aid in the determination of the deficiencies in a specific ligand or basis. A connection is established between the optimizatio...

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