Ligand diffusion in proteins via enhanced sampling in molecular dynamics

Computational simulations in biophysics describe the dynamics and functions of biological macromolecules at the atomic level. Among motions particularly important for life are the transport processes in heterogeneous media. The process of ligand diffusion inside proteins is an example of a complex rare event that can be modeled using molecular dynamics simulations. The study of physical interactions between a ligand and its biological target is of paramount importance for the design of novel drugs and enzymes. Unfortunately, the process of ligand diffusion is difficult to study experimentally. The need for identifying the ligand egress pathways and understanding how ligands migrate through protein tunnels has spurred the development of several methodological approaches to this problem. The complex topology of protein channels and the transient nature of the ligand passage pose difficulties in the modeling of the ligand entry/escape pathways by canonical molecular dynamics simulations. In this review, we report a methodology involving a reconstruction of the ligand diffusion reaction coordinates and the free-energy profiles along these reaction coordinates using enhanced sampling of conformational space. We illustrate the above methods on several ligand–protein systems, including cytochromes and G-protein-coupled receptors. The methods are general and may be adopted to other transport processes in living matter. •The process of ligand recognition by proteins is fundamental in the physics of living organisms.•The complex topology of protein channels and the transient nature of the ligand passage pose difficulties in the modeling of the ligand entry/escape pathways by canonical molecular dynamics simulations.•The need for identifying the ligand egress pathways and understanding how ligands migrate through protein tunnels has spurred the development of several methodological approaches.