Water properties inside nanoscopic hydrophobic pocket studied by computer simulations

The structure and dynamics of water in the vicinity of the hemispherical hydrophobic pocket of 8 A radius were examined via molecular dynamics simulations in NVT ensemble. Density, hydrogen bonding properties, and residence times of water molecules were projected on two-dimensional planes providing a spatial description of water behavior. We found that the average water density is significantly depleted relative to bulk value. A detailed analysis of pocket occupancy revealed fluctuations between states of completely empty pocket and a pocket filled with a bulklike fluid, which seem to result from collective behavior of water molecules. Free energy differences accompanying these fluctuations are rather small, suggesting that the given pocket radius is close to the critical one for transition between gas and liquid phases in the considered system. We show that the situation is different in the case of a simple Lennard-Jones fluid. These results indicate that changing the surface curvature from flat to concave may lead to qualitative difference in water behavior in its vicinity. We think that our studies may also put some light on binding site desolvation process which is necessary to understand to make correct predictions of binding energies.