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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Modeling an Enzyme Active Site using Molecular Visualization Freeware
Published on: December 25, 2021
Modeling directed ligand passage toward enzyme active site by a 'double cellular automata' model
Sayed-Amir Marashi1, Reza Behrouzi
1Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, University of Tehran, Iran.
Abstract:
It is recently proposed that directed passage of ligand on the surface of enzymes may play an important role in the process of enzyme activity, as a result of decreasing the required steps of random walking of the ligand toward the active site. Here, we revisited the approach applied by others, where a cellular automaton is designed to simulate the behavior of a ligand molecule traveling toward the active site of an enzyme. Since a cellular automaton plane is topologically equivalent to a torus surface, we recommended the use of a 'double cellular automata' to model globular proteins. With the boundary conditions applied, our model is topologically identical to a sphere. It was shown that using this model, even fewer steps are needed for a molecule to attend the active site. This assumption can lead to more realistic results in the modeling of surfaces with spherical topology.
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