Quantitative Prediction of Dissociation Rates of PYK2 Ligands Using Umbrella Sampling and Milestoning

We used umbrella sampling and the milestoning simulation method to study the dissociation of multiple ligands from protein kinase PYK2. The activation barriers obtained from the potential of mean force of the umbrella sampling simulations correlated well with the experimental dissociation rates. Using the zero-temperature string method, we obtained optimized paths along the free-energy surfaces for milestoning simulations of three ligands with a similar structure. The milestoning simulations gave an absolute dissociation rate within 2 orders of magnitude of the experimental value for two ligands but at least 3 orders of magnitude too high for the third. Despite the similarity in their structures, the ligands took different pathways to exit from the binding site of PYK2, making contact with different sets of residues. In addition, the protein experienced different conformational changes for dissociation of the three ligands.