Surface solid angle-based site points for molecular docking

We are developing a new site descriptor for the DOCK molecular modeling program suite. Sphgen, the current site description program for the DOCK suite, describes the pockets of a macromolecule by filling a volume with intersecting spheres. DOCK then identifies possible ligand orientations in the pocket by overlapping the atoms of proposed ligands with the sphere centers. Sphgen limits use of the DOCK program to concave binding regions, but macromolecular binding regions can be solvent-exposed rather than buried pockets. We present a more general site descriptor, based on the surface solid angle, which generates site points by determining the solid angle of exposure for points on the surface of the molecule, then identifying patches of surface with similar solid angle values which are then built into site points. We find possible ligand orientations by matching shape-based site points on the ligand and protein and demanding complementary solid angle values. Orientations are evaluated using the DOCK's force field-based score, which evaluates the Coulombic and van der Waals energy. The surface solid angle descriptor displays the complementary characteristics of the interfaces of our test systems: trypsin/trypsin inhibitor, chymotrypsin/turkey ovomucoid third domain, and subtilisin/chymotrypsin inhibitor. The solid angle site points can be used by DOCK to generate orientations within 1.5 A r.m.s.d. of the crystal structure orientation.