Lawrenz, Morgan; Baron, Riccardo; Wang, Yi; McCammon, J. Andrew
Independent-Trajectory Thermodynamic Integration: A Practical Guide to Protein-Drug Binding Free Energy Calculations Using Distributed Computing
COMPUTATIONAL DRUG DISCOVERY AND DESIGN, 819:469-486, 2012

The Independent-Trajectory Thermodynamic Integration (IT-TI) approach for free energy calculation with distributed computing is described. IT-TI utilizes diverse conformational sampling obtained from multiple, independent simulations to obtain more reliable free energy estimates compared to single TI predictions. The latter may significantly under- or over-estimate the binding free energy due to finite sampling. We exemplify the advantages of the IT-TI approach using two distinct cases of protein ligand binding. In both cases, IT-TI yields distributions of absolute binding free energy estimates that are remarkably centered on the target experimental values. Alternative protocols for the practical and general application of IT-TI calculations are investigated. We highlight a protocol that maximizes predictive power and computational efficiency.

DOI:10.1007/978-1-61779-465-0_27

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