DOCLASP - Docking ligands to target proteins using spatial and electrostatic congruence extracted from a known holoenzyme and applying simple geometrical transformations

The ability to accurately and effectively predict the interaction between proteins and small drug-like compounds has long intrigued researchers for pedagogic, humanitarian and economic reasons. Protein docking methods (AutoDock, GOLD, DOCK, FlexX and Glide to name a few) rank a large number of possible conformations of protein-ligand complexes using fast algorithms. Previously, it has been shown that structural congruence leading to the same enzymatic function necessitates the congruence of electrostatic properties (CLASP). The current work presents a methodology for docking a ligand into a target protein, provided that there is at least one known holoenzyme with ligand bound - DOCLASP (Docking using CLASP). The contact points of the ligand in the holoenzyme defines a motif, which is used to query the target enzyme using CLASP. If there are significant matches, the holoenzyme and the target protein are superimposed based on congruent atoms. The same linear and rotational transformations are also applied to the ligand, thus creating a unified coordinate framework having the holoenzyme, the ligand and the target enzyme. In the current work, the dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitor vildagliptin was docked to the PI-PLC structure complexed with myo-inositol using DOCLASP. Also, corroboration of the docking of phenylthiourea to the modelled structure of polyphenol oxidase (JrPPO1) from walnut is provided based on the subsequently solved structure of JrPPO1 (PDBid:5CE9). Analysis of the binding of the antitrypanosomial drug suramin to nine non-homologous proteins in the PDB database shows a diverse set of binding motifs, and multiple binding sites in the phospholipase A2-likeproteins from the Bothrops genus of pitvipers. The conformational changes in the suramin molecule on binding highlights the challenges in docking flexible ligands into an already ’plastic’ binding site. Thus, DOCLASP presents a method for ’soft docking’ ligands to proteins with low computational requirements.