Prediction of Binding Free Energy Calculation Using Molecular Mechanics/Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM-PBSA) Method in Drug Discovery: A Short Review

Abstract

Structure-based drug design possibly benefit from in silico methods that precisely predict the binding affinity of small molecules to target macromolecules. There are many limitations arise from the difficulty of predicting the binding affinity of a small molecule to a biological target with the current scoring functions. There is thus a strong interest in novel methodologies based on MD simulations that claim predictions of greater accuracy than current scoring functions, helpful for a regular use designed for drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry. Herein, we report a short review on free energy calculations using MMPBSA method a useful method in structure based drug discovery.