%0 Journal Article
%T Tuning Local Hydration Enables a Deeper Understanding of Protein-Ligand Binding: The PP1-Src Kinase Case.
%A Spitaleri A
%A Zia SR
%A Di Micco P
%A Al-Lazikani B
%A Soler MA
%A Rocchia W
%J J Phys Chem Lett
%V 12
%N 1
%D Jan 2021 14
%M 33300337
%F 6.888
%R 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c03075
%X Water plays a key role in biomolecular recognition and binding. Despite the development of several computational and experimental approaches, it is still challenging to comprehensively characterize water-mediated effects on the binding process. Here, we investigate how water affects the binding of Src kinase to one of its inhibitors, PP1. Src kinase is a target for treating several diseases, including cancer. We use biased molecular dynamics simulations, where the hydration of predetermined regions is tuned at will. This computational technique efficiently accelerates the SRC-PP1 binding simulation and allows us to identify several key and yet unexplored aspects of the solvent's role. This study provides a further perspective on the binding phenomenon, which may advance the current drug design approaches for the development of new kinase inhibitors.