Interaction fingerprints and their applications to identify hot spots

Abstract

Binding recognition is in the core of how nature controls processes in living cells, how enzyme-substrate binding leads to catalysis and how drugs modulate enzymes and receptors to convey a desirable physiological response. Thus, understanding binding recognition in a systematic manner is paramount, not only to understand biological processes but also to be able to design and discover new bioactive compounds. One such way to analyze binding interactions is through the development of binding interaction fingerprints. Here, we present the methodology to develop interaction fingerprints with three different software platforms along with two representative examples.