Rescaling of point charges as a way to improve the simple-to-use electrostatic embedding scheme developed to explore enzyme activity with QM-oriented software

2025
journal article
article
dc.abstract.enComputer-aided exploration of enzymatic reactions, which still leaves many important questions open, calls for robust and accurate techniques of molecular modeling. One of the most intriguing issues related to enzymatic reactions is the role of electrostatic interactions established between the reacting moiety and its enzymatic environment. In order to evaluate these interactions, we previously devised a QM/MM scheme based on electrostatic embedding of the reaction kernel, treated by quantum chemistry, into the enzymatic surroundings represented by point charges [A. Prah et al., ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 1231.]. The method features remarkable simplicity and reliably predicts the effect of electrostatics on enzyme catalysis. Yet, this simplified approach has pitfalls; in particular, it tends to overestimate the attracting force between the electrons and the surrounding point charges─an effect named electron spill-out─impairing the accuracy of evaluated electrostatic interactions. Herein, by using statistical methods together with reference quantum calculations, we critically assess the impact of this pitfall and propose a very simple but effective correction based on attenuation of point charges near the QM–MM boundary depending on their distance from the quantum subsystem. We demonstrate that the proposed correction can significantly improve the accuracy of computed energies of electrostatic interactions between the reaction kernel and its enzyme surroundings, thereby representing an important methodological advance of our electrostatic embedding approach. Noteworthily, the optimal attenuation scheme can vary among the considered systems─in particular, it is sensitive to the net charge of the reaction kernel─suggesting the scheme be tuned individually for each considered enzymatic reaction following the presented workflow.
dc.affiliationWydział Chemii : Zakład Chemii Fizycznej i Elektrochemii
dc.contributor.authorKałka, Andrzej - 244020
dc.contributor.authorNovotný, Aleš
dc.contributor.authorStare, Jernej
dc.date.accession2025-10-02
dc.date.accessioned2025-10-02T14:30:57Z
dc.date.available2025-10-02T14:30:57Z
dc.date.createdat2025-10-01T16:28:24Zen
dc.date.issued2025
dc.date.openaccess0
dc.description.accesstimew momencie opublikowania
dc.description.number16
dc.description.physical8653–8663
dc.description.versionostateczna wersja wydawcy
dc.description.volume65
dc.identifier.doi10.1021/acs.jcim.5c01235
dc.identifier.eissn1549-960X
dc.identifier.issn1549-9596
dc.identifier.projectDRC AI
dc.identifier.urihttps://ruj.uj.edu.pl/handle/item/561874
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jcim.5c01235
dc.languageeng
dc.language.containereng
dc.rightsUdzielam licencji. Uznanie autorstwa 4.0 Międzynarodowa
dc.rights.licenceCC-BY
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.pl
dc.share.typeinne
dc.subtypeArticle
dc.titleRescaling of point charges as a way to improve the simple-to-use electrostatic embedding scheme developed to explore enzyme activity with QM-oriented software
dc.title.journalJournal of Chemical Information and Modeling
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typePublicationen
dc.abstract.en
Computer-aided exploration of enzymatic reactions, which still leaves many important questions open, calls for robust and accurate techniques of molecular modeling. One of the most intriguing issues related to enzymatic reactions is the role of electrostatic interactions established between the reacting moiety and its enzymatic environment. In order to evaluate these interactions, we previously devised a QM/MM scheme based on electrostatic embedding of the reaction kernel, treated by quantum chemistry, into the enzymatic surroundings represented by point charges [A. Prah et al., ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 1231.]. The method features remarkable simplicity and reliably predicts the effect of electrostatics on enzyme catalysis. Yet, this simplified approach has pitfalls; in particular, it tends to overestimate the attracting force between the electrons and the surrounding point charges─an effect named electron spill-out─impairing the accuracy of evaluated electrostatic interactions. Herein, by using statistical methods together with reference quantum calculations, we critically assess the impact of this pitfall and propose a very simple but effective correction based on attenuation of point charges near the QM–MM boundary depending on their distance from the quantum subsystem. We demonstrate that the proposed correction can significantly improve the accuracy of computed energies of electrostatic interactions between the reaction kernel and its enzyme surroundings, thereby representing an important methodological advance of our electrostatic embedding approach. Noteworthily, the optimal attenuation scheme can vary among the considered systems─in particular, it is sensitive to the net charge of the reaction kernel─suggesting the scheme be tuned individually for each considered enzymatic reaction following the presented workflow.
dc.affiliation
Wydział Chemii : Zakład Chemii Fizycznej i Elektrochemii
dc.contributor.author
Kałka, Andrzej - 244020
dc.contributor.author
Novotný, Aleš
dc.contributor.author
Stare, Jernej
dc.date.accession
2025-10-02
dc.date.accessioned
2025-10-02T14:30:57Z
dc.date.available
2025-10-02T14:30:57Z
dc.date.createdaten
2025-10-01T16:28:24Z
dc.date.issued
2025
dc.date.openaccess
0
dc.description.accesstime
w momencie opublikowania
dc.description.number
16
dc.description.physical
8653–8663
dc.description.version
ostateczna wersja wydawcy
dc.description.volume
65
dc.identifier.doi
10.1021/acs.jcim.5c01235
dc.identifier.eissn
1549-960X
dc.identifier.issn
1549-9596
dc.identifier.project
DRC AI
dc.identifier.uri
https://ruj.uj.edu.pl/handle/item/561874
dc.identifier.weblink
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jcim.5c01235
dc.language
eng
dc.language.container
eng
dc.rights
Udzielam licencji. Uznanie autorstwa 4.0 Międzynarodowa
dc.rights.licence
CC-BY
dc.rights.uri
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.pl
dc.share.type
inne
dc.subtype
Article
dc.title
Rescaling of point charges as a way to improve the simple-to-use electrostatic embedding scheme developed to explore enzyme activity with QM-oriented software
dc.title.journal
Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling
dc.type
JournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeen
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