[Frontiers in Bioscience 14, 1745-1760, January 1, 2009]

A quantum chemical approach to biological reaction with a theory of solutions

Hideaki Takahashi

Division of Chemical Engineering, Department of Materials Engineering Science, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Quantum chemical approach to free energy computation
3.1. Real-space grids method
3.2. QM/MM method combined with a theory of solutions
4. Applications to biological systems
4.1. Electron transfer in biological systems
4.2. Reduction free energy of cofactor in water
4.3. Reduction free energy of cofactor embedded in apoprotein
5. Conclusions and outlook
6. Acknowledgement
7. References

1. ABSTRACT

We recently developed a novel computational methodology, referred to as QM/MM-ER, to compute free energy change associated with a chemical reaction in a condensed phase by combining the quantum mechanical / molecular mechanical (QM/MM) method with a theory of solutions. In the present review article we illustrate an outline of the QM/MM-ER method. We also present an extension of the QM/MM-ER method to compute reduction free energy of cofactor FAD (Flavin Adenine Dinucleotide) in water as well as in apoprotein by introducing a novel approach. The key of the approach is that only the excess charge involved in the reduction process is identified as a solute. The adequacy of the method is examined for the reaction in aqueous solution by comparing the result with that obtained by a conventional approach. The reduction free energy of cofactor FAD embedded in a cholesterol oxidase (PDB id = 1B4V) is computed as 163.1 kcal/mol by the QM/MM-ER approach, while it is obtained as 80.1 kcal/mol for the cofactor in water solution.