Approximating protein flexibility through dynamic pharmacophore models: application to fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH)

A structure-based drug discovery method is described that incorporates target flexibility through the use of an ensemble of protein conformations. The approach was applied to fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), a key deactivating enzyme in the endocannabinoid system. The resultant dynamic pharmacophore models are rapidly able to identify known FAAH inhibitors over drug-like decoys. Different sources of FAAH conformational ensembles were explored, with both snapshots from molecular dynamics simulations and a group of X-ray structures performing well. Results were compared to those from docking and pharmacophore models generated from a single X-ray structure. Increasing conformational sampling consistently improved the pharmacophore models, emphasizing the importance of incorporating target flexibility in structure-based drug design.