Abstract: | YETI, an interactive molecular mechanics program for drug-design applications on small-molecule protein complexes, is described. To model short-range interactions in better agreement with experimental data, its force-field energy expression includes directional potential functions for H-bonds, salt linkages, and metal ligand interactions. The program works on an internal coordinate concept and uses a conjugate-gradient minimizer. YETI is available for distribution through the author. The program has been used to model details of small-molecule binding to the enzyme human carbonic anhydrase I. The impact of the directional potential functions on the geometry of H-bonds and metal-ligand interactions is discussed. |