A quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical study of the aspartic protease plasmepsin IV complexed with allophenylnorstatine-based inhibitor

Plasmepsin IV (PM IV) is a potential target for developing drugs against malaria. This Letter presents results of QM/MM dynamic simulations applied to the study of the protonation state of two aspartates (Asp34 and Asp214) catalytic residues of PM IV in complex with KNI-764 inhibitor. The potential of mean force profile was used to assign the protonation state of the two catalytic aspartates in PM IV–KNI-764 complex. The results indicate that protonation of the 214 residue is more favorable. In addition, energy terms decomposition was used to explore key interactions between the main residues and KNI-764 inhibitor.