Molecular dynamics study on the free energy profile for dissociation of ADP from N-terminal domain of Hsp90

The free energy profile for dissociation of ADP from Hsp90 was calculated as a function of the distance r between the centers of mass of Hsp90 and ADP by using molecular dynamics simulations and the thermodynamic integration method. The free energy profile is defined as the difference from a reference state. We found that the free energy reaches a minimum at r = 0.8 nm and that the mean force at r = 1.0 nm was considerably difference-dependent on the trajectories. Our results suggest that Met98 blocks the dissociation pathway of ADP at r = 1.0 nm.