Solvent binding analysis and computational alanine scanning of the bovine chymosin-bovine κ-casein complex using molecular integral equation theory

We demonstrate that the relative binding thermodynamics of single-point mutants of a model protein-peptide complex (the bovine chymosin-bovine κ-casein complex) can be calculated accurately and efficiently using molecular integral equation theory. The results are shown to be in good overall agreement with those obtained using implicit continuum solvation models. Unlike the implicit continuum models, however, molecular integral equation theory provides useful information about the distribution of solvent density. We find that experimentally observed water-binding sites on the surface of bovine chymosin can be identified quickly and accurately from the density distribution functions computed by molecular integral equation theory. The bovine chymosin-bovine κ-casein complex is of industrial interest because bovine chymosin is widely used to cleave bovine κ-casein and to initiate milk clotting in the manufacturing of processed dairy products. The results are interpreted in light of the recent discovery that camel chymosin is a more efficient clotting agent than bovine chymosin for bovine milk.