Investigations of enzyme-catalysed reactions with combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods

Combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM or QM-MM) methods are an excellent approach for modelling the mechanisms of enzyme-catalysed reactions. QM/MM methods allow detailed modelling of reactions in enzymes by coupling quantum chemical calculations on the active site with a simpler, empirical ‘molecular mechanics’ treatment of the rest of the protein. Possible reaction mechanisms can be compared and catalytic interactions analysed. QM/MM calculations can now be carried out for enzyme-catalysed reactions with quantum chemical methods of potentially very high accuracy. More approximate QM methods can allow extensive molecular simulations (e.g. molecular dynamics or Monte Carlo simulations). In this review, QM/MM techniques are outlined and some recent applications to enzyme-catalysed reactions are discussed.