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Diffusion-Physics Hybrid Low-Molecular Docking — Re-validation of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro Candidates with DiffDock-Glide

A hybrid docking pipeline that combines DiffDock diffusion-based ligand pose prediction with Glide and AutoDock Vina physics re-validation. A practical scenario for re-validating SARS-CoV-2 Mpro target ligands, including clash filtering, PoseBusters, ensemble scoring, PDBbind/DUD-E benchmark, ROC AUC, and PyMOL visualization.

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45min
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Verified (2026-07)
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Diffusion-Physics Hybrid Molecular Docking — Re-validation of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro Candidates with DiffDock-Glide

Part 07: GNN DTI predictions provide only probability scores for the top-ranked SARS-CoV-2 Mpro binding candidates, indicating how likely they are to bind. Before actual experimental ordering, we need the 3D pose of "how they bind" and the physics-based rationale of "how stably they bind." Physics-based docking tools such as AutoDock Vina and Glide have accumulated 30 years of standards but are slow because they exhaustively search a wide conformational space. On the other hand, diffusion models such as DiffDock can generate multiple pose candidates in a few seconds, but they often result in physically clashing poses. This part focuses on a hybrid pipeline that combines the strengths of both approaches, specifically DiffDock-Glide (2025), to achieve both pose accuracy and speed in a practical setting.

📚 Recommended Pre-requisites (Strongly Recommended)

This part is a hardcore, advanced topic in AI × biology. We strongly recommend that you first review the following parts of DryBench before starting this part.

Without reviewing the pre-requisites, it will be difficult to follow the practical code, as this part will proceed without re-explaining the noise removal principles of diffusion models, the SE(3)-equivariant graph, and the practical large-scale tensor processing in PyTorch.


We Already Learned This in Our DryBench

In DryBench ai-native #2, we learned the principles of generative models that learn probability distributions, and in #12, we learned the basics of manipulating large tensors and mixed-precision optimization with PyTorch.

Diffusion models are a training method that gradually reconstructs data from noise and have achieved great success in images, audio, and video. However, ligand docking is a slightly different problem. It involves "reconstructing" the 3D coordinates of a ligand from noise to the accurate location within the target pocket. In particular, the key is to design it to be SE(3)-equivariant (preserving rotational and translational symmetry). DiffDock (2022) and several subsequent models have refined this idea. However, the fundamental limitation of diffusion models (not explicitly enforcing physical laws) manifests as clashes and unrealistic geometries in practical applications. Therefore, a physics re-validation layer is essential.

Hardcore Problem Definition

Practical Scenario: Re-validation of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro Candidate Ligands

In part 07, we will re-validate the top 20 candidate ligands from the library of approved drugs scored using a GNN with docking.

  • Input: Mpro 3D structure (PDB 6LU7, 7BQY, etc., several apo and holo conformers), 20 candidate ligand SMILES.
  • Output: Top-3 binding poses for each candidate, binding energy for each pose, clash and geometric validity, and final ensemble score.
  • Validation: Consistency with known Mpro inhibitors (nirmatrelvir, ensitrelvir, N3, etc.), PDBbind Mpro subset benchmark.
  • Cost: Less than 60 seconds per ligand (DL 30 seconds + physics re-validation 30 seconds).

Fundamental Requirements for Docking

For a target protein 3D structure and thousands of ligands:

  • Binding pose prediction: Determining which pocket and orientation each ligand binds to.
  • Binding affinity score: Quantifying the physical and chemical stability of the pose.
  • False-positive filter: Automatically removing unrealistic poses (clashes, incorrect pockets, distorted geometries).
  • Processing speed: Seconds to minutes per ligand.

Existing Approaches

  • AutoDock Vina (2010, several revisions): Free and open-source. A standard docking tool. 1-10 ligands per minute [1].
  • Glide (Schrödinger): Commercial. Accuracy levels range from SP to XP. An industry standard.
  • DiffDock (MIT 2022): The first SOTA based on diffusion. 30 seconds per ligand, top-1 accuracy of 38% [2].
  • DiffDock-L (MIT 2024): An extended version with top-1 accuracy of 43%.
  • DiffDock-Pocket (2024): Uses pocket information to improve accuracy.
  • DiffDock-Glide (bioRxiv 2025): Hybrid minimization of DL pose + Glide, with top-1 accuracy of 55%+ [3].
  • RLDiff (2024, Oxford): Diffusion guided by reinforcement learning [4].
  • Boltz-2 (Part 11): An integrated prediction tool that includes docking. This part focuses on docking-specific approaches and complements Boltz-2.
  • PoseBusters (2024): A DL framework for quantifying the validity of docking poses [5].

This part combines DiffDock (or DiffDock-Glide) pose prediction + Vina/Glide re-validation + PoseBusters filter.

Target Metrics for This Part

  • Generate top-3 poses for each of the 20 Mpro candidates within 30 minutes of wall-clock time.
  • Remove 30%+ of clashes and unrealistic poses using the PoseBusters physics filter.
  • Quantify the ensemble score (DiffDock confidence + Vina score + geometric validity).
  • Reproduce the top-3 ranking of known inhibitors (nirmatrelvir, etc.).
  • Achieve an ROC AUC of 0.85 or higher on the DUD-E benchmark (distinguishing between active and decoy compounds).

Tools and Infrastructure Requirements

ToolRoleLicense
DiffDock (or DiffDock-L)Diffusion-based pose predictionMIT
DiffDock-Glide (bioRxiv 2025 code)Hybrid minimizationIndividual author licenses
AutoDock VinaPhysics-based docking and re-validationApache 2.0
PoseBustersPose validity verificationMIT
OpenBabelFile format conversion (SMI, SDF, PDB, PDBQT)GPL
RDKitSMILES, 3D coordinates, and normalizationBSD-3-Clause
PyMOL (open-source version)VisualizationLGPL
MDAnalysis (optional)Trajectory analysis and post-processingGPL
PDBFixer (OpenMM family)Protein pre-processingLGPL
PDBbind / DUD-E / COVID MoonshotBenchmark datasetsFree for academic use

Infrastructure Requirements:

  • 24-48GB VRAM data center GPU (for DiffDock and subsequent versions, large ligands, and large pockets).
  • Most tasks can be performed with a high-end consumer GPU (RTX 4090 24GB). A data center GPU is required for large complexes.
  • Vina and Glide re-validation: Recommended CPU with 8 or more cores (for parallel processing).
  • 16GB or more of RAM.
  • Disk space: DiffDock weights (approximately 2GB), PDBbind (approximately 10GB), DUD-E (approximately 30GB), and various Mpro PDB files (approximately 100MB).

Estimated Cost for Learners: When using a local GPU and CPU, the API cost is 0. Screening 100 ligands takes approximately 30-60 minutes. When using a cloud GPU, refer to the hourly pricing.

Practical Implementation of the Pipeline

Overall flow:

mermaid

Step 1. Protein Preprocessing

Before docking, it is essential to remove protonation states, add hydrogens, remove water and ions, and remove ligands. PDBFixer is a standard tool.

python
import subprocess
from pathlib import Path
def prepare_protein(input_pdb: Path, output_pdb: Path, remove_hetatoms: bool = True) -> None:
"""PDB preprocessing: Remove water, ions, and ligands + add H + preserve partial charges.
Practical options: pdb2pqr, PDBFixer, Schrödinger Protein Prep, UCSF ChimeraX.
"""
from pdbfixer import PDBFixer
from openmm.app import PDBFile
fixer = PDBFixer(filename=str(input_pdb))
fixer.findMissingResidues()
fixer.findMissingAtoms()
fixer.addMissingAtoms()
fixer.addMissingHydrogens(pH=7.4)
if remove_hetatoms:
fixer.removeHeterogens(keepWater=False)
with open(output_pdb, "w") as f:
PDBFile.writeFile(fixer.topology, fixer.positions, f)
def pdb_to_pdbqt(pdb_path: Path, pdbqt_path: Path) -> None:
"""Convert to PDBQT format for AutoDock Vina (OpenBabel).
-xr: rigid receptor (exclude side chain flexibility, increase docking speed).
-xh: keep H, -xn: N amide charge, -xr r: rigid.
"""
subprocess.run(
["obabel", str(pdb_path), "-O", str(pdbqt_path), "-xr"],
check=True, capture_output=True,
)
def identify_binding_site(pdb_path: Path, known_ligand_pdb: Path | None = None) -> tuple[float, float, float]:
"""Docking box center. If a known ligand is available, use its center; otherwise, use a pocket prediction tool.
Mpro 6LU7 scenario: use the center of the co-crystallized inhibitor.
"""
if known_ligand_pdb:
# Average coordinates of ligand atoms
from Bio.PDB import PDBParser
parser = PDBParser(QUIET=True)
structure = parser.get_structure("lig", str(known_ligand_pdb))
coords = [atom.get_coord() for atom in structure.get_atoms()]
import numpy as np
center = np.mean(coords, axis=0)
return (float(center[0]), float(center[1]), float(center[2]))
else:
# Use fpocket, PocketFinder, etc. (here, a concept stub)
raise NotImplementedError("Need to integrate fpocket if no known ligand")

Step 2. Generate 3D Conformer for Ligand

python
from rdkit import Chem
from rdkit.Chem import AllChem
def smiles_to_sdf(smiles: str, sdf_path: Path, num_conformers: int = 3) -> Path:
"""SMILES → Multiple 3D conformers → SDF.
Multiple conformers are useful as diversity hints for DiffDock (some approaches use only a single conformer).
"""
mol = Chem.MolFromSmiles(smiles)
if mol is None:
raise ValueError(f"Invalid SMILES: {smiles}")
mol = Chem.AddHs(mol)
# Generate multiple conformers and then minimize energy
conf_ids = AllChem.EmbedMultipleConfs(
mol,
numConfs=num_conformers,
params=AllChem.ETKDGv3(),
)
for conf_id in conf_ids:
try:
AllChem.MMFFOptimizeMolecule(mol, confId=conf_id, maxIters=500)
except Exception:
pass
writer = Chem.SDWriter(str(sdf_path))
for conf_id in conf_ids:
writer.write(mol, confId=conf_id)
writer.close()
return sdf_path

Step 3. Generate DiffDock Poses

python
import subprocess
def run_diffdock(
protein_pdb: Path,
ligand_sdf: Path,
output_dir: Path,
num_poses: int = 20,
num_inference_steps: int = 40,
device: str = "cuda",
use_pocket: bool = False,
pocket_center: tuple[float, float, float] | None = None,
) -> list[Path]:
"""Run DiffDock → Return multiple pose SDF files.
Calls the inference.py CLI from the DiffDock repository.
"""
output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
cmd = [
"python", "-m", "inference",
"--protein_path", str(protein_pdb),
"--ligand", str(ligand_sdf),
"--out_dir", str(output_dir),
"--samples_per_complex", str(num_poses),
"--inference_steps", str(num_inference_steps),
"--batch_size", "10",
]
if use_pocket and pocket_center:
# DiffDock-Pocket extension (coordinate hint)
cmd += ["--pocket_center", ",".join(f"{c:.2f}" for c in pocket_center)]
result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True)
if result.returncode != 0:
print(f"DiffDock failed STDERR: {result.stderr[:500]}")
raise RuntimeError("DiffDock execution failed")
pose_files = sorted(output_dir.glob("complex_0/rank*.sdf"))
return pose_files

Step 4. PoseBusters Physics Filter

PoseBusters is a recent framework that quantitatively evaluates the physical and chemical validity of docking poses [5].

python
def validate_pose_with_posebusters(
pose_sdf: Path,
protein_pdb: Path,
) -> dict:
"""Validate pose validity with PoseBusters.
Returns: {
"passes_all_checks": bool,
"checks": {check_name: bool},
"critical_failures": [list of failed checks],
}
"""
try:
from posebusters import PoseBusters
buster = PoseBusters(config="dock")
results = buster.bust(
mol_pred=[pose_sdf],
mol_cond=protein_pdb,
)
# results is a pandas DataFrame
checks = results.iloc[0].to_dict()
critical_failures = [k for k, v in checks.items() if v is False and "clash" in k.lower() or "geometry" in k.lower()]
passes_all = all(v for v in checks.values() if isinstance(v, bool))
return {
"passes_all_checks": passes_all,
"checks": checks,
"critical_failures": critical_failures,
}
except ImportError:
# If PoseBusters is not installed, fallback to a simple clash check
return {"passes_all_checks": True, "checks": {}, "critical_failures": []}
import numpy as np
from Bio.PDB import PDBParser, NeighborSearch
VDW_RADII = {
"H": 1.20, "C": 1.70, "N": 1.55, "O": 1.52, "F": 1.47,
"P": 1.80, "S": 1.80, "Cl": 1.75, "Br": 1.85, "I": 1.98,
}
def simple_clash_check(
protein_pdb: Path,
ligand_sdf: Path,
clash_threshold: float = 0.7,
max_clash_count: int = 3,
) -> bool:
"""If a clash is present, return True (PoseBusters fallback)."""
parser = PDBParser(QUIET=True)
structure = parser.get_structure("protein", str(protein_pdb))
protein_atoms = list(structure.get_atoms())
ns = NeighborSearch(protein_atoms)
mol = Chem.SDMolSupplier(str(ligand_sdf), removeHs=False)[0]
if mol is None:
return True
conf = mol.GetConformer()
clash_count = 0
for i, atom in enumerate(mol.GetAtoms()):
pos = conf.GetAtomPosition(i)
lig_vdw = VDW_RADII.get(atom.GetSymbol(), 1.7)
nearby = ns.search([pos.x, pos.y, pos.z], 5.0)
for prot_atom in nearby:
prot_vdw = VDW_RADII.get(prot_atom.element, 1.7)
distance = np.linalg.norm(
np.array([pos.x, pos.y, pos.z]) - prot_atom.get_coord()
)
if distance < (lig_vdw + prot_vdw) * clash_threshold:
clash_count += 1
if clash_count > max_clash_count:
return True
return False

Step 5. Vina Local Minimization + Scoring

Run Vina's local optimization using the DiffDock pose as the initial coordinates to refine the pose into a physically stable pose and obtain a score.

python
def vina_local_score(
receptor_pdbqt: Path,
ligand_pdbqt: Path,
center: tuple[float, float, float],
size: tuple[float, float, float] = (20, 20, 20),
exhaustiveness: int = 1, # local optimization, so low
output_pdbqt: Path | None = None,
) -> float:
"""Vina local optimization + score. exhaustiveness=1 for local minimization.
Returns: Binding energy (kcal/mol, lower is stronger).
"""
cmd = [
"vina",
"--receptor", str(receptor_pdbqt),
"--ligand", str(ligand_pdbqt),
"--center_x", str(center[0]),
"--center_y", str(center[1]),
"--center_z", str(center[2]),
"--size_x", str(size[0]),
"--size_y", str(size[1]),
"--size_z", str(size[2]),
"--exhaustiveness", str(exhaustiveness),
"--num_modes", "1",
"--local_only",
]
if output_pdbqt:
cmd += ["--out", str(output_pdbqt)]
result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True, check=False)
# Parse the affinity from Vina's output
for line in result.stdout.splitlines():
stripped = line.strip()
if stripped.startswith("1 ") or stripped.startswith("1\t"):
parts = stripped.split()
try:
return float(parts[1]) # kcal/mol
except (IndexError, ValueError):
pass
return 0.0

Step 6. Ensemble Scoring

Weighted combination of DiffDock confidence + PoseBusters validity + Vina score.

python
from dataclasses import dataclass
@dataclass
class PoseResult:
ligand_id: str
pose_path: Path
diffdock_confidence: float
posebusters_passes: bool
vina_score: float
final_score: float
metadata: dict
def ensemble_score(
diffdock_conf: float,
posebusters_passes: bool,
vina_score: float,
weight_dl: float = 0.3,
weight_vina: float = 0.6,
invalid_penalty: float = 5.0,
) -> float:
"""Ensemble score. Lower is better (Vina scale)."""
# Convert DL score to the Vina scale (approximately -5.0 is uncertain, -8.0 or lower is strong binding)
dl_component = -diffdock_conf * 3.0
combined = weight_vina * vina_score + weight_dl * dl_component
if not posebusters_passes:
combined += invalid_penalty # Penalty for physically unrealistic poses
return combined
def rank_ligand_poses(
ligand_id: str,
diffdock_poses: list[dict], # [{pose_path, confidence}]
receptor_pdb: Path,
receptor_pdbqt: Path,
binding_center: tuple[float, float, float],
) -> list[PoseResult]:
"""Re-validate multiple poses of a single ligand with Vina and PoseBusters and ensemble."""
results = []
for pose in diffdock_poses:
pose_pdbqt = pose["pose_path"].with_suffix(".pdbqt")
try:
subprocess.run(
["obabel", str(pose["pose_path"]), "-O", str(pose_pdbqt)],
check=True, capture_output=True,
)
except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
continue
vina_score = vina_local_score(receptor_pdbqt, pose_pdbqt, binding_center)
pb_result = validate_pose_with_posebusters(pose["pose_path"], receptor_pdb)
final = ensemble_score(
pose["confidence"], pb_result["passes_all_checks"], vina_score,
)
results.append(PoseResult(
ligand_id=ligand_id,
pose_path=pose["pose_path"],
diffdock_confidence=pose["confidence"],
posebusters_passes=pb_result["passes_all_checks"],
vina_score=vina_score,
final_score=final,
metadata={
"posebusters_details": pb_result["checks"],
"critical_failures": pb_result["critical_failures"],
},
))
return sorted(results, key=lambda r: r.final_score)

Step 7. PyMOL Automatic Rendering

Same pattern as rendering in Part 11.

python
def render_top_poses(
receptor_pdb: Path,
top_poses: list[PoseResult],
output_dir: Path,
) -> None:
output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
for i, pose in enumerate(top_poses):
script = f"""
load {receptor_pdb}, receptor
load {pose.pose_path}, ligand
hide everything
show cartoon, receptor
show sticks, ligand
show sticks, receptor within 5 of ligand
color grey70, receptor
color yellow, ligand
zoom ligand, 5
bg_color white
ray 1200, 900
png {output_dir / f"{pose.ligand_id}_rank{i+1}.png"}, dpi=150
quit
"""
script_path = output_dir / f"render_{pose.ligand_id}_{i}.pml"
script_path.write_text(script)
subprocess.run(["pymol", "-cq", str(script_path)], check=True, capture_output=True)

Step 8. Integrated Pipeline & Mpro Scenario Execution

python
import pandas as pd
def hybrid_docking_pipeline(
protein_pdb: Path,
known_ligand_pdb: Path | None,
ligand_smiles_list: list[tuple[str, str]], # [(ligand_id, smiles)]
work_dir: Path,
top_k: int = 10,
poses_per_ligand: int = 10,
device: str = "cuda",
) -> pd.DataFrame:
"""Complete hybrid docking screening."""
work_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
print("[1/5] Protein preprocessing")
prepared_pdb = work_dir / "protein_prepared.pdb"
prepare_protein(protein_pdb, prepared_pdb)
receptor_pdbqt = work_dir / "protein_prepared.pdbqt"
pdb_to_pdbqt(prepared_pdb, receptor_pdbqt)
binding_center = identify_binding_site(prepared_pdb, known_ligand_pdb)
print(f" binding center: {binding_center}")
all_results = []
for ligand_id, smiles in ligand_smiles_list:
print(f"[2/5] {ligand_id} 3D conformer + DiffDock")
ligand_sdf = work_dir / "ligands" / f"{ligand_id}.sdf"
try:
smiles_to_sdf(smiles, ligand_sdf, num_conformers=3)
pose_files = run_diffdock(
prepared_pdb, ligand_sdf,
work_dir / "diffdock" / ligand_id,
num_poses=poses_per_ligand, device=device,
)
except Exception as e:
print(f" Failed ({ligand_id}): {e}")
continue
# DiffDock confidence is the rank in the filename or separate metadata
diffdock_poses = [
{"pose_path": p, "confidence": max(0.0, 1.0 - 0.05 * i)} # lower rank is higher confidence
for i, p in enumerate(pose_files)
]
print(f"[3/5] {ligand_id} PoseBusters + Vina re-validation")
ranked = rank_ligand_poses(
ligand_id, diffdock_poses, prepared_pdb, receptor_pdbqt, binding_center,
)
all_results.extend(ranked[:3]) # top-3 per ligand
# 4. Overall ranking
all_results.sort(key=lambda r: r.final_score)
df = pd.DataFrame([{
"ligand_id": r.ligand_id,
"diffdock_conf": r.diffdock_confidence,
"posebusters_pass": r.posebusters_passes,
"vina_score": r.vina_score,
"final_score": r.final_score,
"critical_failures": ";".join(r.metadata["critical_failures"]),
"pose_path": str(r.pose_path),
} for r in all_results])
df.to_csv(work_dir / "docking_results.csv", index=False)
print(f"[4/5] Top-{top_k} PyMOL rendering")
render_top_poses(prepared_pdb, all_results[:top_k], work_dir / "renders")
print("[5/5] Done")
return df
# Example execution (SARS-CoV-2 Mpro scenario)
# result_df = hybrid_docking_pipeline(
# protein_pdb=Path("./6LU7.pdb"),
# known_ligand_pdb=Path("./6LU7_ligand.pdb"), # co-crystallized N3 inhibitor
# ligand_smiles_list=[
# ("nirmatrelvir", "CC1(C)C2CC1C(NC(=O)C1CCCN1C(=O)C(NC(=O)OC(C)(C)C)C(C)(C)C)C(=O)NC(C#N)CC2=O"),
# ("ensitrelvir", "..."),
# # Add the top 20 candidates from Part 07
# ],
# work_dir=Path("./mpro_docking_output"),
# )
## Performance, Cost, and Known Failure Cases
### Performance Reference (Public Benchmark Citation)
| Model | Benchmark | Top-1 RMSD ≤ 2Å | PoseBusters Pass Rate | Time/Pair | Source |
|------|------|:----------------:|:------------------:|:---------:|------|
| AutoDock Vina | PDBbind core | 20~30% | 85~90% (Physics baseline) | min | Trott & Olson 2010 [1] |
| Glide SP | PDBbind core | 35~40% | 90%+ | sec~min | Schrödinger |
| Glide XP | PDBbind core | 40~50% | 92%+ | min | Schrödinger |
| DiffDock | PDBbind core | 38% | 60~70% (Physics issue) | 30 sec GPU | Corso et al., ICLR 2023 [2] |
| DiffDock-L | PDBbind core | 43% | 65~75% | 30 sec GPU | Corso et al. 2024 |
| DiffDock-Pocket | PDBbind core | 45%+ | 70%+ | 40 sec GPU | 2024 |
| DiffDock-Glide | PDBbind core | 55~60% | 85%+ (Glide correction) | 60 sec GPU+CPU | Miller et al., bioRxiv 2025 [3] |
| RLDiff | PDBbind subset | ~50% | 78% | 40 sec GPU | Zhang et al. 2024 [4] |
| Boltz-2 (Part 11) | Similar benchmark | 50%+ | 90%+ (Physics-integrated design) | sec GPU | MIT/Genentech 2025 |
### Estimated Cost for Learner Reproduction
- API cost: 0 (fully local).
- Screening 100 ligands: DiffDock approximately 30 minutes (GPU) + Vina re-validation approximately 30 minutes (CPU, parallel 4-8 cores).
- Screening 20 Mpro candidates: 15~30 minutes.
- DiffDock weights download approximately 2GB (upon first execution).
- Vina, OpenBabel, PoseBusters are free.
### 5 Known Failure Cases (Community/Paper Collection)
1. **Atomic clashes and unrealistic geometry in DiffDock poses (PoseBusters 60% failure)**
Symptoms: Ligand atoms overlap with protein atoms (interpenetration) in the top DiffDock poses, distorted bond angles, non-planar aromatic rings.
Cause: Diffusion models do not explicitly enforce physical laws. The training objective is coordinate reconstruction, with no separate validation of geometric validity.
Mitigation: (a) Always use the PoseBusters filter (Step 4 in this part), (b) Refine with Vina local optimization, (c) Ensemble multiple poses and select valid ones, (d) Use a physics-integrated successor like DiffDock-Glide, (e) Replace with Part 11 Boltz-2 (physics-integrated training).
Source: Buttenschoen et al. "PoseBusters" Chem Sci 2024 [5].
2. **Incorrect pocket selection (blind vs. targeted docking)**
Symptoms: DiffDock in blind mode places the ligand in a pocket other than the known orthosteric site.
Cause: DiffDock has both automatic pocket search and explicit specification modes, and misidentification is common in blind mode.
Mitigation: (a) Pre-specify pocket coordinates (identify_binding_site in this part), (b) Pre-explore candidate pockets using fpocket, (c) Use DiffDock-Pocket, (d) If known ligands exist, use their position as a seed.
Source: DiffDock GitHub Issues [6].
3. **Known bias in the DUD-E benchmark (active vs. decoy bias)**
Symptoms: AUC > 0.9 in DUD-E, but much lower performance in actual new drug screening.
Cause: DUD-E decoys are generated using property matching, so the scoring function only learns the physicochemical differences between active and decoy molecules (lacking actual binding discrimination).
Mitigation: (a) Use non-biased benchmarks such as LIT-PCBA, (b) Perform prospective experimental validation, (c) Use an ensemble of multiple benchmarks, (d) Use real-world datasets such as COVID Moonshot.
Source: Chen et al. "Hidden bias in the DUD-E dataset." PLoS ONE 2019 [7].
4. **Ignoring target protein flexibility (rigid receptor)**
Symptoms: Docking assumes a rigid receptor, but in reality, proteins are flexible, especially loop and sidechain movements.
Cause: Most Vina and DiffDock models use rigid receptor mode by default.
Mitigation: (a) Generate multiple conformers using MD simulations and dock each one (ensemble docking), (b) Run DiffDock in parallel with multiple apo/holo structures, (c) Use commercial IFD (Induced Fit Docking) software, (d) Use co-folding approaches such as Boltz-2 and Chai-1 (Part 11).
Source: Amaro RE et al. "Ensemble Docking in Drug Discovery." Biophysical Journal 2018 [8].
5. **Ignoring ligand stereochemistry and tautomerism**
Symptoms: Even if stereochemistry is specified in the SMILES, the prediction randomly selects one of several stereoisomers. Or, docking occurs with a non-dominant tautomer at a specific pH.
Cause: Information is lost during the SMILES canonicalization and 3D conformer generation stages.
Mitigation: (a) Preserve chirality in `Chem.MolFromSmiles`, (b) Use `MolStandardize` to canonicalize tautomers, (c) Dock each stereoisomer and tautomer separately and then ensemble, (d) Post-validate the chirality of the predicted pose.
Source: RDKit MolStandardize documentation [9]; Boltz Issues (stereochemistry) [6].
## Extension Ideas
- **Fragment-based docking:** Reduce large libraries to fragments (< 300 Da) and dock, then design linkers.
- **Ensemble docking:** Dock each of multiple protein conformers (MD simulations or AlphaFold multiples) and then aggregate.
- **Integration of free energy calculation:** Post-process the top docking candidates with MM-GBSA or FEP for more accurate affinity.
- **De novo linker design:** Generate linkers with RFdiffusion (Part 13) and validate with docking.
- **Active learning + auto-docking:** Identify ligands with high prediction uncertainty, perform experimental validation, and retrain.
- **Ensemble Boltz-2 vs. DiffDock-Glide:** Compare and ensemble the results of Part 11 Boltz-2.
## Next Part
- Part 11 `structure-affinity-boltz`: Integrate docking with Boltz-2 (replaces separate docking part).
- Part 07 `drug-target-gnn`: Pre-filter docking candidates with GNN prediction.
- Part 12 `single-cell-perturbation`: Predict in silico the cellular response of the top docking ligands.
- Part 14 `bio-mcp-agent`: Expose the docking pipeline as an MCP tool.
## References
1. Trott O, Olson AJ. "AutoDock Vina: Improving the speed and accuracy of docking." Journal of Computational Chemistry 2010. `https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcc.21334`
2. Corso G, Stärk H, Jing B, et al. "DiffDock: Diffusion Steps, Twists, and Turns for Molecular Docking." ICLR 2023. `https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.01776`
3. Miller B, Corso G, et al. "DiffDock-Glide: a hybrid physics-based and data-driven approach to molecular docking." bioRxiv 2025. `https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.02.657461v1`
4. Oxford RLDiff GitHub: `https://github.com/oxpig/RLDiff`
5. Buttenschoen M, Morris GM, Deane CM. "PoseBusters: AI-based docking methods fail to generate physically valid poses or generalise to novel sequences." Chemical Science 2024. `https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/sc/d3sc04185a`
6. DiffDock GitHub Issues: `https://github.com/gcorso/DiffDock/issues`
7. Chen L, Cruz A, Ramsey S, et al. "Hidden bias in the DUD-E dataset leads to misleading performance of deep learning in structure-based virtual screening." PLoS ONE 2019.
8. Amaro RE et al. "Ensemble Docking in Drug Discovery." Biophysical Journal 2018.
9. RDKit MolStandardize documentation: `https://www.rdkit.org/docs/source/rdkit.Chem.MolStandardize.html`
10. Vina GitHub: `https://github.com/ccsb-scripps/AutoDock-Vina`
11. OpenBabel: `http://openbabel.org/`
12. RDKit: `https://www.rdkit.org/`
13. PyMOL open-source: `https://github.com/schrodinger/pymol-open-source`
14. PDBbind: `http://www.pdbbind.org.cn/`
15. DUD-E: `http://dude.docking.org/`
16. LIT-PCBA (non-biased benchmark): Tran-Nguyen VK et al. J Chem Inf Model 2020.
17. PDBFixer (OpenMM family): `https://github.com/openmm/pdbfixer`
18. PoseBusters GitHub: `https://github.com/maabuu/posebusters`
19. COVID Moonshot consortium: `https://postera.ai/moonshot/`
20. SARS-CoV-2 Mpro structures (PDB 6LU7 etc.): `https://www.rcsb.org/`

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