The tendency for protease ligands to bind in an extended conformation has been suggested as an important factor for the identification of compounds of medicinal importance. Here we present a novel graph-theoretical method giving a quantitative measure of ligand conformation, and through application of this method to a representative set of protease ligands in bound and unbound conformations, derive the result that protease ligands are more extended in conformation when in their bound state.
Ligands Models, Molecular