Protein-water interaction energies as predictor for antigenic determinants.

Goodford's GRIN/GRID method is used for the prediction of antigenic determinants of lysozyme by calculation of protein-water interaction energies. The comparison of the regions of high interaction energy with experimentally determined contact surfaces in antigen-antibody complexes and epitopes obtained by cross-reactivity measurements shows a noteworthy agreement. The model is proposed to enlarge the basis of theoretical models for epitope prediction. It may contribute to the increase of the prediction value when applied together with other methods.