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Fiorentini R, Kremer K, Potestio R. Ligand-protein interactions in lysozyme investigated through a dual-resolution model. Proteins 2020; 88:1351-1360. [PMID: 32525263 PMCID: PMC7497117 DOI: 10.1002/prot.25954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 05/04/2020] [Accepted: 05/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
A fully atomistic (AT) modeling of biological macromolecules at relevant length- and time-scales is often cumbersome or not even desirable, both in terms of computational effort required and a posteriori analysis. This difficulty can be overcome with the use of multiresolution models, in which different regions of the same system are concurrently described at different levels of detail. In enzymes, computationally expensive AT detail is crucial in the modeling of the active site in order to capture, for example, the chemically subtle process of ligand binding. In contrast, important yet more collective properties of the remainder of the protein can be reproduced with a coarser description. In the present work, we demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach through the calculation of the binding free energy of hen egg white lysozyme with the inhibitor di-N-acetylchitotriose. Particular attention is payed to the impact of the mapping, that is, the selection of AT and coarse-grained residues, on the binding free energy. It is shown that, in spite of small variations of the binding free energy with respect to the active site resolution, the separate contributions coming from different energetic terms (such as electrostatic and van der Waals interactions) manifest a stronger dependence on the mapping, thus pointing to the existence of an optimal level of intermediate resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kurt Kremer
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany
| | - Raffaello Potestio
- Physics Department, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.,INFN-TIFPA, Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications, Trento, Italy
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2
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Abstract
Moving to a new country, with a different culture and a new environment, is not an easy decision. In this perspective, I present some reasons that made me, a Brazilian computational biochemist, move abroad to do postdoctoral research and some of the challenges I faced before and after moving.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariane Nunes-Alves
- Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) , Schloß-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35 , 69118 Heidelberg , Germany.,Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie der Universität Heidelberg (ZMBH) , Im Neuenheimer Feld 282 , 69120 Heidelberg , Germany
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Machado MR, Zeida A, Darré L, Pantano S. From quantum to subcellular scales: multi-scale simulation approaches and the SIRAH force field. Interface Focus 2019; 9:20180085. [PMID: 31065347 PMCID: PMC6501346 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2018.0085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern molecular and cellular biology profits from astonishing resolution structural methods, currently even reaching the whole cell level. This is encompassed by the development of computational methods providing a deep view into the structure and dynamics of molecular processes happening at very different scales in time and space. Linking such scales is of paramount importance when aiming at far-reaching biological questions. Computational methods at the interface between classical and coarse-grained resolutions are gaining momentum with several research groups dedicating important efforts to their development and tuning. An overview of such methods is addressed herein, with special emphasis on the SIRAH force field for coarse-grained and multi-scale simulations. Moreover, we provide proof of concept calculations on the implementation of a multi-scale simulation scheme including quantum calculations on a classical fine-grained/coarse-grained representation of double-stranded DNA. This opens the possibility to include the effect of large conformational fluctuations in chromatin segments on, for instance, the reactivity of particular base pairs within the same simulation framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matías R. Machado
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Group of Biomolecular Simulations, Mataojo 2020, CP 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Ari Zeida
- Departamento de Bioquímica and Center for Free Radical and Biomedical Research, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Leonardo Darré
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Group of Biomolecular Simulations, Mataojo 2020, CP 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Functional Genomics Unit, Mataojo 2020, CP 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Sergio Pantano
- Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Group of Biomolecular Simulations, Mataojo 2020, CP 11400 Montevideo, Uruguay
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Ciccotti G, Delle Site L. The physics of open systems for the simulation of complex molecular environments in soft matter. SOFT MATTER 2019; 15:2114-2124. [PMID: 30761396 DOI: 10.1039/c8sm02523a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Molecular dynamics (MD) has become one of the most powerful tools of investigation in soft matter. Despite such success, simulations of large molecular environments are mostly run using the approximation of closed systems without the possibility of exchange of matter. Due to the molecular complexity of soft matter systems, an optimal simulation strategy would require the application of concurrent multiscale resolution approaches such that each part of a large system can be considered as an open subsystem at a high resolution embedded in a large coarser reservoir of energy and particles. This paper discusses the current capability and the future perspectives of multiscale adaptive resolution MD methods to satisfy the conceptual principles of open systems and to perform simulations of complex molecular environments in soft matter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Ciccotti
- Instituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, and Universita' La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
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6
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Zavadlav J, Sablić J, Podgornik R, Praprotnik M. Open-Boundary Molecular Dynamics of a DNA Molecule in a Hybrid Explicit/Implicit Salt Solution. Biophys J 2018; 114:2352-2362. [PMID: 29650370 PMCID: PMC6129463 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2018.02.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2017] [Revised: 02/24/2018] [Accepted: 02/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The composition and electrolyte concentration of the aqueous bathing environment have important consequences for many biological processes and can profoundly affect the behavior of biomolecules. Nevertheless, because of computational limitations, many molecular simulations of biophysical systems can be performed only at specific ionic conditions: either at nominally zero salt concentration, i.e., including only counterions enforcing the system's electroneutrality, or at excessive salt concentrations. Here, we introduce an efficient molecular dynamics simulation approach for an atomistic DNA molecule at realistic physiological ionic conditions. The simulations are performed by employing the open-boundary molecular dynamics method that allows for simulation of open systems that can exchange mass and linear momentum with the environment. In our open-boundary molecular dynamics approach, the computational burden is drastically alleviated by embedding the DNA molecule in a mixed explicit/implicit salt-bathing solution. In the explicit domain, the water molecules and ions are both overtly present in the system, whereas in the implicit water domain, only the ions are explicitly present and the water is described as a continuous dielectric medium. Water molecules are inserted and deleted into/from the system in the intermediate buffer domain that acts as a water reservoir to the explicit domain, with both water molecules and ions free to enter or leave the explicit domain. Our approach is general and allows for efficient molecular simulations of biomolecules solvated in bathing salt solutions at any ionic strength condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julija Zavadlav
- Computational Science & Engineering Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jurij Sablić
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Rudolf Podgornik
- Theoretical Physics Department, J. Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Matej Praprotnik
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, National Institute of Chemistry, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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7
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Zavadlav J, Marrink SJ, Praprotnik M. Multiscale Simulation of Protein Hydration Using the SWINGER Dynamical Clustering Algorithm. J Chem Theory Comput 2018; 14:1754-1761. [PMID: 29439560 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b01129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
To perform computationally efficient concurrent multiscale simulations of biological macromolecules in solution, where the all-atom (AT) models are coupled to supramolecular coarse-grained (SCG) solvent models, previous studies resorted to modified AT water models, such as the bundled-simple point charge (SPC) models, that use semiharmonic springs to restrict the relative movement of water molecules within a cluster. Those models can have a significant impact on the simulated biomolecules and can lead, for example, to a partial unfolding of a protein. In this work, we employ the recently developed alternative approach with a dynamical clustering algorithm, SWINGER, which enables a direct coupling of original unmodified AT and SCG water models. We perform an adaptive resolution molecular dynamics simulation of a Trp-Cage miniprotein in multiscale water, where the standard SPC water model is interfaced with the widely used MARTINI SCG model, and demonstrate that, compared to the corresponding full-blown AT simulations, the structural and dynamic properties of the solvated protein and surrounding solvent are well reproduced by our approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julija Zavadlav
- Computational Science & Engineering Laboratory , ETH Zurich , Clausiusstrasse 33 , CH-8092 Zurich , Switzerland
| | - Siewert J Marrink
- Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials , University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 7 , 9747 AG Groningen , The Netherlands
| | - Matej Praprotnik
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling , National Institute of Chemistry , Hajdrihova 19 , SI-1001 Ljubljana , Slovenia.,Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics , University of Ljubljana , Jadranska 19 , SI-1000 Ljubljana , Slovenia
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Tarenzi T, Calandrini V, Potestio R, Giorgetti A, Carloni P. Open Boundary Simulations of Proteins and Their Hydration Shells by Hamiltonian Adaptive Resolution Scheme. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 13:5647-5657. [PMID: 28992702 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The recently proposed Hamiltonian adaptive resolution scheme (H-AdResS) allows the performance of molecular simulations in an open boundary framework. It allows changing, on the fly, the resolution of specific subsets of molecules (usually the solvent), which are free to diffuse between the atomistic region and the coarse-grained reservoir. So far, the method has been successfully applied to pure liquids. Coupling the H-AdResS methodology to hybrid models of proteins, such as the molecular mechanics/coarse-grained (MM/CG) scheme, is a promising approach for rigorous calculations of ligand binding free energies in low-resolution protein models. Toward this goal, here we apply for the first time H-AdResS to two atomistic proteins in dual-resolution solvent, proving its ability to reproduce structural and dynamic properties of both the proteins and the solvent, as obtained from atomistic simulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Tarenzi
- Computation-Based Science and Technology Research Center CaSToRC, The Cyprus Institute , 20 Konstantinou Kavafi Street, 2121, Aglantzia, Nicosia, Cyprus
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Natural Sciences, Aachen University , Otto-Blumenthal-Straße, 52074 Aachen, Germany
| | - Vania Calandrini
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5, and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Raffaello Potestio
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research , Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Alejandro Giorgetti
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5, and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany
- Department of Biotechnology, University of Verona , Ca' Vignal 1, Strada Le Grazie 15, 37134 Verona, Italy
| | - Paolo Carloni
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Natural Sciences, Aachen University , Otto-Blumenthal-Straße, 52074 Aachen, Germany
- Computational Biomedicine, Institute for Advanced Simulation IAS-5, and Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine INM-9, Forschungszentrum Jülich , 52425 Jülich, Germany
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Multi-scale simulations of biological systems using the OPEP coarse-grained model. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2017; 498:296-304. [PMID: 28917842 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.08.165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2017] [Accepted: 08/31/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Biomolecules are complex machines that are optimized by evolution to properly fulfill or contribute to a variety of biochemical tasks in the cellular environment. Computer simulations based on quantum mechanics and atomistic force fields have been proven to be a powerful microscope for obtaining valuable insights into many biological, physical, and chemical processes. Many interesting phenomena involve, however, a time scale and a number of degrees of freedom, notably if crowding is considered, that cannot be explored at an atomistic resolution. To bridge the gap between reality and simulation, many different advanced computational techniques and coarse-grained (CG) models have been developed. Here, we report some applications of the CG OPEP protein model to amyloid fibril formation, the response of catch-bond proteins to two types of fluid flow, and interactive simulations to fold peptides with well-defined 3D structures or with intrinsic disorder.
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Uusitalo JJ, Ingólfsson HI, Marrink SJ, Faustino I. Martini Coarse-Grained Force Field: Extension to RNA. Biophys J 2017. [PMID: 28633759 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2017.05.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA has an important role not only as the messenger of genetic information but also as a regulator of gene expression. Given its central role in cell biology, there is significant interest in studying the structural and dynamic behavior of RNA in relation to other biomolecules. Coarse-grain molecular dynamics simulations are a key tool to that end. Here, we have extended the coarse-grain Martini force field to include RNA after our recent extension to DNA. In the same way DNA was modeled, the tertiary structure of RNA is constrained using an elastic network. This model, therefore, is not designed for applications involving RNA folding but rather offers a stable RNA structure for studying RNA interactions with other (bio)molecules. The RNA model is compatible with all other Martini models and opens the way to large-scale explicit-solvent molecular dynamics simulations of complex systems involving RNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaakko J Uusitalo
- Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Helgi I Ingólfsson
- Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Siewert J Marrink
- Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
| | - Ignacio Faustino
- Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute and Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
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