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Molecular dynamics simulations are usually performed using cutoffs (r(c)) for the short-ranged dispersion interactions (r(-6)). For isotropic systems, long-range interactions are often added in a continuum approximation. This usually leads to excellent results that are independent of the cutoff length down to about 1 nm. For systems with interfaces or other anisotropic systems the situation is more complicated. We study here planar interfaces, focusing on the surface tension, which is sensitive to cutoffs. Previous analytic results giving the long-range correction to the surface tension of a liquid-vapor interface as a two- or three-dimensional integral are revisited. They are generalized by introducing a dispersion density profile which makes it possible to handle multicomponent systems. For the simple but common hyperbolic tangent profile the integral may be Taylor-expanded in the dimensionless parameter obtained by dividing the profile width with the cutoff length. This parameter is usually small, and excellent agreement with numerical calculations of the integral is obtained by keeping two terms in the expansion. The results are compared to simulations with different lengths of the cutoff for some simple systems. The surface tension in the simulations varies linearly in r(c)(-2), although a small r(c)(-4)-term may be added to improve the agreement. The slope of the r(c)(-2)-line could in several cases be predicted from the change in dispersion density at the interface. The disagreements observed in some cases when comparing to theory occur when the finite cutoff used in the simulations causes structural differences compared to long-range cutoffs or Ewald summation for the r(-6)-interactions., QC 20161010

A new united atom parametrization of diacyl lipids like dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and the dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) has been constructed based on ab initio calculations to obtain fractional charges and the dihedral potential of the hydrocarbon chains, while the Lennard-Jones parameters of the acyl chains were fitted to reproduce the properties of liquid hydrocarbons. The results have been validated against published experimental X-ray and neutron scattering data for fluid and gel phase DPPC. The derived charges of the lipid phosphatidylcholine (PC) headgroup are shown to yield dipole components in the range suggested by experiments. The aim has been to construct a new force field that retains and improves the good agreement for the fluid phase and at the same time produces a gel phase at low temperatures, with properties coherent with experimental findings. The gel phase of diacyl-PC lipids forms a regular triangular lattice in the hydrocarbon region. The global bilayer tilt obtains an azimuthal value of 31 degrees and is aligned between lattice vectors in the bilayer plane. We also show that the model yields a correct heat of melting as well as decent heat capacities in the fluid and gel phase of DPPC., QC 20150220. Updates from submitted to published. Previous title "A Re-parameterized United Atom Model for Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Gel and Fluid Phosphatidylcholine Bilayers".

QC 20130506

Classical simulations of simple water models reproduce many properties of the liquid and ice but overestimate the heat capacity by about 65% at ordinary temperatures and much more for low temperature ice. This is due to the fact that the atomic vibrations are quantum mechanical. The application of harmonic quantum corrections to the molecular motion results in good heat capacities for the liquid and for ice at low temperatures but a successively growing positive deviation from experimental results for ice above 200 K that reaches 15% just below melting. We suggest that this deviation is due to the lack of quantum corrections to the anharmonic motions. For the liquid, the anharmonicities are even larger but also softer and thus in less need of quantum correction. Therefore, harmonic quantum corrections to the classically calculated liquid heat capacities result in agreement with the experimental values. The classical model underestimates the heat of melting by 15%, while the application of quantum corrections produces fair agreement. On the other hand, the heat of vaporization is overestimated by 10% in the harmonically corrected classical model., QC 20111003

QC 20140924

A systematic molecular dynamics (MD) study of zinc binding to a peptide that mimics the structural binding site of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (HLADH) has been conducted. The four zinc binding cysteines were successively mutated into alanines to study the stability, zinc coordination, and free energy of binding. The zinc ion is coordinated to four sulfurs in the native peptide as in x-ray structures of HLADH. When the cysteines are replaced by alanines, the zinc coordinating sulfurs are replaced by waters and/or polypeptide backbone carbonyl oxygens. With two or fewer cysteines, the coordination number increases from four to six, while the coordination number varies between four and six with three cysteines depending on which of the cysteines that is replaced by an alanine. The binding free energies of zinc to the proteins were calculated from MD free energy integration runs to which corrections from quantum mechanical cluster calculations were added. There is a reasonable correlation with experimental binding free energies [T. Bergman , Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 65, 4019 (2008)]. For the chains with the lowest structural fluctuations and highest free energies lower coordination numbers for zinc are obtained. Finally, x-ray absorption fine structure spectra were calculated from the MD structures., QC 20101217

The behavior of electrolytes in molecular dynamics simulations of zwitterionic phospholipid bilayers; is very sensitive to the force field parameters used. Here, several 200 ns molecular dynamics of simulations of dipalmitoyl phosphotidylcholine (PC) bilayers in 0.2 M sodium or potassium chloride using various common force field parameters for the cations are presented. All employed parameter sets give a larger number of Na+ ions than K+ ions that bind to the lipid heads, but depending on the parameter choice quite different results are seen. A wide range of coordination numbers for the Na+ and K+ ions is also observed. These findings have been analyzed and compared to published experimental data. Some simulations produce aggregates of potassium chloride, indicating (in accordance with published simulations) that these force fields do not reproduce the delicate balance between salt and solvated ions. The differences between the force fields can be characterized by one single parameter, the electrostatic radius of the ion, which is correlated to sigma(MO) (M represents Na+/K+), the Lennard-Jones radius. When this parameter exceeds a certain threshold, binding to the lipid heads is no longer observed. One would, however, need more accurate experimental data to judge or rank the different force fields precisely. Still, reasons for the poor performance of some of the parameter sets are clearly demonstrated, and a quality control. procedure is provided., QC 20100525

The binding of zinc (Zn) ions to proteins is important for many cellular events. The theoretical and computational description of this binding (as well as that of other transition metals) is a challenging task. In this paper the binding of the Zn ion to four cysteine residues in the structural site of horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (HLADH) is studied using a synthetic peptide mimic of this site. The study includes experimental measurements of binding constants, classical free energy calculations from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and quantum mechanical (QM) electron structure calculations. The classical MD results account for interactions at the molecular level and reproduce the absolute binding energy and the hydration free energy of the Zn ion with an accuracy of about 10%. This is insufficient to obtain correct free energy differences. QM correction terms were calculated from density functional theory (DFT) on small clusters of atoms to include electronic polarisation of the closest waters and covalent contributions to the Zn-S coordination bond. This results in reasonably good agreement with the experimentally measured binding constants and Zn ion hydration free energies in agreement with published experimental values. The study also includes the replacement of one cysteine residue to an alanine. Simulations as well as experiments showed only a small effect of this upon the binding free energy. A detailed analysis indicate that the sulfur is replaced by three water molecules, thereby changing the coordination number of Zn from four (as in the original peptide) to six (as in water)., QC 20100923

The effect of physiological concentrations of different chlorides on the structure of a dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayer has been investigated through atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. These calculations provide support to the concept that Li+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr2+, Ba2+, and Ac3+, but not K+, bind to the lipid-head oxygens. Ion binding exhibits an influence on lipid order, area per lipid, orientation of the lipid head dipole, the charge distribution in the system, and therefore the electrostatic potential across the head-group region of the bilayer. These structural effects are sensitive to the specific characteristics of each cation, i.e., radius, charge, and coordination properties. These results provide evidence aimed at shedding some light into the apparent contradictions among different studies reported recently regarding the ordering effect of ions on zwitterionic phosphatidylcholine lipid bilayers., QC 20100525

Time and length scales for different kinds of local and collective motions in lipid bilayers that may be probed in molecular dynamics simulations are discussed. The possibility to determine parameters in continuum models using simulation techniques is discussed. Agreements and discrepancies between simulations and experimental data are presented and discussed. The chapter covers large scale undulations and peristaltic thickness fluctuations, hydrocarbon chain reorientation motion, lipid lateral diffusion and motion of the entire monolayers with respect to each other and with respect to the water., QC 20111107UT WOS:000257691300003

The present study analyzes the effect of the simulation conditions on the results of molecular dynamics simulations of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) performed with an explicit lipid bilayer. Accordingly, the present work reports the analysis of different simulations of bovine rhodopsin embedded in a dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) lipid bilayer using two different sampling conditions and two different approaches for the treatment of long-range electrostatic interactions. Specifically, sampling was carried out either by using the statistical ensembles NVT or NPT (constant number of atoms, a pressure of 1 arm in all directions and fixed temperature), and the electrostatic interactions were treated either by using a twin-cutoff, or the particle mesh Ewald summation method (PME). The results of the present study suggest that the use of the NPT ensemble in combination with the PME method provide more realistic simulations. The use of NPT during the equilibration avoids the need of an a priori estimation of the box dimensions, giving the correct area per lipid. However, once the system is equilibrated, the simulations are irrespective of the sampling conditions used. The use of an electrostatic cutoff induces artifacts on both lipid thickness and the ion distribution, but has no direct effect on the protein and water molecules., QC 20100525

The two potassium ion channels KirBac1.1 and KcsA are compared in a Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation study. The location and motion of the potassium ions observed in the simulations are compared to those in the X-ray structures and previous simulations. In our simulations several of the crystallography resolved ion sites in KirBac1.1 are occupied by ions. In addition to this, two in KirBac1.1 unresolved sites where occupied by ions at sites that are in close correspondence to sites found in KcsA. There is every reason to believe that the conserved alignment of the selectivity filter in the potassium ion channel family corresponds to a very similar mechanism for ion transport across the filter. The gate residues, Phe146 in KirBac1.1 and Ala111 in KcsA acted in the simulations as effective barriers which never were passed by ions nor water molecules., QC 20100525