The ability to determine the effect of charge changes on the free energy is necessary for fundamental studies of the electrostatic contribution to protein binding and stability. Currently, calculations of differences in free energy for charge mutations carried out in systems with periodic boundary conditions must include an approximate self-energy correction that can be on the same order of magnitude as the calculated free energy change. Here, a new method for accurately calculating the free energy change associated with any alchemical mutation, regardless of charge, is presented. In this method, paired mutations of opposite charge exactly cancel the self-energy term because of its quadratic charge dependence. Since the self-energy term implicitly cancels within the method, a correction never needs to be applied, and the statistical uncertainty associated is thereby removed. An implementation procedure is described and applied to the free energy of ionic hydration and a charged amino acid mutation.
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Microb Cell Fact
January 2025
Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
Background: Because the process is cost-effective, microbial pectinase is used in juice clearing. The isolation, immobilization, and characterization of pectinase from Aspergillus nidulans (Eidam) G. Winter (AUMC No.
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January 2025
Molecular Biology Department, Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Center, El-Buhouth St. 33, Dokki, P.O.12622, Giza, Egypt.
Background: Actinomycetes are a well-known example of a microbiological origin that may generate a wide variety of chemical structures. As excellent cell factories, these sources are able to manufacture medicines, agrochemicals, and enzymes that are crucial.
Results: In this study, about 34 randomly selected Streptomyces isolates were discovered in soil, sediment, sea water, and other environments.
J Phys Chem A
January 2025
Computer Modelling Group, 3710 33 St NW, Calgary, Alberta T2L 2M1, Canada.
Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation is widely accepted for assessment of a large complex biological system, but it may also lead to a misleading conclusion. The challenge is to simulate protein structural dynamics (such as folding-unfolding behavior) due to the lack of a necessary backbone flexibility. This study developed a standard coarse-grained model directly from the protein atomic structure and amino acid coarse-grained FF (such as MARTINI FF v2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
Identifying transitional states is crucial for understanding protein conformational changes that underlie numerous biological processes. Markov state models (MSMs), built from Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations, capture these dynamics through transitions among metastable conformational states, and have demonstrated success in studying protein conformational changes. However, MSMs face challenges in identifying transition states, as they partition MD conformations into discrete metastable states (or free energy minima), lacking description of transition states located at the free energy barriers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Despite its profound significance, the molecular structural changes near the transition state, driven by the vibronic coupling, have remained largely unexplored, leaving a crucial aspect of chemical reactions shrouded in uncertainty. Herein, the dynamical behavior of the reactive flux on the verge of chemical bond breakage was revealed through the spectroscopic characterization of a large amplitude vibrational motion. Highly excited internal rotor states of S methylamine (CHND) report on the structural change as the molecule approaches the transition state, indicating that the quasi-free internal rotation is strongly coupled to the reaction coordinate as their energies near the maximum of the reaction barrier for the N-D chemical bond predissociation.
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