scholarly journals Molecular Simulations with in-deMon2k QM/MM, a Tutorial-Review

Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 1653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélien de la Lande ◽  
Aurelio Alvarez-Ibarra ◽  
Karim Hasnaoui ◽  
Fabien Cailliez ◽  
Xiaojing Wu ◽  
...  

deMon2k is a readily available program specialized in Density Functional Theory (DFT) simulations within the framework of Auxiliary DFT. This article is intended as a tutorial-review of the capabilities of the program for molecular simulations involving ground and excited electronic states. The program implements an additive QM/MM (quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics) module relying either on non-polarizable or polarizable force fields. QM/MM methodologies available in deMon2k include ground-state geometry optimizations, ground-state Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations, Ehrenfest non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations, and attosecond electron dynamics. In addition several electric and magnetic properties can be computed with QM/MM. We review the framework implemented in the program, including the most recently implemented options (link atoms, implicit continuum for remote environments, metadynamics, etc.), together with six applicative examples. The applications involve (i) a reactivity study of a cyclic organic molecule in water; (ii) the establishment of free-energy profiles for nucleophilic-substitution reactions by the umbrella sampling method; (iii) the construction of two-dimensional free energy maps by metadynamics simulations; (iv) the simulation of UV-visible absorption spectra of a solvated chromophore molecule; (v) the simulation of a free energy profile for an electron transfer reaction within Marcus theory; and (vi) the simulation of fragmentation of a peptide after collision with a high-energy proton.

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (14) ◽  
pp. 8525-8540
Author(s):  
Mudong Feng ◽  
Michael K. Gilson

Ground-state and excited-state molecular dynamics simulations shed light on the rotation mechanism of small, light-driven molecular motors and predict motor performance. How fast can they rotate; how much torque and power can they generate?


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1604-1613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Li ◽  
Chad Priest ◽  
De-en Jiang

Classical molecular dynamics simulations coupled with umbrella sampling reveal the atomistic processes and free-energy profiles of the displacement of carbonate groups in the Ca2UO2(CO3)3 complex by amidoxime-based ligands in a 0.5 M NaCl solution.


Author(s):  
Balaji Selvam ◽  
Ya-Chi Yu ◽  
Liqing Chen ◽  
Diwakar Shukla

<p>The SWEET family belongs to a class of transporters in plants that undergoes large conformational changes to facilitate transport of sugar molecules across the cell membrane. However, the structures of their functionally relevant conformational states in the transport cycle have not been reported. In this study, we have characterized the conformational dynamics and complete transport cycle of glucose in OsSWEET2b transporter using extensive molecular dynamics simulations. Using Markov state models, we estimated the free energy barrier associated with different states as well as 1 for the glucose the transport mechanism. SWEETs undergoes structural transition to outward-facing (OF), Occluded (OC) and inward-facing (IF) and strongly support alternate access transport mechanism. The glucose diffuses freely from outside to inside the cell without causing major conformational changes which means that the conformations of glucose unbound and bound snapshots are exactly same for OF, OC and IF states. We identified a network of hydrophobic core residues at the center of the transporter that restricts the glucose entry to the cytoplasmic side and act as an intracellular hydrophobic gate. The mechanistic predictions from molecular dynamics simulations are validated using site-directed mutagenesis experiments. Our simulation also revealed hourglass like intermediate states making the pore radius narrower at the center. This work provides new fundamental insights into how substrate-transporter interactions actively change the free energy landscape of the transport cycle to facilitate enhanced transport activity.</p>


Soft Matter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 2942-2956
Author(s):  
Rishabh D. Guha ◽  
Ogheneovo Idolor ◽  
Katherine Berkowitz ◽  
Melissa Pasquinelli ◽  
Landon R. Grace

We investigated the effect of temperature variation on the secondary bonding interactions between absorbed moisture and epoxies with different morphologies using molecular dynamics simulations.


Author(s):  
Lijuan Meng ◽  
Jinlian Lu ◽  
Yujie Bai ◽  
Lili Liu ◽  
Tang Jingyi ◽  
...  

Understanding the fundamentals of chemical vapor deposition bilayer graphene growth is crucial for its synthesis. By employing density functional theory calculations and classical molecular dynamics simulations, we have investigated the...


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