Solvent effects on peroxynitrite structure and properties from QM/MM simulations

We have investigated the structure and the vibrational spectrum of peroxynitrite anion in aqueous solution by means of combined quantum-classical (QM/MM) molecular dynamics simulations. In our QM/MM scheme, the reactant was modeled using density functional theory with a Gaussian basis set and the solvent was described using the mean-field TIP4P and the polarizable TIP4P-FQ force fields. The choice of basis sets, functionals and force field parameters has been validated by performing calculations on isolated peroxynitrite and on small peroxynitrite-water complexes. Poor values for isolated peroxynitrite structural properties and vibrational frequencies are found for most ab initio methods, particularly regarding the ON-OO(-) bond distance and the harmonic stretching frequency, probably due to the singlet-triplet instability found in the HF wave function. On the other hand, DFT methods yield results in better agreement with high level CCSD(T) ab initio calculations. We have computed the vibrational spectrum for aqueous peroxynitrite by calculating the Fourier transform of the velocity autocorrelation function extracted from the QM-MM molecular dynamics simulations. Our computational scheme, which allows for the inclusion of both anharmonicity and solvent effects, is able to clarify previous discrepancies regarding the experimental spectra assignments and to shed light on the subtle interplay between solvation and peroxynitrite structure and properties.     

Computational characterization of reaction intermediates in the photocycle of the sensory domain of the AppA blue light photoreceptor

The AppA protein with the BLUF (blue light using flavin adenine dinucleotide) domain is a blue light photoreceptor that cycle between dark-adapted and light-induced functional states. We characterized possible reaction intermediates in the photocycle of AppA BLUF. Molecular dynamics (MD), quantum chemical and quantum mechanical-molecular mechanical (QM/MM) calculations were carried out to describe several stable structures of a molecular system modeling the protein. The coordinates of heavy atoms from the crystal structure (PDB code 2IYG) of the protein in the dark state served as starting point for 10 ns MD simulations. Representative MD frames were used in QM(B3LYP/cc-pVDZ)/MM(AMBER) calculations to locate minimum energy configurations of the model system. Vertical electronic excitation energies were estimated for the molecular clusters comprising the quantum subsystems of the QM/MM optimized structures using the SOS-CIS(D) quantum chemistry method. Computational results support the occurrence of photoreaction intermediates that are characterized by spectral absorption bands between those of the dark and light states. They agree with crystal structures of reaction intermediates (PDB code 2IYI) observed in the AppA BLUF domain. Transformations of the Gln63 side chain stimulated by photo-excitation and performed with the assistance of the chromophore and the Met106 side chain are responsible for these intermediates.     

Demonstrating accuracy of the already proposed protocol for structure elucidation of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes by validation using quantitative ROESY analysis

In this study, we attempt to ascertain the accuracy of the structures determined using our previously developed method and hence the accuracy of our method. In the present report, we have taken the guest molecule cetirizine (CTZ) and the host molecules are α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD). Structures with good accuracy were elucidated using a productive fusion of experimental and computational methods. We performed molecular mechanics studies (MM) in light of experimental ROESY studies, followed by molecular dynamics studies (MD). The results from these studies were analyzed using quantitative ROESY analysis to determine the final accurate structures of the complexes. The accuracy of these structures was tested using density functional theory (DFT) that is an accurate method for structure determination. DFT studies were carried out using the functionals B3LYP and M06L with def-TZVP basis set and similarly quantitative ROESY analysis was performed for the obtained structures. The ROESY intensities of the structures obtained from MM and MD studies, were compared with ROESY intensities of the structures obtained from DFT studies. Calculated ROESY intensities of the structures obtained from B3LYP functional are comparable, with intensities of structures obtained from MM and MD studies, but M06L functional showed poor results. In addition to the accuracy of MM and MD studies, low computational cost and less time input make it good method for structural studies for CD inclusion complexes.

     

A polarizable force field for computing the infrared spectra of the polypeptide backbone

The shapes of the amide bands in the infrared (IR) spectra of proteins and peptides are caused by electrostatically coupled vibrations within the polypeptide backbone and code the structures of these biopolymers. A structural decoding of the amide bands has to resort to simplified models because the huge size of these macromolecules prevents the application of accurate quantum mechanical methods such as density functional theory (DFT). Previous models employed transition-dipole coupling methods that are of limited accuracy. Here we propose a concept for the computation of protein IR spectra, which describes the molecular mechanics (MM) of polypeptide backbones by a polarizable force field of "type II". By extending the concepts of conventional polarizable MM force fields, such a PMM/II approach employs field-dependent parameters not only for the electrostatic signatures of the molecular components but also for the local potentials modeling the stiffness of chemical bonds with respect to elongations, angle deformations, and torsions. Using a PMM/II force field, the IR spectra of the polypeptide backbone can be efficiently calculated from the time dependence of the backbone's dipole moment during a short (e.g., 100 ps) MD simulation by Fourier transformation. PMM/II parameters are derived for harmonic bonding potentials of amide groups in polypeptides from a series of DFT calculations on the model molecule N-methylacetamide (NMA) exposed to homogeneous external electric fields. The amide force constants are shown to vary by as much as 20% for relevant field strengths. As a proof of principle, it is shown that the large solvatochromic effects observed in the IR spectra of NMA upon transfer from the gas phase into aqueous solution are not only excellently reproduced by DFT/MM simulations but are also nicely modeled by the PMM/II approach. The tasks remaining for a proof of practice are specified.     

Hydration of l-tyrosine in aqueous medium. An experimental and theoretical study by mixed quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics methods

Quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) calculations were carried out in order to study the theoretical structures of l-tyrosine in both gas phase and in aqueous solution and observe the changes that occur on the structural and vibrational properties in two phases. Therefore, the molecule was characterized by infrared and Raman spectroscopy in solid phase and aqueous solution. Optimized geometries and relative stabilities for the zwitterion l-tyrosine derivatives have been calculated taking into account the solvent effects by using the self-consistent reaction field (SCRF) theory. For a complete assignment of the IR and Raman spectra of l-tyrosine in solid and aqueous solution phases, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were combined with Pulay's scaled quantum mechanical force field (SQMFF) methodology in order to fit the theoretical wavenumber values to the experimental ones. A good agreement between theoretical and available experimental results is found.     

Ab initio quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical simulation of electron transfer process: fractional electron approach

Electron transfer (ET) reactions are one of the most important processes in chemistry and biology. Because of the quantum nature of the processes and the complicated roles of the solvent, theoretical study of ET processes is challenging. To simulate ET processes at the electronic level, we have developed an efficient density functional theory (DFT) quantum mechanical (QM)/molecular mechanical (MM) approach that uses the fractional number of electrons as the order parameter to calculate the redox free energy of ET reactions in solution. We applied this method to study the ET reactions of the aqueous metal complexes Fe(H(2)O)(6)(2+/3+) and Ru(H(2)O)(6)(2+/3+). The calculated oxidation potentials, 5.82 eV for Fe(II/III) and 5.14 eV for Ru(II/III), agree well with the experimental data, 5.50 and 4.96 eV, for iron and ruthenium, respectively. Furthermore, we have constructed the diabatic free energy surfaces from histogram analysis based on the molecular dynamics trajectories. The resulting reorganization energy and the diabatic activation energy also show good agreement with experimental data. Our calculations show that using the fractional number of electrons (FNE) as the order parameter in the thermodynamic integration process leads to efficient sampling and validate the ab initio QM/MM approach in the calculation of redox free energies.     

From crystallographic data to the solution structure of photoreceptors: the case of the AppA BLUF domain

Photoreceptor proteins bind a chromophore, which, upon light absorption, modifies its geometry or its interactions with the protein, finally inducing the structural change needed to switch the protein from an inactive to an active or signaling state. In the Blue Light-Using Flavin (BLUF) family of photoreceptors, the chromophore is a flavin and the changes have been connected with a rearrangement of the hydrogen bond network around it on the basis of spectroscopic changes measured for the dark-to-light conversion. However, the exact conformational change triggered by the photoexcitation is still elusive mainly because a clear consensus on the identity not only of the light activated state but also of the dark one has not been achieved. Here, we present an integrated investigation that combines microsecond MD simulations starting from the two conflicting crystal structures available for the AppA BLUF domain with calculations of NMR, IR and UV-Vis spectra using a polarizable QM/MM approach. Thanks to such a combined analysis of the three different spectroscopic responses, a robust characterization of the structure of the dark state in solution is given together with the uncovering of important flaws of the most popular molecular mechanisms present in the literature for the dark-to-light activation.

With an integrated molecular dynamics and QM/MM strategy we characterize the dark-state structure of a BLUF photoreceptor and ration alize the discrepancy between published crystal structures.     

IR spectra of N-methylacetamide in water predicted by combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical molecular dynamics simulations

We applied the combined quantum mechanical (QM)/molecular mechanical (MM) molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method in assessing IR spectra of N-methylacetamide and its deuterated form in aqueous solutions. The model peptide is treated at the Austin Model 1 (AM1) level and the induced dipole effects by the solvent are incorporated in fluctuating solute dipole moments, which are calculated using partial charges from Mulliken population analyses without resorting to any available high-level ab initio dipole moment data. Fourier transform of the solute dipole autocorrelation function produces in silico IR spectra, in which the relative peak intensities and bandwidths of major amide bands are quantitatively compatible with experimental results only when both geometric and electronic polarizations of the peptide by the solvent are dealt with at the same quantum-mechanical level. We cast light on the importance of addressing dynamic charge fluctuations of the solute in calculating IR spectra by comparing classical and QM/MM MD simulation results. We propose the adjustable scaling factors for each amide mode to be directly compared with experimental data.     

QM/MM calculation of solvent effects on absorption spectra of guanine

Electronic spectra of guanine in the gas phase and in water were studied by quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods. Geometries for the excited‐state calculations were extracted from ground‐state molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the self‐consistent‐charge density functional tight binding (SCC‐DFTB) method for the QM region and the TIP3P force field for the water environment. Theoretical absorption spectra were generated from excitation energies and oscillator strengths calculated for 50 to 500 MD snapshots of guanine in the gas phase (QM) and in solution (QM/MM). The excited‐state calculations used time‐dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and the DFT‐based multireference configuration interaction (DFT/MRCI) method of Grimme and Waletzke, in combination with two basis sets. Our investigation covered keto‐N7H and keto‐N9H guanine, with particular focus on solvent effects in the low‐energy spectrum of the keto‐N9H tautomer. When compared with the vertical excitation energies of gas‐phase guanine at the optimized DFT (B3LYP/TZVP) geometry, the maxima in the computed solution spectra are shifted by several tenths of an eV. Three effects contribute: the use of SCC‐DFTB‐based rather than B3LYP‐based geometries in the MD snapshots (red shift of ca. 0.1 eV), explicit inclusion of nuclear motion through the MD snapshots (red shift of ca. 0.1 eV), and intrinsic solvent effects (differences in the absorption maxima in the computed gas‐phase and solution spectra, typically ca. 0.1–0.3 eV). A detailed analysis of the results indicates that the intrinsic solvent effects arise both from solvent‐induced structural changes and from electrostatic solute–solvent interactions, the latter being dominant. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2010     

Electronic absorption spectra of pyridine and nicotine in aqueous solution with a combined molecular dynamics and polarizable QM/MM approach

The electronic absorption spectra of pyridine and nicotine in aqueous solution have been computed using a multistep approach. The computational protocol consists in studying the solute solvation with accurate molecular dynamics simulations, characterizing the hydrogen bond interactions, and calculating electronic transitions for a series of configurations extracted from the molecular dynamics trajectories with a polarizable QM/MM scheme based on the fluctuating charge model. Molecular dynamics simulations and electronic transition calculations have been performed on both pyridine and nicotine. Furthermore, the contributions of solute vibrational effect on electronic absorption spectra have been taken into account in the so called vertical gradient approximation. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Computational Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Determination of the solution structures of melamine-based bis- and tris-macrocyclic ligand copper(II) complexes

A combination of molecular mechanics (MM), electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR), and spectra simulation (MM-EPR) has been used to determine the solution structures of di- and trinuclear copper(II) complexes of melamine-based oligomacrocyclic ligands. The spin Hamiltonian parameters of the mononuclear, melamine-appended macrocyclic ligand copper(II) complex have been determined by EPR spectroscopy and were also studied with DFT methods. These spin Hamiltonian parameters, together with the structural parameters obtained from models optimized with MM, have been used for the simulation of the EPR spectra of the di- and trinuclear complexes. For the dinuclear complex, the syn isomer is preferred over the anti, for which an X-ray structure exists; for the trinuclear complex, the syn,syn isomer is preferred over the syn,anti form. Additional support for these assignments comes from DFT calculations, and this demonstrates that the MM-DFT-EPR method is a reliable approach for the determination of solution structures and for the analysis of spin Hamiltonian parameters of dipolar, coupled transition metal complexes (g and A tensors and J values).     

Combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical simulations of one- and two-electron reduction potentials of flavin cofactor in water, medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, and cholesterol oxidase

Flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) is a common cofactor in redox proteins, and its reduction potentials are controlled by the protein environment. This regulation is mainly responsible for the versatile catalytic functions of flavoenzymes. In this article, we report computations of the reduction potentials of FAD in medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) and cholesterol oxidase (CHOX). In addition, the reduction potentials of lumiflavin in aqueous solution have also been computed. Using molecular dynamics and free-energy perturbation techniques, we obtained the free-energy changes for two-electron/two-proton as well as one-electron/one-proton addition steps. We employed a combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) potential, in which the flavin ring was represented by the self-consistent-charge density functional tight-binding (SCC-DFTB) method, while the rest of the enzyme-solvent system was treated by classical force fields. The computed two-electron/two-proton reduction potentials for lumiflavin and the two enzyme-bound FADs are in reasonable agreement with experimental data. The calculations also yielded the pKa values for the one-electron reduced semiquinone (FH*) and the fully reduced hydroquinone (FH2) forms. The pKa of the FAD semiquinone in CHOX was found to be around 4, which is 4 units lower than that in the enzyme-free state and 2 units lower than that in MCAD; this supports the notion that oxidases have a greater ability than dehydrogenases to stabilize anionic semiquinones. In MCAD, the flavin ring interacts with four hydrophobic residues and has a significantly bent structure, even in the oxidized state. The present study shows that this bending of the flavin imparts a significant destabilization (approximately 5 kcal/mol) to the oxidized state. The reduction potential of lumiflavin was also computed using DFT (M06-L and B3LYP functionals with 6-31+G(d,p) basis set) with the SM6 continuum solvation model, and the results are in good agreement with results from explicit free-energy simulations, which supports the conclusion that the SCC-DFTB/MM computation is reasonably accurate for both 1e(-)/1H+ and 2e(-)/2H+ reduction processes. These results suggest that the first coupled electron-proton addition is stepwise for both the free and the two enzyme-bound flavins. In contrast, the second coupled electron-proton addition is also stepwise for the free flavin but is likely to be concerted when the flavin is bound to either the dehydrogenase or the oxidase enzyme.     

弱氢键作用对硫脲水溶液拉曼光谱影响的密度泛函理论计算

将拉曼光谱和密度泛函理论(DFT)计算结合能够把拉曼谱峰和分子结构及分子间氢键作用之间的变化联系起来,反映分子周围的结构信息.本文通过理论计算水分子和硫脲形成复合物的拉曼光谱,并结合实验报道的拉曼光谱,探究硫脲基频对分子局域结构的依赖性.通过轨道分析,发现水分子的氢键作用可以引起硫脲的前线轨道对易,这将影响到硫脲的拉曼光谱性质.最后计算也表明在中性水溶液中由于大的正Gibbs自由能变,硫脲不易发生异构转变.     

弱氢键作用对硫脲水溶液拉曼光谱影响的密度泛函理论计算

将拉曼光谱和密度泛函理论(DFT)计算结合能够把拉曼谱峰和分子结构及分子间氢键作用之间的变化联系起来, 反映分子周围的结构信息. 本文通过理论计算水分子和硫脲形成复合物的拉曼光谱, 并结合实验报道的拉曼光谱, 探究硫脲基频对分子局域结构的依赖性. 通过轨道分析, 发现水分子的氢键作用可以引起硫脲的前线轨道对易, 这将影响到硫脲的拉曼光谱性质. 最后计算也表明在中性水溶液中由于大的正Gibbs 自由能变, 硫脲不易发生异构转变.     

Hybrid QM/MM simulation of the hydration phenomena of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine headgroup

The polar headgroup of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) molecule both in gas phase and aqueous solution is investigated by the hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) method, in which the polar head of DPPC molecule and the bound water molecules are treated with density functional theory (DFT), while the apolar hydrocarbon chain of DPPC molecule is treated with MM method. It is demonstrated that the hybrid QM/MM method is both accurate and efficient to describe the conformations of DPPC headgroup. Folded structures of headgroup are found in gas phase calculations. In this work, both monohydration and polyhydration phenomena are investigated. In monohydration, different water association sites are studied. Both the hydration energy and the quantum properties of DPPC and water molecules are calculated at the DFT level of theory after geometry optimization. The binding force of monohydration is estimated by using the scan method. In polyhydration, more extended conformations are found and hydration energies in different polyhydration styles are estimated.     

Optimized quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics strategies for nitrile vibrational probes: acetonitrile and para-tolunitrile in water and tetrahydrofuran

The nitrile (Ctriple bondN) group is a powerful probe of structure and dynamics because its vibrational frequency is extraordinarily sensitive to the electrostatic and chemical characteristics of its local environment. For example, site-specific nitrile labels are useful indicators of protein structure because their infrared (IR) absorption spectra can clearly distinguish between solvent-exposed residues and residues buried in the hydrophobic core of a protein. In this work, three variants of the optimized quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (OQM/MM) technique for computing Ctriple bondN vibrational frequencies were developed and assessed for acetonitrile in water. For the most robust variant, the transferability of the OQM/MM methodology to different solutes and solvents was evaluated by simulating the IR absorption spectra of para-tolunitrile in water and tetrahydrofuran and comparing to experiment and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The OQM/MM frequencies compared favorably to DFT for para-tolunitrile/water, and the calculated IR absorption spectra are in qualitative agreement with experiment. This suggests that a single parametrization of the OQM/MM technique is reasonable for the calculation of nitrile line shapes when the probe is attached to different chemical moieties and when the label experiences local environments of different polarity.     

QM/MM study of the absorption spectra of DsRed.M1 chromophores

We report geometries and vertical excitation energies for the red and green chromophores of the DsRed.M1 protein in the gas phase and in the solvated protein environment. Geometries are optimized using density functional theory (DFT, B3LYP functional) for the isolated chromophores and combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods for the protein (B3LYP/MM). Vertical excitation energies are computed using DFT/MRCI, OM2/MRCI, and TDDFT as QM methods. In the case of the red chromophore, there is a general blue shift in the excitation energies when going from the isolated chromophore to the protein, which is caused both by structural changes and by electrostatic interactions with the environment. For the lowest ππ* transition, these two factors contribute to a similar extent to the overall DFT/MRCI shift of 0.4 eV. An enlargement of the QM region to include active‐site residues does not change the DFT/MRCI excitation energies much. The DFT/MRCI results are closest to experiment for both chromophores. OM2/MRCI and TDDFT overestimate the first vertical excitation energy by 0.3–0.5 and 0.2–0.4 eV, respectively, relative to the experimental or DFT/MRCI values. The experimental gap of 0.35 eV between the lowest ππ* excitation energies of the red (cis‐acylimine) and green (trans‐peptide) forms is well reproduced by DFT/MRCI and TDDFT (0.32 and 0.37 eV, respectively). A histogram spectrum for an equal mixture of the two forms, generated by OM2/MRCI calculations on 450 snapshots along molecular dynamics trajectories, matches the experimental spectrum quite well, with a gap of 0.23 eV and an overall blue shift of about 0.3 eV. DFT/MRCI appears as an attractive choice for calculating excitation energies in fluorescent proteins, without the shortcomings of TDDFT and computationally more affordable than CASSCF‐based approaches. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

A conclusive mechanism of the photoinduced reaction cascade in blue light using flavin photoreceptors

On the basis of extensive first-principle calculations within the framework of quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM), a conclusive mechanism for the formation of the signaling state of blue light using flavin (BLUF) domain proteins is proposed which is compatible with the experimental data presently available. Time-dependent density functional, as well as advanced coupled cluster response theory was employed for the QM part in order to describe the relevant excited states. One of the key residues involved in the mechanism is the glutamine adjacent to the flavin chromophore. The reaction cascade, triggered by the initial photoexcitation of the flavin chromophore, involves isomerization of this residue but no rotation as assumed previously. The fact that only the environment, but not the flavin chromophore by itself, is chemically transformed along the individual steps of the mechanism is unique for biological photoreceptors. The final isomer of the glutamine tautomer, i.e., the imidic acid, is further stabilized by the interchange of a methionine residue in the binding pocket with a tryptophan residue. The flip of these two residues might be the trigger for the large conformational change of this protein which is consequently transmitted as the signal to the biological environment.