Development of polyphosphate parameters for use with the AMBER force field

Accurate force fields are essential for reproducing the conformational and dynamic behavior of condensed-phase systems. The popular AMBER force field has parameters for monophosphates, but they do not extend well to polyphorylated molecules such as ADP and ATP. This work presents parameters for the partial charges, atom types, bond angles, and torsions in simple polyphosphorylated compounds. The parameters are based on molecular orbital calculations of methyldiphosphate and methyltriphosphate at the RHF/6-31+G* level. The new parameters were fit to the entire potential energy surface (not just minima) with an RMSD of 0.62 kcal/mol. This is exceptional agreement and a significant improvement over the current parameters that produce a potential surface with an RMSD of 7.8 kcal/mol to that of the ab initio calculations. Testing has shown that the parameters are transferable and capable of reproducing the gas-phase conformations of inorganic diphosphate and triphosphate. Also, the parameters are an improvement over existing parameters in the condensed phase as shown by minimizations of ATP bound in several proteins. These parameters are intended for use with the existing AMBER 94/99 force field, and they will permit users to apply AMBER to a wider variety of important enzymatic systems.     

Evaluations of AMBER force field parameters by MINA approach for copper-based nucleases

We describe the development of the AMBER force field parameters for 46 nucleases involving most kinds of copper nucleases with high DNA affinities and specificities by MINA approach that could evaluate accurate force constants for batch bonds/angles on the basis of energies of three adjacent lengths/angles geometries. The molecular mechanics (MM) and molecular dynamic simulations on adducts of the 21 representative copper-based nucleases with DNA are in excellent agreement with those of experimental results. Furthermore, to validate the evaluated parameters, the studied structures performed frequency analysis together with normal mode calculations in quantum mechanics and MM calculations. The force field parameters evaluated in this work provide an extension of AMBER force field, and the results of molecular dynamics simulations of adduct of copper nuclease and duplex DNA illustrate the potential utility of these parameters.     

A three-point method for evaluations of AMBER force field parameters: an application to copper-based artificial nucleases

We present the theoretical evaluation of new AMBER force field parameters for 12 copper-based nucleases with bis(2-pyridylmethyl) amine, 2,2′-dipyridylamine, imidazole, N,N-bis(2-benzimidazolylmethyl) amine and their derivative ligands based on first-principles electronic structure calculations at the B3LYP level of theory. A three-point approach was developed to accurately and efficiently evaluate the force field parameters for the copper-based nucleases with the ligands. The protocol of RESP atomic charges has been used to calculate the atomic charge distributions of the studied copper-based nucleases. The evaluated force field parameters and RESP atomic charges have been successfully applied in the testing molecular mechanics calculations and molecular dynamics simulations on the nucleases and the nuclease–DNA complexes, respectively. It has been demonstrated that the developed force field parameters and atomic charges can consistently reproduce molecular geometries and conformations in the available X-ray crystal structures and can reasonably predict the interaction properties of the nucleases with DNA. The developed force field parameters in this work provide an extension of the AMBER force field for its application to computational modeling and simulations of the copper-based artificial nucleases associated with DNA.     

Ab initio calculations on peptide-derived oxazoles and thiazoles: Improved molecular mechanics parameters for the AMBER* force field

Ab initio calculations at the RHF/6-31G* and MP2/6- 31G*//RHF/6-31G* levels of theory are performed for 2-methyl-4-carboxamido-oxazoles and -thiazoles, including rotational profiles for the ring-carboxamide bond, which showed the expected conjugation and hydrogen bonding effects. On the basis of these data, newly optimised stretch, bend and torsional parameters for the AMBER* force field are derived, along with CHELPG-fitted partial atomic charges.     

Strike a balance: optimization of backbone torsion parameters of AMBER polarizable force field for simulations of proteins and peptides

Based on the AMBER polarizable model (ff02), we have re-optimized the parameters related to the main-chain (Phi, Psi) torsion angles by fitting to the Boltzmann-weighted average quantum mechanical (QM) energies of the important regions (i.e., beta, P(II), alpha(R), and alpha(L) regions). Following the naming convention of the AMBER force field series, this release will be called ff02pol.rl The force field has been assessed both by energetic comparison against the QM data and by the replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations of short alanine peptides in water. For Ace-Ala-Nme, the simulated populations in the beta, P(II) and alpha(R) regions were approximately 30, 43, and 26%, respectively. For Ace-(Ala)(7)-Nme, the populations in these three regions were approximately 24, 49, and 26%. Both were in qualitative agreement with the NMR and CD experimental conclusions. In comparison with the previous force field, ff02pol.rl demonstrated good balance among these three important regions. The optimized torsion parameters, together with those in ff02, allow us to carry out simulations on proteins and peptides with the consideration of polarization.     

Symmetrization of the AMBER and CHARMM force fields

The AMBER and CHARMM force fields are analyzed from the viewpoint of the permutational symmetry of the potential for feasible exchanges of identical atoms and chemical groups in amino and nucleic acids. In each case, we propose schemes for symmetrizing the potentials, which greatly facilitate the bookkeeping associated with constructing kinetic transition networks via geometry optimization. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

New AMBER force field parameters of heme iron for cytochrome P450s determined by quantum chemical calculations of simplified models

The heme protein, cytochrome P450, is an oxidoreductase that plays an important role in drug metabolism. To model P450s using molecular mechanics methods and classical molecular dynamics simulations, force field parameters and atomic charges are required. Because these parameters are generally obtained by quantum chemical methods, an appropriate simplified model for the iron-porphyrin system was needed. In this study, two models with a five-coordinated Fe(III) mimicking the sextet spin state of P450s are proposed, which are optimized by semiempirical and ab initio unrestricted Hartree-Fock methods. The results produced using the simpler of the two models were similar to those of the more complex model; therefore, the more simplified model of P450 can be used without a loss of accuracy. Furthermore, several quantum chemical calculations were carried out on the simpler model to investigate which method was most suitable for iron-porphyrin systems. The results calculated by hybrid density functional theory (DFT), with the MIDI basis set for iron, reproduced the three-dimensional structures determined by X-ray diffraction and extended X-ray absorption fine-structure experiments. From these results, atomic charges and force-field parameters for molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics calculations were obtained.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-s-triazine (RDX) using a combined Sorescu-Rice-Thompson AMBER force field

We present the results of molecular dynamics simulations of crystalline hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-s-triazine (RDX) using the SRT-AMBER force field (P. M. Agrawal et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 5721), which combines the rigid-molecule force field developed by Sorescu-Rice-Thompson (D. C. Sorescu, B. M. Rice, and D. L. Thompson, J. Phys. Chem. B 1997, 101, 798) with the intramolecular interactions obtained from the Generalized AMBER Force Field (Wang et al., J. Comput. Chem. 2004, 25, 1157). The calculated crystal density at room conditions is about 10% lower than the measured value, while the lattice parameters and thermodynamic melting point are within about 5% at ambient pressure. The chair and inverted chair conformation, bond lengths, and bond angles of the RDX molecule are accurately predicted; however, there are some inaccuracies in the calculated orientations of the NO2 groups. The SRT-AMBER force field predicts overall reasonable results, but modifications, probably in the torsional parameters, are needed for a more accurate force field.     

Development of the force field parameters for phosphoimidazole and phosphohistidine

Phosphorylation of histidine-containing proteins is a key step in the mechanism of many phosphate transfer enzymes (kinases, phosphatases) and is the first stage in a wide variety of signal transduction cascades in bacteria, yeast, higher plants, and mammals. Studies of structural and dynamical aspects of such enzymes in the phosphorylated intermediate states are important for understanding the intimate molecular mechanisms of their functioning. Such information may be obtained via molecular dynamics and/or docking simulations, but in this case appropriate force field parameters for phosphohistidine should be explicitly defined. In the present article we describe development of the GROMOS96 force field parameters for phosphoimidazole molecule--a realistic model of the phosphohistidine side chain. The parameterization is based on the results of ab initio quantum chemical calculations with subsequent refinement and testing using molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics simulations. The set of force constants and equilibrium geometry is employed to derive force field for the phosphohistidine moiety. Resulting parameters and topology are incorporated into the molecular modeling package GROMACS and used in molecular dynamics simulations of a phosphohistidine-containing protein in explicit solvent.     

Modelling the interaction of several bisphosphonates with hydroxyapatite using the generalised AMBER force field

The ability of the Generalised AMBER Force Field (GAFF) of Kollman and co-workers to model the structures of bisphosphonate ligands, C(R₁)(R₂)(PO₃²⁻)₂, important compounds in the treatment of bone cancer, by molecular mechanics methods is evaluated. The structure of 50 bisphosphonates and nine bisphosphonate esters were predicted and compared to their crystal structures. Partial charges were assigned from a RHF/6-31G¹ single point calculation at the geometry of the crystal structure. Additional parameters required for GAFF were determined using the methods of the force field’s developers. The structures were found to be well replicated with virtually all bond lengths reproduced to within 0.015 Å, or within 1.2σ of the crystallographic mean. Bond angles were reproduced to within 1.9° (0.8σ). The observed gauche or anti conformation of the molecules was reproduced, although in several instances gauche conformations observed in the solid state energy-minimised into anti conformations, and vice versa. The interaction of MDP (R₁ = R₂ = H), HEDP (R₁ = OH, R₂ = CH₃), APD (R₁ = OH, R₂ =  (CH₂)₂NH₃⁺), alendronate (R₁ = OH, R₂ = (CH₂)₃NH₃⁺) and neridronate (R₁ = OH, R₂ = (CH₂)₅NH₃⁺) with the (001), (010) and (100) faces of hydroxyapaptite was examined by energy-minimising 20 random orientations of each ligand 20 Å from the mineral (where there is no interaction), and then at about 8 Å from the surface whereupon the ligand relaxes onto the surface. The difference in energy between the two systems is the interaction energy. In all cases interaction with hydroxyapatite caused a decrease in energy. When modelled with a dielectric constant of 78ε_o, non-bonded interactions dominate; electrostatic interactions become important when the dielectric constant is <10ε_o. Irrespective of the value of the dielectric constant used, the structure of the ligands on the hydroxyapatite surface is very similar. On the (001) face, both phosphonate groups interact near a surface Ca²⁺ ion. The magnitude of the exothermic interaction energy varies with molecular volume (MDP<HEDP<APD<alendronate) except for neridronate which interacts less effectively than alendronate because the long amino side chain folds in on itself and does not align with the surface of the mineral. The bisphosphonates adopt two conformations on the (010) face. In the first of these, found for MDP and 40% of the alendronate structures, both phosphonates interact with the surface and the side chain points away from the surface. Hence, the interaction energy is similar for both species. In the second conformation, adopted by the majority of ligands, one phosphonate and the Cα side chain interact with the surface. The interaction energy, the magnitude of which is very similar to that on the (001) face, increases with the molecular volume of the ligand, again with the exception of neridronate. Two conformations also occur on the (100) face. In the first conformation, only one of the phosphonate groups points towards the surface and the Cα side chain interacts with the surface; in the second conformation the Cα side chain interacts strongly with the surface and both phosphonate groups point away from the surface towards the solution. The first conformation, which is the more common, is energetically more favourable. Its magnitude is virtually insensitive to the nature of the side chain and is similar to the magnitude of the interaction energy on the other two faces. The magnitude of the second conformation increases with the size of the Cα side chain.     

Molecular mechanics. The MM3 force field for alkenes

The MM3 force field has been extended to include alkenes. Forty-five compounds were examined, and structures, conformational equilibria, heats of formation, and rotational barriers, were calculated. For a smaller representative group, the vibrational spectra and entropies were also calculated. In general, these quantities, except for the vibrational spectra, agree with available data to approximately within experimental error. The vibrational frequencies for a set of eight well-assigned structures were calculated to a root-mean-square error of 47 cm^?1.     

Optimization of CHARMM force field parameters for the chalcone fragment

In this work,we developed the CHARMM all-atom force field parameters for the nonstandard biological residue chalcone,followed by the standard protocol for the CHARMM27 force field development.Target data were generated via ab initio calculations at the MP2/6-31G* and HF/6-31G* levels.The reference data included interaction energies between water and the model compound F(a fragment of chalcone).Bond,angle,and torsion parameters were derived from the ab initio calculations and renormalized to maintain compatibility with the existing CHARMM27 parameters of standard residues.The optimized CHARMM parameters perform well in reproducing the target data.We expect that the extension of the CHARMM27 force field parameters for chalcone will facilitate the molecular simulation studies of the reaction mechanism of intramolecular cyclization of chalcone catalyzed by chalcone isomerase.     

Development and validation of empirical force field parameters for netropsin

The netropsin molecule preferentially binds to the four consecutive A.T base pairs of the DNA minor groove and could therefore inhibit the expression of specific genes. The understanding of its binding on a molecular level is indispensable for computer-aided design of new antitumor agents. This knowledge could be obtained via molecular dynamics (MD) and docking simulations, but in this case appropriate force field parameters for the netropsin molecule should be explicitly defined. Our parametrization was based on the results of quantum chemical calculations. The resulting set of parameters was able to reproduce bond lengths, bond angles, torsional angles of the ab initio minimized geometry within 0.03 A, 3 deg and 5 deg, respectively, and its vibrational frequencies with a relative error of 4.3% for low and 2.8% for high energy modes. To show the accuracy of the developed parameters we calculated an IR spectrum of the netropsin molecule using MD simulation and found it to be in good agreement with the experimental one. Finally, we performed a 10 ns long MD simulation of the netropsin-DNA complex immersed in explicit water. The overall complex conformation remained stable at all times, and its secondary structure was well retained.     

Development of force field parameters for molecular simulation of polylactide

Polylactide is a biodegradable polymer that is widely used for biomedical applications, and it is a replacement for some petroleum based polymers in applications that range from packaging to carpeting. Efforts to characterize and further enhance polylactide based systems using molecular simulations have to this point been hindered by the lack of accurate atomistic models for the polymer. Thus, we present force field parameters specifically suited for molecular modeling of PLA. The model, which we refer to as PLAFF3, is based on a combination of the OPLS and CHARMM force fields, with modifications to bonded and nonbonded parameters. Dihedral angle parameters were adjusted to reproduce DFT data using newly developed CMAP dihedral cross terms, and the model was further adjusted to reproduce experimentally resolved crystal structure conformations, melt density, volume expansivity, and the glass transition temperature of PLA. We recommend the use of PLAFF3 in modeling PLA in its crystalline or amorphous states and have provided the necessary input files required for the publicly available molecular dynamics code GROMACS.     

Molecular structure and force field of cerium tetrafluoride

Combined interpretation of electron diffraction and spectroscopic data for the CeF₄ molecule is reported. It is shown that the diffraction pattern corresponds to a tetrahedral structure of the molecule with the following effective configuration parameters (T=1180(50) K): r_g(Ce-F)=2.036(5) Å, r_g(F-F)=3.312(25) Å, l(Ce-F)=0.074(3) Å, l(F-F)=0.261(17) Å. The total force field of the CeF₄ molecule is found in a harmonic approximation. Possible participation of the Ce f-electrons in chemical bonding is discussed.     

Optimization and application of lithium parameters for the reactive force field, ReaxFF

To make a practical molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of the large-scale reactive chemical systems of Li-H and Li-C, we have optimized parameters of the reactive force field (ReaxFF) for these systems. The parameters for this force field were obtained from fitting to the results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations on the structures and energy barriers for a number of Li-H and Li-C molecules, including Li(2), LiH, Li(2)H(2), H(3)C-Li, H(3)C-H(2)C-Li, H(2)C=C-LiH, HCCLi, H(6)C(5)-Li, and Li(2)C(2), and to the equations of state and lattice parameters for condensed phases of Li. The accuracy of the developed ReaxFF was also tested by comparison to the dissociation energies of lithium-benzene sandwich compounds and the collision behavior of lithium atoms with a C(60) buckyball.     

Force field parameters for sulfates and sulfamates based on ab initio calculations: Extensions of AMBER and CHARMm fields

Ab initio self-consistent field (SCF) Hartree-Fock calculations of sulfates R? O? SO₃(?1) (R = Me, Et, i-Pr) and sulfamates R? NHSO₃(?1) (R = H, Me, Et, i-Pr) were performed at the 4-31G(*S*N) //3-21G(*S*N) basis set levels, where asterisks indicate d functions on sulfur and nitrogen atoms. These standard levels were determined by comparing calculation results with several basis sets up to MP2/6-31G*//6-31G*. Several conformations per compound were studied to obtain molecular geometries, rotational barriers, and potential derived point charges. In methyl sulfate, the rotational barrier around the C? O bond is 1.6 kcal/mol at the MP2 level and 1.4 kcal/mol at the standard level. Its ground state has one of three HCOS torsion angles trans and one of three COSO torsion angles trans. Rotation over 60° around the single O? S bond in the sulfate group costs 2.5 kcal/mol at the MP2 and 2.1 kcal/mol at the standard level. For ethyl sulfate, the calculated rotational barrier in going from the ground state, which has its CCOS torsion angle trans, to the syn-periplanar conformation (CCOS torsion angle cis) is 4.8 kcal/mol. However, a much lower barrier of 0.7 kcal/mol leads to a secondary gauchelike conformation about 0.4 kcal/mol above the ground state, with the CCOS torsion angle at 87.6°. Again, one of the COSO torsion angles is trans in the ground state, and the rotational barrier for a 60° rotation of the sulfate group amounts to 1.8 kcal/mol. For methyl sulfamate, the rotational barriers are 2.5 kcal/mol around the C? N bond and 3.3 kcal/mol around the N? S bond. This is noteworthy because sulfamate itself has a calculated rotational barrier around the N? S bond of only 1.7 kcal/mol. These and other data were used to parameterize the well-known empirical force fields AMBER and CHARMm. When the new fields were tested by means of vibrational frequency calculations at the 6-31G*//6-31G* level for methyl sulfate, sulfamate, and methyl sulfamate ground states, the frequencies compared favorably with the AMBER and CHARMm calculated frequencies. The transferability of the force parameters to β-D -glucose-6-sulfate and isopropyl sulfate appears to be better than to isopropyl sulfamate. © 1995 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Classical force field parameters for the heme prosthetic group of cytochrome c

Accurate force fields are essential for describing biological systems in a molecular dynamics simulation. To analyze the docking of the small redox protein cytochrome c (cyt c) requires simulation parameters for the heme in both the reduced and oxidized states. This work presents parameters for the partial charges and geometries for the heme in both redox states with ligands appropriate to cyt c. The parameters are based on both protein X-ray structures and ab initio density functional theory (DFT) geometry optimizations at the B3LYP/6-31G* level. The simulations with the new parameter set reproduce the geometries of the X-ray structures and the interaction energies between water and heme prosthetic group obtained from B3LYP/6-31G* calculations. The parameter set developed here will provide new insights into docking processes of heme containing redox proteins.     

Development of glycyl radical parameters for the OPLS-AA/L force field

On the basis of quantum chemical calculations C(alpha)-glycyl radical parameters have been developed for the OPLS-AA/L force field. The molecular mechanics hypersurface was fitted to the calculated quantum chemical surface by minimizing their molecular mechanics parameter dependent sum-of-squares deviations. To do this, a computer program in which the molecular mechanics energy derivatives with respect to the parameters were calculated analytically was developed, implementing the general method of Lifson and Warshel (J Chem Phys 1968, 49, 5116) for force field parameter optimization. This program, in principle, can determine the optimal parameter set in one calculation if enough representative value points on the quantum chemical potential energy surface are available and there is no linear dependency between the parameters. Some of the parameters in quantum calculations, including several new torsion types around a bond as well as angle parameters at a new central atom type, are not completely separable. Consequently, some restrictions and/or presumptions were necessary during parameter optimization. The relative OPLS-AA energies reproduced those calculated quantum chemically almost perfectly.