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Search results for: molecular-dynamics
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Correlated Particle Motion and THz Spectral Response of Supercritical Water
PublicationMolecular dynamics simulations of supercritical water reveal distinctly different distance-dependent modulations of dipolar response and correlations in particle motion compared to ambient conditions. The strongly perturbed H-bond network of water at supercritical conditions allows for considerable translationaland rotational freedom of individual molecules. These changes give rise to substantially different infrared spectra and...
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Principles of target DNA cleavage and the role of Mg2+ in the catalysis of CRISPR–Cas9
PublicationAt the core of the CRISPR–Cas9 genome-editing technology, the endonuclease Cas9 introduces site-specific breaks in DNA. However, precise mechanistic information to ameliorate Cas9 function is still missing. Here, multimicrosecond molecular dynamics, free energy and multiscale simulations are combined with solution NMR and DNA cleavage experiments to resolve the catalytic mechanism of target DNA cleavage. We show that the conformation...
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Why Are Left-Handed G-Quadruplexes Scarce?
PublicationG-quadruplexes (G4s) are nucleic acid structures crucial for the regulation of gene expression and genome maintenance. While they hold promise as nanodevice components, achieving desired G4 folds requires understanding the interplay between stability and structural properties, like helicity. Although right-handed G4 structures dominate the experimental data, the molecular basis for this preference over left-handed helicity is unclear....
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Molecular simulations study of ligand-release mechanism in an odorant-binding protein from the southern house mosquito
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Rotational state-changing collisions of C2H− and C2N− anions with He under interstellar and cold ion trap conditions: A computational comparison
PublicationWe present an extensive range of quantum calculations for the state-changing rotational dynamics involving two simple molecular anions that are expected to play some role in the evolutionary analysis of chemical networks in the interstellar environments, C2H− (X1Σ+) and C2N− (X3Σ−), but for which inelastic rates are only known for C2H−. The same systems are also of direct interest in modeling selective photo-detachment experiments...
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Long‐time scale simulations of virus‐like particles from three human‐norovirus strains
PublicationThe dynamics of the virus like particles (VLPs) corresponding to the GII.4 Houston, GII.2 SMV, and GI.1 Norwalk strains of human noroviruses (HuNoV) that cause gastroenteritis was investigated by means of long-time (about 30 μs in the laboratory timescale) molecular dynamics simulations with the coarse-grained UNRES force field. The main motion of VLP units turned out to be the bending at the junction between the P1 subdomain (that...
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UNRES-GPU for Physics-Based Coarse-Grained Simulations of Protein Systems at Biological Time- and Size-Scales
PublicationThe dynamics of the virus like particles (VLPs) corresponding to the GII.4 Houston, GII.2 SMV, and GI.1 Norwalk strains of human noroviruses (HuNoV) that cause gastroenteritis was investigated by means of long-time (about 30 μs in the laboratory timescale) molecular dynamics simulations with the coarse-grained UNRES force field. The main motion of VLP units turned out to be the bending at the junction between the P1 subdomain (that...
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Why is the cubic structure preferred in newly formed ice?
PublicationMolecular dynamics was employed to explain the preference for the cubic structure in newly formed crystals of ice. The results showed that in supercooled liquid water the molecules connected by hydrogen bonds are more likely to adopt relative orientations similar to the ones characteristic for cubic ice. The observed preference for certain relative orientations of molecules in the hydrogen-bonded pairs results in the higher probability...
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Micelle-bound conformations of neurohypophyseal hormone analogues modified with a Cα-disubstituted residue: NMR and molecular modelling studies
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Molecular transformation of dissolved organic matter in manganese ore-mediated constructed wetlands for fresh leachate treatment
PublicationThe organic matter (OM) and nitrogen in Fresh leachate (FL) from waste compression sites pose environmental and health risks. Even though the constructed wetland (CW) can efficiently remove these pollutants, the molecular-level transformations of dissolved OM (DOM) in FL remain uncertain. This study reports the molecular dynamics of DOM and nitrogen removal during FL treatment in CWs. Two lab-scale vertical-flow CW systems were...
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The Effect of Sterols on Amphotericin B Self-Aggregation in a Lipid Bilayer as Revealed by Free Energy Simulations
PublicationAmphotericin B (AmB) is an effective but toxic antifungal drug, known to increase the permeability of the cell membrane, presumably by assembling into transmembrane pores in a sterol-dependent manner. The aggregation of AmB molecules in a phospholipid bilayer is, thus, crucial for the drug’s activity. To provide an insight into the molecular nature of this process, here, we report an atomistic molecular dynamics simulation study...
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Effect of osmolytes on the thermal stability of proteins: replica exchange simulations of Trp-cage in urea and betaine solutions
PublicationAlthough osmolytes are known to modulate the folding equilibrium, the molecular mechanism of their effect on thermal denaturation of proteins is still poorly understood. Here, we simulated the thermal denaturation of a small model protein (Trp-cage) in the presence of denaturing (urea) and stabilizing (betaine) osmolytes, using the all-atom replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations. We found that urea destabilizes Trp-cage...
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Targeting Spike‐ACE2 Interface of SARS‐CoV‐2 and its Omicron Variant: A Comparative Screening of Potential Inhibitors for Existing and Anticipating Variants Using Molecular Modelling Approach
PublicationThe recent COVID pandemic has shown major impact on public health and economic crisis. Despite the development of many vaccines and drugs against the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 2, the pandemic still persists. The continued spread of the virus is largely driven by the emergence of viral variants such as α, β, γ, delta, epsilon spike, omicron and its subvariants (BA.1,2,3) which can evade the current vaccines...
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Tunable Dielectric Switching of (Quinuclidinium)[MnCl4] Hybrid Compounds
PublicationInorganic−organic hybrid QMnCl (Q = quinuclidinium) crystals were synthesized and characterized. The X-ray and variable-temperature IR/Raman analysis demonstrate that the crystals undergo a reversible structural phase transition, which originates from an order−disorder process and is related to the dynamics of the organic Q cation. Dielectric function measurements disclose a switchability between low (“OFF”) and high (“ON”) dielectric...
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Improvements to the two-phase sandwich method for calculating the melting points of pure metals
PublicationThe thermophysical properties of metal alloys are often investigated via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations.An exact and reliable estimation of the thermophysical parameters from the MD data requires a properly and carefullyelaborated methodology. In this paper, an improved two-phase sandwich method for the determination of the metal meltingtemperature is proposed, based on the solid-liquid equilibrium theory. The new method was...
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Localization and Orientation of Xanthophylls in a Lipid Bilayer
PublicationXanthophylls (polar carotenoids) play diverse biological roles, among which are modulation of the physical properties of lipid membranes and protection of biomembranes against oxidative damage. Molecular mechanisms underlying these functions are intimately related to the localization and orientation of xanthophyll molecules in lipid membranes. In the present work, we address the problem of localization and orientation of two xanthophylls...
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Why do G-quadruplexes dimerize through the 5’-ends? Driving forces for G4 DNA dimerization examined in atomic detail
PublicationG-quadruplexes (G4) are secondary structures formed by guanine-rich nucleic acid sequences and shown to exist in living cells where they participate in regulation of gene expression and chromosome maintenance. G-quadruplexes with solvent-exposed guanine tetrads show the tendency to associate together through cofacial stacking, which may be important for packaging of G4-forming sequences and allows for the design of higher-order...
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Study of Icosahedral Clusters in Close-packed Simple Liquids
PublicationThe local structure of liquid copper was determined using Steinhardt order parameters, with particular attention paid to icosahedral clusters. The positions of atoms were obtained from three sets of molecular dynamics simulations, with the forces obtained from: the Sutton-Chen (SC) potential, the Naval Research Laboratory total energy tight-binding (NRL-TB) method and the divide-and-conquer learn-on-the-fly (DCLOTF) method, respectively....
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Short-range order structure and free volume distribution in liquid bismuth: X-ray diffraction and computer simulations studies
PublicationThe structure of liquid bismuth was studied by X-ray diffraction and computer simulation methods. The contraction of the atomic structure within the first coordination sphere in the temperature interval of 575- 1225 K is reported. The temperature dependencies of the coordination numbers and of the free volume are analysed. On the basis of the temperature dependencies of the free volume, the temperature dependencies of viscosity...
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DNAffinity: a machine-learning approach to predict DNA binding affinities of transcription factors
PublicationWe present a physics-based machine learning approach to predict in vitro transcription factor binding affinities from structural and mechanical DNA properties directly derived from atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. The method is able to predict affinities obtained with techniques as different as uPBM, gcPBM and HT-SELEX with an excellent performance, much better than existing algorithms. Due to its nature, the method can...
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Efficient synthesis and antifungal investigation of nucleosides’ quaternary ammonium salt derivatives
PublicationQuaternary ammonium salts are a group of compounds with diverse biological properties, the most important of which are their antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal activities. The quaternization reactions of 5'-O-tosyl derivatives of uridine and thymidine with triethylamine, trimethylamine, 4-(N ,N -dimethylamino)pyridine, 2-methylpyridine, and pyridine are described in this article. Two of the synthesized compounds are exceptional...
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Lattice dynamics of Mg2SiO4
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Coarse-grained simulation - an efficient approach for studying motions of large proteins
PublicationOne of the most important challenges in performing Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations of large protein complexes is to accommodate the model accuracy and the simulation timescale. Hitherto, for the most relevant dynamics of protein aggregates in an explicit aqueous environment, the timescale reachable for the all-atoms simulations is of hundreds of nanoseconds. This range is four to six orders of magnitude smaller than processes...
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In-depth characterization of icosahedral ordering in liquid copper
PublicationThe presence of icosahedral ordering in liquid copper at temperatures close to the melting point is now well-established both experimentally and through computer simulation. However, a more elaborate analysis of local icosahedral and icosahedron-like structures, together with a system for classifying such structures based on some measure of "icosahedrity", has so far been conspicuously absent in the literature. Similarly, the dynamics...
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Molecular modeling study of tectoquinone and acteoside from Tectona grandis linn: a new SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitor against COVID-19
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Nonlinear Influence of Sound on the Vibrational Energy of Molecules in a Relaxing Gas
PublicationDynamics of a weakly nonlinear and weakly dispersive flow of a gas where molecular vibrational relaxation takes place is studied. Variations in the vibrational energy in the field of intense sound is considered. These variations are caused by a nonlinear transfer of the acoustic energy into energy of vibrational degrees of freedom in a relaxing gas. The final dynamic equation which describes this is instantaneous, it includes a...
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Mechanism of reaction of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from SARS-CoV-2
PublicationWe combine molecular dynamics, statistical mechanics, and hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations to describe mechanistically the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). Our study analyzes the binding mode of both natural triphosphate substrates as well as remdesivir triphosphate (the active form of drug), which is bound preferentially over ATP by RdRp while...
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The Role of Electrostatics in Enzymes: Do Biomolecular Force Fields Reflect Protein Electric Fields?
PublicationPreorganization of large, directionally oriented, electric fields inside protein active sites has been proposed as a crucial contributor to catalytic mechanism in many enzymes, and it may be efficiently investigated at the atomistic level with molecular dynamics simulations. Here, we evaluate the ability of the AMOEBA polarizable force field, as well as the additive Amber ff14SB and Charmm C36m models, to describe the electric...
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Role of cholesterol in substrate recognition by -secretase
Publication-Secretase is an enzyme known to cleave multiple substrates within their transmembrane domains, with the amyloid precursor protein of Alzheimer’s Disease among the most prominent examples. The activity of -secretase strictly depends on the membrane cholesterol content, yet the mechanistic role of cholesterol in the substrate binding and cleavage remains unclear. In this work, we used all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to examine...
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Visualizing spatially decomposed intermolecular correlations in the infrared spectra of aprotic liquids
PublicationInfrared (IR) spectroscopy is commonly used to study intermolecular interactions in the liquid phase, including solvation phenomena. On the other hand, ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations offer the possibility to obtain IR spectra from first principles. Surpassing the experiment, AIMD simulations can deliver additional information on the spatial intermolecular correlations underlying the IR spectrum of the liquid. Although...
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Are stabilizing osmolytes preferentially excluded from the protein surface? FTIR and MD studies
PublicationInteractions between osmolytes and hen egg white lysozyme in aqueous solutions were studied by means of FTIR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics. A combination of difference spectra method and chemometric analysis of spectroscopic data was used to determine the number of osmolyte molecules interacting with the protein, and the preferential interaction coefficient in presented systems. Both osmolytes – L-proline and trimethylamine-N-oxide...
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The complete stereochemistry of the antibiotic candicidin A3 (syn. ascosin A3, levorin A3)
PublicationHerein, the stereostructure of the aromatic heptaene macrolide (AHM) antifungal antibiotic candicidin A3 (syn. ascosin A3, levorin A3) has been established upon the 2D NMR studies, consisting of DQF-COSY, TOCSY, ROESY, HSQC and HMBC experiments, as well as upon extensive molecular dynamics simulations. The geometry of the heptaenic chromophore was defined as: (22E, 24E, 26Z, 28Z, 30E, 32E, 34E). The previously unreported absolute...
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Structure of partially reduced xPbO (1-x)SiO2 glasses: combined EXAFS and MD study
PublicationWykorzystując połączenie metody EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption finestructure) i symulacji MD (molecular dynamics) zbadano strukturęczęściowo zredukowanych szkieł ołowiowo-krzemianowych o różnejstechiometrii wyjściowej. W wyniku analizy uzyskano szczegółowyopis struktury lokalnej wokół atomów ołowiu i jej zmiany w funkcjiskładu szkła i poziomu redukcji. Określono również jaką tendencjędo aglomeracji w metaliczne klastry wykazują...
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Water Behavior Near the Lipid Bilayer
PublicationIn this chapter, we focus on the dynamics of water molecules situated in the vicinity of a phospholipid bilayer. Using a molecular dynamics simulation method, we studied interactions between water and the bilayer and tracked trajectories of the water molecules. Based on the hypothesis that molecules trapped inside the bilayer make different motions than the ones which are either attached to the surface or move freely in the water...
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Ipertrofan Revisited—The Proposal of the Complete Stereochemistry of Mepartricin A and B
PublicationBeing a methyl ester of partricin, the mepartricin complex is the active substance of a drug called Ipertrofan (Tricandil), which was proven to be useful in treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia and chronic nonbacterial prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Nevertheless, no direct structural evidence on the stereochemistry of its components has been presented to date. In this contribution, we have conducted detailed, NMR-driven...
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Structural, functional, and stability change predictions in human telomerase upon specific point mutations,
PublicationOverexpression of telomerase is one of the hallmarks of human cancer. Telomerase is important for maintaining the integrity of the ends of chromosomes, which are called telomeres. A growing number of human disease syndromes are associated with organ failure caused by mutations in telomerase (hTERT or hTR). Mutations in telomerase lead to telomere shortening by decreasing the stability of the telomerase complex, reducing its accumulation,...
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Mechanochemical Energy Transduction during the Main Rotary Step in the Synthesis Cycle of F1-ATPase
PublicationF1-ATPase is a highly efficient molecular motor that can synthesize ATP driven by a mechanical torque. Its ability to function reversibly in either direction requires tight mechanochemical coupling between the catalytic domain and the rotating central shaft, as well as temporal control of substrate binding and product release. Despite great efforts and significant progress, the molecular details of this synchronized and fine-tuned...
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Central-force decomposition of spline-based modified embedded atom method potential
PublicationCentral-force decompositions are fundamental to the calculation of stress fields in atomic systems by means of Hardy stress. We derive expressions for a central-force decomposition of the spline-based modified embedded atom method (s-MEAM) potential. The expressions are subsequently simplified to a form that can be readily used in molecular-dynamics simulations, enabling the calculation of the spatial distribution of stress in...
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Hyaluronan-Chondroitin Sulfate Anomalous Crosslinking Due to Temperature Changes
PublicationGlycosaminoglycans are a wide class of biopolymers showing great lubricating properties due to their structure and high affinity to water. Two of them, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate, play an important role in articular cartilage lubrication. In this work, we present results of the all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of both molecules placed in water-based solution. To mimic changes of the physiological conditions,...
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Entropy of water calculated from harmonic approximation: estimation of the accuracy of method
PublicationSome molecular dynamics simulations were performed for liquid TIP4P and SPC water at a constant density (1.00 g/cm(3)) and within the temperature range of 5-90 degrees C. By using harmonic approximation, both the entropy of water S-H and the specific heat c(v) were calculated, and the results were compared to literature data. It was found that harmonic approximation overestimates absolute entropy of TIP4P water by 5.6 J/mol K (similar...
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Interactions of telomeric proteins with nucleic acids: sequence recognition on intact and oxidatively damaged telomeres
PublicationTelomeres are complex nucleoprotein assemblies that play a vital role in the maintenance of functional ends of linear chromosomes. Telomeric DNA, composed of tandem repeats of the 5'-TTAGGG-3' motif, solves the so-called end replication problem: as chromosomes shorten with each cell division, no information is lost, and the telomere can be re-extended. In the cell, many protein factors regulate telomere length, nuclear positioning...
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Modelling charge transfer processes in C2+ -tetrahydrofuran collision for ion-induced radiation damage in DNA building blocks
PublicationInvestigations of collision-induced processes involving carbon ions and molecules of biological interest in particular DNA building blocks, are crucial to model the effect of radiation on cells in order to improve medical treatments for cancer therapy. Using carbon ions appears to be one of the most efficient ways to increase biological effectiveness to damage cancerous cells by irradiating deep-seated tumors. Therefore, interest...
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Folding‐upon‐repair DNA nanoswitches for monitoring DNA repair enzymes activity
PublicationWe demonstrate here a new class of DNA‐based nanoswitches that, upon enzymatic repair, could undergo a conformational change mechanism leading to a change in fluorescent signal. Such folding‐upon‐repair DNA nanoswitches are synthetic DNA sequences containing O6‐methyl‐guanine (O6‐MeG) nucleobases and labelled with a fluorophore/quencher optical pair. The nanoswitches are rationally designed so that only upon enzymatic demethylation...
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Water-mediated long-range interactions between the internal vibrations of remote proteins
PublicationIt is generally acknowledged that the mobility of protein atoms and the mobility of water molecules in the solvation layer are connected. In this article, we answer the question whether a similar interdependence exists between the motions of atoms of proteins separated by the hydration layers of variable thickness. The system consisted of a kinesin catalytic domain and a tubulin dimer. It was studied using molecular dynamics simulations....
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Non-ergodic fragmentation upon collision-induced activation of cysteine–water cluster cations
PublicationCysteine–water cluster cations Cys(H2O)3,6 + and Cys(H2O)3,6H+ are assembled in He droplets and probed by tandem mass spectrometry with collision-induced activation. Benchmark experimental data for this biologically important system are complemented with theory to elucidate the details of the collisioninduced activation process. Experimental energy thresholds for successive release of water are compared to water dissociation energies...
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Long-range, water-mediated interaction between a moderately active antifreeze protein molecule and the surface of ice
PublicationUsing molecular dynamics simulations, we show that a molecule of moderately active antifreeze protein (type III AFP, QAE HPLC-12 isoform) is able to interact with ice in an indirect manner. This interaction occurs between the ice binding site (IBS) of the AFP III molecule and the surface of ice, and it is mediated by liquid water which separates these surfaces. As a result, the AFP III molecule positions itself at a specific orientation...
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Dominant Pathways of Adenosyl Radical-Induced DNA Damage Revealed by QM/MM Metadynamics
PublicationBrominated nucleobases sensitize double stranded DNA to hydrated electrons, one of the dominant genotoxic species produced in hypoxic cancer cells during radiotherapy. Such radiosensitizers can therefore be administered locally to enhance treatment efficiency within the solid tumor while protecting the neighboring tissue. When a solvated electron attaches to 8-bromoadenosine, a potential sensitizer, the dissociation of bromide...
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Establishing the allosteric mechanism in CRISPR‐Cas9
PublicationAllostery is a fundamental property of proteins, which regulates biochemical information transfer between spatially distant sites. Here, we report on the critical role of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in discovering the mechanism of allosteric communication within CRISPR‐Cas9, a leading genome editing machinery with enormous promises for medicine and biotechnology. MD revealed how allostery intervenes during at least three...
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Structural and dynamic properties of water within the solvation layer around various conformations of the glycine-based polypeptide
PublicationSeveral conformations of the solvated glycine-based polypeptides were investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Some properties of water in the neighbouring space around these molecules were investigated. It was found, that water forms a well-defined layer - the first solvation shell - around the peptide molecule, and thickness of this layer is independent of the peptide structure, and it equals to approximately 0.28 nm....
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Unusual Influence of Fluorinated Anions on the Stretching Vibrations of Liquid Water
PublicationInfrared (IR) spectroscopy is a commonly used and invaluable tool in the studies of solvation phenomena in aqueous solutions. Concurrently, ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations deliver the solvation shell picture at a molecular detail level and allow for a consistent decomposition of the theoretical IR spectrum into underlying spatial correlations. Here, we demonstrate how the novel spectral decomposition techniques...