Computational studies of transport in ion channels using metadynamics.

Molecular dynamics simulations have played a fundamental role in numerous fields of science by providing insights into the structure and dynamics of complex systems at the atomistic level. However, exhaustive sampling by standard molecular dynamics is in most cases computationally prohibitive, and t...

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Main Authors: Furini, S, Domene, C
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2016
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author Furini, S
Domene, C
author_facet Furini, S
Domene, C
author_sort Furini, S
collection OXFORD
description Molecular dynamics simulations have played a fundamental role in numerous fields of science by providing insights into the structure and dynamics of complex systems at the atomistic level. However, exhaustive sampling by standard molecular dynamics is in most cases computationally prohibitive, and the time scales accessible remain significantly shorter than many biological processes of interest. In particular, in the study of ion channels, realistic models to describe permeation and gating require accounting for large numbers of particles and accurate interaction potentials, which severely limits the length of the simulations. To overcome such limitations, several advanced methods have been proposed among which is metadynamics. In this algorithm, an external bias potential to accelerate sampling along selected collective variables is introduced. This bias potential discourages visiting regions of the configurational space already explored. In addition, the bias potential provides an estimate of the free energy as a function of the collective variables chosen once the simulation has converged. In this review, recent contributions of metadynamics to the field of ion channels are discussed, including how metadynamics has been used to search for transition states, predict permeation pathways, treat conformational flexibility that underlies the coupling between gating and permeation, or compute free energy of permeation profiles. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Membrane Proteins edited by J.C. Gumbart and Sergei Noskov.
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spelling oxford-uuid:360108b2-c20b-40f1-aa3f-fe9000c8e0212022-03-26T13:35:07ZComputational studies of transport in ion channels using metadynamics.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:360108b2-c20b-40f1-aa3f-fe9000c8e021EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordElsevier2016Furini, SDomene, CMolecular dynamics simulations have played a fundamental role in numerous fields of science by providing insights into the structure and dynamics of complex systems at the atomistic level. However, exhaustive sampling by standard molecular dynamics is in most cases computationally prohibitive, and the time scales accessible remain significantly shorter than many biological processes of interest. In particular, in the study of ion channels, realistic models to describe permeation and gating require accounting for large numbers of particles and accurate interaction potentials, which severely limits the length of the simulations. To overcome such limitations, several advanced methods have been proposed among which is metadynamics. In this algorithm, an external bias potential to accelerate sampling along selected collective variables is introduced. This bias potential discourages visiting regions of the configurational space already explored. In addition, the bias potential provides an estimate of the free energy as a function of the collective variables chosen once the simulation has converged. In this review, recent contributions of metadynamics to the field of ion channels are discussed, including how metadynamics has been used to search for transition states, predict permeation pathways, treat conformational flexibility that underlies the coupling between gating and permeation, or compute free energy of permeation profiles. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Membrane Proteins edited by J.C. Gumbart and Sergei Noskov.
spellingShingle Furini, S
Domene, C
Computational studies of transport in ion channels using metadynamics.
title Computational studies of transport in ion channels using metadynamics.
title_full Computational studies of transport in ion channels using metadynamics.
title_fullStr Computational studies of transport in ion channels using metadynamics.
title_full_unstemmed Computational studies of transport in ion channels using metadynamics.
title_short Computational studies of transport in ion channels using metadynamics.
title_sort computational studies of transport in ion channels using metadynamics
work_keys_str_mv AT furinis computationalstudiesoftransportinionchannelsusingmetadynamics
AT domenec computationalstudiesoftransportinionchannelsusingmetadynamics