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Claveras Cabezudo A, Athanasiou C, Tsengenes A, Wade RC. Scaling Protein-Water Interactions in the Martini 3 Coarse-Grained Force Field to Simulate Transmembrane Helix Dimers in Different Lipid Environments. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:2109-2119. [PMID: 36821400 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Martini 3, the latest version of the widely used Martini force field for coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, is a promising tool to investigate proteins in phospholipid bilayers. However, simulating other lipid environments, such as detergent micelles, presents challenges due to the absence of validated parameters for their constituent molecules. Here, we propose parameters for the micelle-forming surfactant, dodecylphosphocholine (DPC). These result in micelle assembly with aggregation numbers in agreement with the experimental values. However, we identified a lack of hydrophobic interactions between transmembrane helix protein dimers and the tails of DPC molecules, preventing insertion and stabilization of the protein in the micelles. This problem was also observed for protein insertion by self-assembling 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) or dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) bilayers. We propose the reduction of the nonbonded interactions between protein and water beads by 10% as a simple and effective solution to this problem that enables protein encapsulation in phospholipid micelles and bilayers without altering protein dimerization or the bilayer structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ainara Claveras Cabezudo
- Molecular and Cellular Modeling Group, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, 69118 Heidelberg, Germany.,Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christina Athanasiou
- Molecular and Cellular Modeling Group, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, 69118 Heidelberg, Germany.,Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.,Heidelberg Biosciences International Graduate School, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 501, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Alexandros Tsengenes
- Molecular and Cellular Modeling Group, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, 69118 Heidelberg, Germany.,Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.,Heidelberg Biosciences International Graduate School, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 501, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rebecca C Wade
- Molecular and Cellular Modeling Group, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Schloss-Wolfsbrunnenweg 35, 69118 Heidelberg, Germany.,Faculty of Biosciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.,Center for Molecular Biology (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 282, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.,Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR), Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 205, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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