Ming-Liang Tan

Soft sticky dipole-quadrupole-octupole potential energy function for liquid water: an approximate moment expansion.

A new, efficient potential energy function for liquid water is presented here. The new model, which is referred here as the soft sticky dipole-quadrupole-octupole (SSDQO) model, describes a water molecule as a Lennard-Jones sphere with point dipole, quadrupole, and octupole moments. It is a single-point model and resembles the hard-sphere sticky dipole potential model for water by Bratko et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 83, 6367 (1985)] and the soft sticky dipole model by Ichiye and Liu [J. Phys. Chem. 100, 2723 (1996)] except now the sticky potential consists of an approximate moment expansion for the dimer interaction potential, which is much faster than the true moment expansion. The object here is to demonstrate that the SSDQO potential energy function can accurately mimic the potential energy function of a multipoint model using the moments of that model. First, the SSDQO potential energy function using the dipole, quadruple, and octupole moments from SPC/E, TIP3P, or TIP5P is shown to reproduce the dimer potential energy functions of the respective multipoint model. In addition, in Monte Carlo simulations of the pure liquid at room temperature, SSDQO reproduces radial distribution functions of the respective model. However, the Monte Carlo simulations using the SSDQO model are about three times faster than those using the three-point models and the long-range interactions decay faster for SSDQO (1/r(3) and faster) than for multipoint models (1/r). Moreover, the contribution of each moment to the energetics and other properties can be determined. Overall, the simplicity, efficiency, and accuracy of the SSDQO potential energy function make it potentially very useful for studies of aqueous solvation by computer simulations.

Dynamical properties of the soft sticky dipole-quadrupole-octupole water model: A molecular dynamics study

The dynamical properties of the soft sticky dipole-quadrupole-octupole (SSDQO) water model using SPC/E moments are calculated utilizing molecular dynamics simulations. This new potential for liquid water describes the water-water interactions by a Lennard-Jones term and a sticky potential, which is an approximate moment expansion with point dipole, quadrupole, and octupole moments, and reproduces radial distribution functions of pure liquid water using the moments of SPC/E [Ichiye and Tan, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 134504 (2006)]. The forces and torques of SSDQO water for the dipole-quadrupole, quadrupole-quadrupole, and dipole-octupole interactions are derived here. The simulations are carried out at 298 K in the microcanonical ensemble employing the Ewald method for the long-range dipole-dipole interactions. Here, various dynamical properties associated with translational and rotational motions of SSDQO water using the moments of SPC/E (SSDQO:SPC/E) water are compared with the results from SPC/E and also experiment. The self-diffusion coefficient of SSDQO:SPC/E water is found to be in excellent agreement with both SPC/E and experiment whereas the single particle orientational relaxation time for dipole vector is better than SPC/E water but it is somewhat smaller than experiment. The dielectric constant of SSDQO:SPC/E is essentially identical to SPC/E, and both are slightly lower than experiment. Also, molecular dynamics simulations of the SSDQO water model are found to be about twice as fast as three-site models such as SPC/E.

The Large Quadrupole of Water Molecules

Many quantum mechanical calculations indicate water molecules in the gas and liquid phase have much larger quadrupole moments than any of the common site models of water for computer simulations. Here, comparisons of multipoles from quantum mechanical∕molecular mechanical (QM∕MM) calculations at the MP2∕aug-cc-pVQZ level on a B3LYP∕aug-cc-pVQZ level geometry of a waterlike cluster and from various site models show that the increased square planar quadrupole can be attributed to the p-orbital character perpendicular to the molecular plane of the highest occupied molecular orbital as well as a slight shift of negative charge toward the hydrogens. The common site models do not account for the p-orbital type electron density and fitting partial charges of TIP4P- or TIP5P-type models to the QM∕MM dipole and quadrupole give unreasonable higher moments. Furthermore, six partial charge sites are necessary to account reasonably for the large quadrupole, and polarizable site models will not remedy the problem unless they account for the p-orbital in the gas phase since the QM calculations show it is present there too. On the other hand, multipole models by definition can use the correct multipoles and the electrostatic potential from the QM∕MM multipoles is much closer than that from the site models to the potential from the QM∕MM electron density. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations show that increasing the quadrupole in the soft-sticky dipole-quadrupole-octupole multipole model gives radial distribution functions that are in good agreement with experiment.

A temperature of maximum density in soft sticky dipole water

A temperature of maximum density near 260 K at 1 atm has been found for the soft sticky dipole (SSD) water model in molecular dynamics simulations. The parameters of SSD have been optimized to reproduce the density of water as well as other structural, thermodynamic, dielectric, and dynamic properties at room temperature and 1 atm. Remarkably, this simple model is able to reproduce the anomalous temperature dependence of the density using parameters optimized at room temperature. Furthermore, these results indicate that the tetrahedral nature of water is important in determining this anomalous behavior.

Effects of microcomplexity on hydrophobic hydration in amphiphiles.

Hydrophobic hydration is critical in biology as well as many industrial processes. Here, computer simulations of ethanol/water mixtures show that a three-stage mechanism of dehydration of ethanol explains the anomalous concentration dependence of the thermodynamic partial molar volumes, as well as recent data from neutron diffraction and Raman scattering. Moreover, the simulations show that the breakdown of hydrophobic hydration shells, whose structure is determined by the unique molecular properties of water, is caused by the microcomplexity of the environment and may be representative of early events in protein folding and structure stabilization in aqueous solutions.

Prediction of Reduction Potential Changes in Rubredoxin: A Molecular Mechanics Approach

Predicting the effects of mutation on the reduction potential of proteins is crucial in understanding how reduction potentials are modulated by the protein environment. Previously, we proposed that an alanine vs. a valine at residue 44 leads to a 50-mV difference in reduction potential found in homologous rubredoxins because of a shift in the polar backbone relative to the iron site due to the different side-chain sizes. Here, the aim is to determine the effects of mutations to glycine, isoleucine, and leucine at residue 44 on the structure and reduction potential of rubredoxin, and if the effects are proportional to side-chain size. Crystal structure analysis, molecular mechanics simulations, and experimental reduction potentials of wild-type and mutant Clostridium pasteurianum rubredoxin, along with sequence analysis of homologous rubredoxins, indicate that the backbone position relative to the redox site as well as solvent penetration near the redox site are both structural determinants of the reduction potential, although not proportionally to side-chain size. Thus, protein interactions are too complex to be predicted by simple relationships, indicating the utility of molecular mechanics methods in understanding them.

Study of multipole contributions to the structure of water around ions in solution using the soft sticky dipole-quadrupole-octupole (SSDQO) model of water

The solvation of ions in the soft sticky dipole-quadrupole-octupole (SSDQO) model for liquid water is presented here. This new potential energy function for liquid water describes water-water interactions by a Lennard-Jones term plus a sticky potential consisting of an approximate moment expansion with point dipole, quadrupole, and octupole moments. The SSDQO potential energy function using the moments from extended simple point charge (SPC/E), TIP3P, or TIP5P reproduces the pair potential energy functions and radial distribution functions of the respective multipoint model but it is much faster than even the three-point models. Here, the solvation of ions in SSDQO water is studied using ion-water potential energy functions consisting of moment expansions up to the charge-quadrupole term, up to the charge-octupole term, and up to an approximate charge-hexadecapole term using the moments of SPC/E water. The radial distributions from Monte Carlo simulations show the best agreement with the results for ions in SPC/E water for the expansion up to the charge-hexadecapole term. Thus, the best results are obtained when the water-water and ion-water potentials are exact up to the 1r(4) term and also contain an approximate 1r(5) term. Overall, the simplicity, efficiency, and accuracy of the SSDQO potential make it potentially very useful for computer simulations of aqueous solvation.

The Molecular Determinants of the Increased Reduction Potential of the Rubredoxin Domain of Rubrerythrin Relative to Rubredoxin

Based on the crystal structures, three possible sequence determinants have been suggested as the cause of a 285 mV increase in reduction potential of the rubredoxin domain of rubrerythrin over rubredoxin by modulating the polar environment around the redox site. Here, electrostatic calculations of crystal structures of rubredoxin and rubrerythrin and molecular dynamics simulations of rubredoxin wild-type and mutants are used to elucidate the contributions to the increased reduction potential. Asn(160) and His(179) in rubrerythrin versus valines in rubredoxins are predicted to be the major contributors, as the polar side chains contribute significantly to the electrostatic potential in the redox site region. The mutant simulations show both side chains rotating on a nanosecond timescale between two conformations with different electrostatic contributions. Reduction also causes a change in the reduction energy that is consistent with a linear response due to the interesting mechanism of shifting the relative populations of the two conformations. In addition to this, a simulation of a triple mutant indicates the side-chain rotations are approximately anticorrelated so whereas one is in the high potential conformation, the other is in the low potential conformation. However, Ala(176) in rubrerythrin versus a leucine in rubredoxin is not predicted to be a large contributor, because the solvent accessibility increases only slightly in mutant simulations and because it is buried in the interface of the rubrerythrin homodimer.

A single-site multipole model for liquid water

Accurate and efficient empirical potential energy models that describe the atomistic interactions between water molecules in the liquid phase are essential for computer simulations of many problems in physics, chemistry, and biology, especially when long length or time scales are important. However, while models with non-polarizable partial charges at four or five sites in a water molecule give remarkably good values for certain properties, deficiencies have been noted in other properties and increasing the number of sites decreases computational efficiency. An alternate approach is to utilize a multipole expansion of the electrostatic potential due to the molecular charge distribution, which is exact outside the charge distribution in the limits of infinite distances or infinite orders of multipoles while partial charges are a qualitative representation of electron density as point charges. Here, a single-site multipole model of water is presented, which is as fast computationally as three-site models but is also more accurate than four- and five-site models. The dipole, quadrupole, and octupole moments are from quantum mechanical-molecular mechanical calculations so that they account for the average polarization in the liquid phase, and represent both the in-plane and out-of-plane electrostatic potentials of a water molecule in the liquid phase. This model gives accurate thermodynamic, dynamic, and dielectric properties at 298 K and 1 atm, as well as good temperature and pressure dependence of these properties.

The role of backbone stability near Ala44 in the high reduction potential class of rubredoxins

Rubredoxins may be separated into high and low reduction potential classes, with reduction potentials differing by ∼50 mV. Our previous work showed that a local shift in the polar backbone due to an A44 versus V44 side‐chain size causes this reduction potential difference. However, this work also indicated that in the low potential Clostridium pasteurianum (Cp) rubredoxin, a V44 → A44 mutation causes larger local backbone flexibility, because the V44 side‐chain present in the wild‐type (wt) is no longer present to interlock with neighboring residues to stabilize the subsequent G45. Since Pyrococcus furiosus (Pf) and other high potential rubredoxins generally have a P45, it was presumed that a G45 → P45 mutation might stabilize a V44 → A44 mutation in Cp rubredoxin. Here crystal structure analysis, energy minimization, and molecular dynamics (MD) were performed for wt V44G45, single mutant A44G45 and double mutant A44P45 Cp, and for wt A44P45 Pf rubredoxins. The local structural, dynamical, and electrostatic properties of Cp gradually approach wt Pf in the order wt Cp to single to double mutant because of greater sequence similarity, as expected. The double mutant A44P45 Cp exhibits increased backbone stability near residue 44 and thus enhances the probability that the backbone dipoles point toward the redox site, which favors an increase in the electrostatic contribution to the reduction potential. It appears that the electrostatic potential of residue 44 and the solvent accessibility to the redox are both determinants for the reduction potentials of homologous rubredoxins. Overall, these results indicate that an A44 in a rubredoxin may require a P45 for backbone stability whereas a V44 can accommodate a G45, since the valine side‐chain can interlock with its neighbors. Proteins 2006.