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Z-DNA as a Touchstone for Additive Empirical Force Fields and a Refinement of the Alpha/Gamma DNA Torsions for AMBER

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    SYSNO ASEP0554454
    Document TypeJ - Journal Article
    R&D Document TypeJournal Article
    Subsidiary JČlánek ve WOS
    TitleZ-DNA as a Touchstone for Additive Empirical Force Fields and a Refinement of the Alpha/Gamma DNA Torsions for AMBER
    Author(s) Zgarbová, M. (CZ)
    Šponer, Jiří (BFU-R) RID, ORCID
    Jurečka, P. (CZ)
    Number of authors3
    Source TitleJournal of Chemical Theory and Computation . - : American Chemical Society - ISSN 1549-9618
    Roč. 17, č. 10 (2021), s. 6292-6301
    Number of pages10 s.
    Publication formOnline - E
    Languageeng - English
    CountryUS - United States
    Keywordsmolecular-dynamics simulations ; basis-set convergence ; nucleic-acids ; dihedral parameters ; rna
    Subject RIVCF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry
    OECD categoryPhysical chemistry
    Method of publishingOpen access with time embargo (12.10.2021)
    Institutional supportBFU-R - RVO:68081707
    UT WOS000708673100023
    EID SCOPUS85117180550
    DOI10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00697
    AnnotationAlthough current AMBER force fields are relatively accurate for canonical B-DNA, many noncanonical structures are still described incorrectly. As noncanonical motifs are attracting increasing attention due to the role they play in living organisms, further improvement is desirable. Here, we have chosen the Z-DNA molecule, which can be considered a touchstone of the universality of empirical force fields, since the noncanonical alpha and gamma backbone conformations native to Z-DNA are also found in protein-DNA complexes, i-motif DNA, and other noncanonical DNAs. We show that spurious alpha/gamma conformations occurring in simulations with current AMBER force fields, OL15 and bsc1, are largely due to inaccurate alpha/gamma parametrization. Moreover, stabilization of native Z-DNA substates involving gamma = trans conformations appears to be in conflict with the correct description of the canonical B-DNA structure. Because the balance of the native and spurious conformations is influenced by nonadditive effects, this is a difficult case for an additive dihedral energy scheme such as AMBER. We propose new alpha/gamma parameters, denoted OL21, and show that they improve the stability of native alpha/gamma Z-DNA substates while keeping the canonical DNA description virtually unchanged, thus representing a reasonable compromise within the additive force field framework. Although further extensive testing is needed, the new modification appears to be a promising step toward a more reliable description of noncanonical DNA motifs and provides the best performance for Z-DNA molecules among current AMBER force fields.
    WorkplaceInstitute of Biophysics
    ContactJana Poláková, polakova@ibp.cz, Tel.: 541 517 244
    Year of Publishing2022
    Electronic addresshttps://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00697
Number of the records: 1  

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