A unified coarse-grained model of three major classes of biological molecules—proteins, nucleic acids, and polysaccharides—has been developed. It is based on the observations that the repeated units of biopolymers (peptide groups, nucleic acid bases, sugar rings) are highly polar and their charge distributions can be represented crudely as point multipoles. The model is an extension of the united residue (UNRES) coarse-grained model of proteins developed previously in our laboratory. The respective force fields are defined as the potentials of mean force of biomacromolecules immersed in water, where all degrees of freedom not considered in the model have been averaged out. Reducing the representation to one center per polar interaction site leads to the representation of average site–site interactions as mean-field dipole–dipole interactions. Further expansion of the potentials of mean force of biopolymer chains into Kubo’s cluster-cumulant series leads to the appearance of mean-field dipole–dipole interactions, averaged in the context of local interactions within a biopolymer unit. These mean-field interactions account for the formation of regular structures encountered in biomacromolecules, e.g., α-helices and β-sheets in proteins, double helices in nucleic acids, and helicoidally packed structures in polysaccharides, which enables us to use a greatly reduced number of interacting sites without sacrificing the ability to reproduce the correct architecture. This reduction results in an extension of the simulation timescale by more than four orders of magnitude compared to the all-atom representation. Examples of the performance of the model are presented.FigureComponents of the Unified Coarse Grained Model (UCGM) of biological macromolecules

Heat-shock proteins 70 (Hsp70s) are key molecular chaperones which assist in the folding and refolding/disaggregation of proteins. Hsp70s, which consist of a nucleotide-binding domain (NBD, consisting of NBD-I and NBD-II subdomains) and a substrate-binding domain [SBD, further split into the β-sheet (SBD-β) and α-helical (SBD-α) subdomains], occur in two major conformations having (a) a closed SBD, in which the SBD and NBD domains do not interact, (b) an open SBD, in which SBD-α interacts with NBD-I and SBD-β interacts with the top parts of NBD-I and NBD-II. In the SBD-closed conformation, SBD is bound to a substrate protein, with release occurring after transition to the open conformation. While the transition from the closed to the open conformation is triggered efficiently by binding of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to the NBD, it also occurs, although less frequently, in the absence of ATP. The reverse transition occurs after ATP hydrolysis. Here, we report canonical and multiplexed replica exchange simulations of the conformational dynamics of Hsp70s using a coarse-grained molecular dynamics approach with the UNRES force field. The simulations were run in the following three modes: (i) with the two halves of the NBD unrestrained relative to each other, (ii) with the two halves of the NBD restrained in an “open” geometry as in the SBD-closed form of DnaK (2KHO), and (iii) the two halves of NBD restrained in a “closed” geometry as in known experimental structures of ATP-bound NBD forms of Hsp70. Open conformations, in which the SBD interacted strongly with the NBD, formed spontaneously during all simulations; the number of transitions was largest in simulations carried out with the “closed” NBD domain, and smallest in those carried out with the “open” NBD domain; this observation is in agreement with the experimentally-observed influence of ATP-binding on the transition of Hsp70’s from the SBD-closed to the SBD-open form. Two kinds of open conformations were observed: one in which SBD-α interacts with NBD-I and SBD-β interacts with the top parts of NBD-I and NBD-II (as observed in the structures of nucleotide exchange factors), and another one in which this interaction pattern is swapped. A third type of motion, in which SBD-α binds to NBD without dissociating from SBD-β was also observed. It was found that the first stage of interdomain communication (approach of SBD-β, to NBD) is coupled with the rotation of the long axes of NBD-I and NBD-II towards each other. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first successful simulation of the full transition of an Hsp70 from the SBD-closed to the SBD-open conformation.

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The 70 kDa Heat Shock Proteins (Hsp70) are a family of molecular chaperones involved in protein folding, aggregate prevention, and protein disaggregation. They consist of the substrate binding domain (SBD) that binds client substrates, and the nucleotide-binding domain (NBD), whose cycles of nucleotide hydrolysis and exchange underpin the activity of the chaperone. To characterize the structure-function relationships that link the binding state of the NBD to its conformational behavior, we analyzed the dynamics of the NBD of the Hsp70 chaperone from Bos taurus (pdb 3C7N:B) by all-atom canonical molecular dynamics simulations. It was found that essential motions within the NBD fall into three major classes: the mutual class, reflecting tendencies common to all binding states, and the ADP- and ATP-unique classes, which reflect conformational trends that are unique to either the ADP- or ATP-bound states, respectively. ‘Mutual’ class motions generally describe ‘in-plane’ and/or ‘out-of-plane’ (‘scissor-like’) rotation of the subdomains within the NBD. This result is consistent with experimental nuclear magnetic resonance data on the NBD. The ‘Unique’ class motions target specific regions on the NBD, usually surface loops or sites involved in nucleotide-binding and are, therefore, expected to be involved in allostery and signal transmission. For all classes, and especially for those of the ‘Unique’ type, regions of enhanced mobility can be identified; these are termed ‘hot-spots,’ and their locations generally parallel those found by NMR spectroscopy. The presence of magnesium and potassium cations in the nucleotide-binding pocket was also found to influence the dynamics of the NBD significantly.

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The conventional (excluding non-Kekulé, singlet diradical structures) quinones of benzocyclobutadiene were studied computationally. Eight structures were examined, namely (based on the CA names for benzocyclobutenedione), benzocyclobutenedione or bicyclo[4.2.0]octa-1,3,5-triene-7,8-dione, bicyclo[4.2.0]octa-3,5,8-triene-2,7-dione, bicyclo[4.2.0]octa-1,4,6-triene-3,8-dione, bicyclo[4.2.0]octa-1(6),4,7-triene-2,3-dione, bicyclo[4.2.0]octa-1(8), 4,6-triene-2,3-dione, bicyclo[4.2.0]octa-1(6),3,7-triene-2,5-dione, bicyclo[4.2.0]octa-1(8),3,6-triene-2,5-dione, and bicyclo[4.2.0]octa-1,5,7-triene-3,4-dione (the question of resonance or tautomerism for the 2,3-dione pair and the 2,5-dione pair is considered). Using DFT (B3LYP/6-31G*) and ab initio (MP2/6-31G*) methods the geometries of the eight species were optimized, giving similar results for the two methods. The heats of formation of the quinones were calculated, placing them in low-energy (-17 kJ mol(-1), 7,8-dione), medium-energy (79-137 kJ mol(-1), 2,7-, 3,8-, and 3,4-diones), and high-energy (260-275 kJ mol(-1), 2,3- and 2,5-diones) groups. Diels-Alder reactivity as dienophiles with butadiene indicated the 2,7-, 3,8-, and particularly the 3,4-quinone may be relatively unreactive toward dimerization or polymerization and are attractive synthesis goals. Isodesmic ring-opening reactions and NICS calculations showed aromatic/nonaromatic properties to be essentially as expected from the presence of a benzene or cyclobutadiene ring. UV spectra, ionization energy electron affinity, and HOMO/LUMO energies were also calculated.

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