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Developing biomolecular interactions models for molecular simulations: Critical evaluation of force field parametrizations
Tempra, Carmelo ; Jungwirth, Pavel (advisor) ; Vácha, Robert (referee) ; Vega de las Heras, Carlos (referee)
Force field molecular dynamics methods are nowadays commonly used to study molecular interactions in many scientific fields. The accuracy of force fields has been improving over the years, allowing for a meaningful physical description of molecular phenomena. However, force fields have limitations. In this dissertation, I explored some of these limitations resulting from the parametrization strategy of force fields and the extent to which non-classical behavior, such as nuclear quantum effects, can be incorporated into classical force field molecular dynamics. In the first part, I investigated to what extent nuclear quantum effects can be accounted for within a classical force field for water. This allowed us to model the differences between bulk light vs. heavy water. The developed model was then used to describe solvent isotope effects on biomolecules, such as amino acids, proteins, and biomembranes, and to seek an explanation why heavy water (unlike light water) tastes sweet. In the second part, I pointed out the drawbacks of using certain training datasets in comparison to others when optimizing a force field, using aqueous calcium chloride as an example. In the third part, I demonstrated the importance of using an accurate water model during the optimization of force fields for phospholipids to adequately capture...
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