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MkVsites: A tool for creating GROMACS virtual sites parameters to increase performance in all-atom molecular dynamics simulations.
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8418-4956
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5563-2908
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Chemistry, Department of Chemistry - BMC. (Erik Marklund)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9804-5009
2020 (English)In: Journal of Computational Chemistry, ISSN 0192-8651, E-ISSN 1096-987X, Vol. 41, no 16, p. 1564-1569Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The absolute performance of any all-atom molecular dynamics simulation is typically limited by the length of the individual timesteps taken when integrating the equations of motion. In the GROMACS simulation software, it has for a long time been possible to use so-called virtual sites to increase the length of the timestep, resulting in a large gain of simulation efficiency. Up until now, support for this approach has in practice been limited to the standard 20 amino acids however, shrinking the applicability domain of virtual sites. MkVsites is a set of python tools which provides a convenient way to obtain all parameters necessary to use virtual sites for virtually any molecules in a simulation. Required as input to MkVsites is the molecular topology of the molecule(s) in question, along with a specification of where to find the parent force field. As such, MkVsites can be a very valuable tool suite for anyone who is routinely using GROMACS for the simulation of molecular systems.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley , 2020. Vol. 41, no 16, p. 1564-1569
Keywords [en]
GROMACS, molecular dynamics, sampling, timestep
National Category
Theoretical Chemistry Biophysics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-420324DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26198ISI: 000525980100001PubMedID: 32282082OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-420324DiVA, id: diva2:1470329
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2015-00559Vinnova, 2017-02690EU, FP7, Seventh Framework Programme, 2015-00559Available from: 2020-09-24 Created: 2020-09-24 Last updated: 2025-03-06Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Mechanistic Studies of Membrane Permeation of Peptides
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Mechanistic Studies of Membrane Permeation of Peptides
2025 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Oral administration of drugs is often preferred over injections due to its convenience, and therapeutic peptides offer significant advantages, including high activity, specificity, and low toxicity. However, oral delivery of peptide drugs presents significant challenges such as low permeability across the gastrointestinal epithelium. A promising strategy to improve bioavailability is co-formulating peptides with permeation enhancers (PEs) to facilitate transcellular transport. In this thesis, the interactions between peptides, PEs, and lipid membranes have been investigated using both the atomistic all-atom (AA) and coarse-grained (CG) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We investigated the interactions between PE and membrane using AA-MD. The PEs studied were different medium-chain fatty acids, such as laurate, caprate (C10), and caprylate, and the caprylate derivative SNAC all with a negative charge and neutral caprate and neutral sucrose monolaurate. Our results indicated that the PEs, once incorporated into the membrane, induce membrane leakiness in a concentration-dependent manner. The results also indicated that a PE concentration of at least 70−100 mM is needed to strongly affect transcellular permeability. We then studied the colloidal structures of different peptide therapeutics in the presence and absence of two different PEs, C10 and SNAC and bile salt, taurocholate. The simulations provided insights into molecular-level interactions, highlighting the specific contacts between peptide residues responsible for aggregation and the interactions between peptide residues and permeability enhancers/taurocholates that are crucial within the mixed colloids. Our simulations also showed that the PEs can promote the release of hydrophobic peptides while restrict the release of water-soluble peptides. Finally, we also performed umbrella sampling simulations to calculate the effective permeability coefficients (Peff) for three different peptides: octreotide, desmopressin, and triptorelin, using CG-MD in the presence of C10 and SNAC in the membrane. The results show that C10 can increase the Peff, of the peptides included in orders of magnitude in a concentration-dependent manner, compared to the peptide systems without C10 present. These molecular-level insights can guide the design of improved permeability enhancer-based dosage forms, allowing for selecting the best possible peptide-PE combination and precise control of peptide release profiles near the intended absorption site. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2025. p. 92
Series
Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Pharmacy, ISSN 1651-6192 ; 373
Keywords
Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, Umbrella sampling (US) simulations, membrane permeation, drug delivery, oral peptide therapeutics, peptide permeability, permeation enhancers, salcaprozate sodium (SNAC), capric acid (C10)
National Category
Pharmaceutical Sciences
Research subject
Pharmaceutical Science
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-552025 (URN)978-91-513-2407-4 (ISBN)
Public defence
2025-04-24, A1:107a, BMC, Husargatan 3, 75123, Uppsala, 13:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2025-04-03 Created: 2025-03-06 Last updated: 2025-04-03

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Larsson, PerKneiszl, Rosita C.Marklund, Erik

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