OpenAWSEM with Open3SPN2: A fast, flexible, and accessible framework for large-scale coarse-grained biomolecular simulations

Wei Lu, Carlos Bueno, Nicholas P. Schafer, Joshua Moller, Shikai Jin, Xun Chen, Mingchen Chen, Xinyu Gu, Aram Davtyan, Juan J. de Pablo, Peter G. Wolynes

Abstract: Author summary The cell’s most important pieces of machinery are large complexes of proteins often along with nucleic acids. From the ribosome, to CRISPR-Cas9, to transcription factors and DNA-wrangling proteins like the SMC-Kleisins, these complexes allow organisms to replicate and enable cells to respond to environmental cues. Computer simulation is a key technology that can be used to connect physical theories with biological reality. Unfortunately, the time and length scales accessible to molecular simulation have not kept pace with our ambition to study the cell’s molecular factories. Many simulation codes also unfortunately remain effectively locked away from the user community who need to modify them as more of the underlying physics is learned. In this paper, we present OpenAWSEM and Open3SPN2, two new easy-to-use and easy to modify implementations of efficient and accurate coarse-grained protein and DNA simulation forcefields that can now be run hundreds of times faster than before, thereby making studies of large biomolecular machines more facile.