CHARMM-GUI DEER facilitator for spin-pair distance distribution calculations and preparation of restrained-ensemble molecular dynamics simulations

The double electron–electron resonance (DEER) is a powerful structural biology technique to obtain distance information in the range of 18 to 80 å by measuring the dipolar coupling between two unpaired electron spins. The distance distributions obtained from the experiment provide valuable structural information about the protein in its native environment that can be exploited using restrained ensemble molecular dynamics (reMD) simulations. We present a new tool DEER Facilitator in CHARMM-GUI that consists of two modules Spin-Pair Distributor and reMD Prepper to setup simulations that utilize information from DEER experiments. Spin-Pair Distributor provides a web-based interface to calculate the spin-pair distance distribution of labeled sites in a protein using MD simulations. The calculated distribution can be used to guide the selection of the labeling sites in experiments as well as validate different protein structure models. reMD Prepper facilities the setup of reMD simulations using different types of spin labels in four different environments including vacuum, solution, micelle, and bilayer. The applications of these two modules are demonstrated with several test cases. Spin-Pair Distributor and reMD Prepper are available at http://www.charmm-gui.org/input/deer and http://www.charmm-gui.org/input/deerre. DEER Facilitator is expected to facilitate advanced biomolecular modeling and simulation, thereby leading to an improved understanding of the structure and dynamics of complex biomolecular systems based on experimental DEER data. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.