5.2. Examples of using the NAMD/APBS module

The APBS module is initialized with keyword apbsForces. The APBS calculation set up is specified in apbsForcesConfig section. Please note that charges and radii definition for the electrostatic calculation must be read from a PQR file. See APBS documentation for PQR file format and description. APBS distribution also contains tools for generating valid PQR files (from a PDB file, for example). The order of atoms in the PQR file must be the same as in teh associated .top file. For list of APBS-related keywords see NAMD/APBS keywords table.

5.2.1. Solvation energy calculation

This is an example of single point solvation energy calculation. The electrostatic calculation is done on 0.5³ A numerical grid. The external charges and radii are read from dipeptide.pqr file. The final solvation energy is printed in the 'MISC" energy column (as a sum of electrostatic and non-polar energies).

amber on
parmfile dipeptide.top
ambercoor dipeptide.crd
temperature 300
exclude scaled1-4
1-4scaling 0.8333333

switching on
switchDist 9
cutoff  10  
pairListDist 11

outputname output
outputEnergies 1 
outputTiming   100
dcdFreq        500
restartFreq    500
wrapWater     on  
wrapNearest   on  

langevin          on
langevinDamping   2 
langevinHydrogen  no
langevinTemp     300

apbsForces       on
apbsPQRFile      dipeptide.pqr
apbsForcesConfig {

  calc_type 0 # mg-manual
  grid 0.5 0.5 0.5
  recalculateGrid on
  srfm 2
  chgm 1
  bcfl 1
  debug 1
  verbose 5
  pdie 2.0000
  sdie 78.5400
  sdens 10.00
  srad 1.40
  swin 0.30
  temp 298.15
  gamma 0.105
  sp_apbs off
  wpot off
}
minimize 0

5.2.2. Molecular dynamics in implicit solvent using APBS

This calculation performs a MD simulation in implicit solvent (water in this case). The charges and radii definition is read from an external file (dipeptide.pqr) and the electrostatic calculation is done on 33³ points of numerical grid with the grid dimensions specified in the input file.

amber on
parmfile dipeptide.top
ambercoor dipeptide.crd
temperature 300
exclude scaled1-4
1-4scaling 0.8333333

switching on
switchDist 9
cutoff  10  
pairListDist 11

outputname output
outputEnergies 1 
outputTiming   100
dcdFreq        500
restartFreq    500
wrapWater     on
wrapNearest   on

langevin          off
langevinDamping   2
langevinHydrogen  no
langevinTemp     300

apbsForces       on
apbsPQRFile      dipeptide.pqr
apbsForcesConfig {
  dime 33 33 33
  cglen    17.0071 13.8706 12.3012
  fglen    17.0071 13.8706 12.3012
  srfm 2
  chgm 1
  bcfl 1
  debug 0
  pdie 2.0000
  sdie 78.5400
  sdens 10.00
  srad 1.40
  swin 0.30
  temp 298.15
  gamma 0.105
  sp_apbs off
  wpot off
}
numsteps 100

5.2.3. Calculation and visualization of electrostatic potential

This calculation writes out the calculated electrostatic potential to a file (iapbs-pot.dx). This potential can be visualized using vmd and pymol. The rid dimensions are 1.0³ A.

amber on
parmfile dipeptide.top
ambercoor dipeptide.crd

temperature 300

exclude scaled1-4
1-4scaling 0.8333333

switching on
switchDist 9
cutoff  10  
pairListDist 11

outputname output
outputEnergies 1 
outputTiming   100
dcdFreq        500
restartFreq    500
wrapWater     on  
wrapNearest   on  

langevin          on
langevinDamping   2
langevinHydrogen  no
langevinTemp     300

apbsForces       on
apbsPQRFile      dipeptide.pqr
apbsForcesConfig {
  dime 0 0 0
  grid 1.0 1.0 1.0
  srfm 2
  chgm 1
  bcfl 1
  debug 0
  verbose 2
  pdie 2.0000
  sdie 78.5400
  sdens 10.00
  srad 1.40
  swin 0.30
  temp 298.15
  gamma 0.105
  sp_apbs on
  wpot on
}
minimize 0